History and Characters in Puškin.xx.s Epic Poems

Dukkon, Ágnes (2000) History and Characters in Puškin.xx.s Epic Poems. Studia Slavica, 45 (1-4). pp. 191-198. ISSN 0039-3363

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Abstract

The author of this paper analyzes the inner world of certain Puškin's poems (motifs, topoi, characters) taking Byron's influence and the poet's reflections on history into consideration. Puškin inherited the structure of genre, the literary character of rebellious hero and the other "obligatory" elements of romantic epical poem (exotic surroundings, nocturnal scenes, extreme emotions etc.) from Byron. A closer influence of the English pattern can be observed only in the early poems of Puškin (The Prisoner of the Caucasus, The Fountain at Bakhchisarai). But the tricks, motifs and necessary "accessories" he employs become the vehicles of increasingly meaningful thoughts which allow the genre to rise to such a level that it could keep its canonised place in the Russian literature even after the vanishing of romanticism. From the mid-1820s the historic events of the period, the repression of the Dekabrist uprising and also the new direction in Puškin's interest are reflected in his works. Among them the epical poem Poltava is considered by the experts the example of overcoming Byron's previous influence. What is followed in this paper is the treatment of the different tragic connections between power and individual by Puškin.

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