

‘The beauties of those times...’. Osip Mandelstam and Olga Hildebrandt
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-5-166-191
Abstract
The article by S. Shindin, a scholar of O. Mandelstam, focuses on the lyrical subject of Mandelstam’s poetry inspired by Olga Hildebrandt, better known by her stage name, Arbenina. By citing Hildebrandt-Arbenina’s reminiscences about Mandelstam, notes by their contemporaries, and the poems in question, the author builds a detailed account of their relationship, from the autumn of 1920, when they first met and Mandelstam became infatuated with Olga, who was in a relationship with Gumilyov at the time, until their later encounters, described by N. Mandelstam in her memoirs. In addition to an impressive score of facts about Mandelstam’s poetic development, the author provides numerous insights into the aesthetics of the Silver Age, which engendered, in Akhmatova’s words, the ‘marvellous’ lyrical verse by Mandelstam.
About the Author
S. G. ShindinRussian Federation
Sergey G. Shindin, Doctor of Philology
52 Povarskaya St., Moscow, 121069, Russia
References
1. Akhmatova, A. (2005). Victory over destiny. I: Autobiography, reminiscences. The flight of time. Poems. Moscow: Russkiy put’. (In Russ.)
2. Bogomolov, N. and Shumikhin, S., eds. (1993). M. Kuzmin’s diary of 1921. Minuvshee, 12, pp. 423-494. (In Russ.)
3. Chukovskaya, E., ed. (2013). The collected works of K. Chukovsky (15 vols). Vol. 11: The diary of 1901-1921. 2nd ed. Moscow: Agenstvo FTM, Ltd. (In Russ.)
4. Desyatov, V. (2013). ‘A homeric fight’: Nikolay Gumilyov and Osip Mandelstam. Filologiya i Chelovek, 3, pp. 109-115. (In Russ.)
5. Dmitriev, P. (2016). Gul’s walks. From conception to production. In: P. Dmitriev, M. Kuzmin: Studies and comments. St. Petersburg: Renome, pp. 15-23. (In Russ.)
6. Dutli, R. (1995). ‘Gentle hands of Europe’: On Mandelstam’s perception of Europe. In: O. Makarova, ed., ‘Let me go, give me up, Voronezh’: Third international Mandelstam readings. Voronezh: Voronezh University, pp. 15-23. (In Russ.)
7. Flaсk, L. C. (2015). Modernism and Homer: The Odysseys of H. D., James Joyce, Osip Mandelstam, and Ezra Pound. Cambridge: CambridgeU. P.
8. Freidin, G. (1987). A coat of many colors: Osip Mandelstam and his mythologies of self-presentation. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press.
9. Gerstein, E. (1998). Reminiscences. St. Petersburg: INAPRESS. (In Russ.)
10. Goldberg, S. (2013). Mandelstam, Blok, and the boundaries of mythopoetic symbolism. Columbus: The Ohio State University Press.
11. Golubeva, A., ed. (2016). ‘I’ll tell you bluntly one last time’. An indexed album marking the 125th birthday anniversary of Osip Mandelstam. Moscow: Gosudarstvenniy literaturniy muzey. (In Russ.)
12. Hildebrandt-Arbenina, O. (2007). ‘A girl rolling hoops...’: Reminiscences. Diaries. Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya. (In Russ.)
13. Khardzhiev, N. (1973). Notes. In: O. Mandelstam, Poems. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel, pp. 249-315. (In Russ.)
14. Kovalyova, I. (2005). Psyche at Persephone’s: On the origin of one ancient theme in Mandelstam’s legacy. Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 73, pp. 203-212. (In Russ.)
15. Lekmanov, O. (2015). Osip Mandelstam: Stolen air. Moscow: АSТ. (In Russ.)
16. Lekmanov, O., Glukhovskaya, E. and Chaban, A. (2017). Commentary and bibliography. In: O. Lekmanov and M. Amelin, eds., The collected poems of O. Mandelstam, 1906-1937. Moscow: Ruteniya, pp. 305-490. (In Russ.)
17. Lekmanov, O. and Zobin, G. (2017). Homer. In: Mandelstam encyclopaedia (2 vols). Vol. 1. 1st ed. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, pp. 191-192. (In Russ.)
18. Luknitsky, P. (1991). Acumiana: Encounters with Anna Akhmatova. Vol. 1: 1924-1925. Paris: YMCA-Press. (In Russ.)
19. Luknitskaya, V., ed. (1991). Mandelstam in P. N. Luknitsky’s archive. In: Z. Paperny, ed., Word and destiny. Osip Mandelstam: Research and materials. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 111-148. (In Russ.)
20. Mets, A. (2010). Commentary. In: A. Mets, ed., The complete works and letters of O. Mandelstam (3 vols). Vol. 2: Prose. Moscow: Progress-Pleyada, pp. 471-744. (In Russ.)
21. Mets, A. and Timenchik, R. (2007). Commentary. In: O. Hildebrandt-Arbenina. ‘A girl rolling hoops...’: Reminiscences. Diaries, pp. 283-286. (In Russ.)
22. Mets, A. and Vasilenko, S., eds. (2016). Chronicle of Mandelstam’s life and work. 2nd ed. Toronto: Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures University of Toronto. (In Russ.)
23. Mikhaylov, A. and Nerler, P. (1990). Commentary. In: S. Averintsev and P. Nerler, eds., The collected works of O. Mandelstam (2 vols). Vol. 1: Poems. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, pp. 441-611. (In Russ.)
24. Morozov, A. (2010). O. N. Arbenina’s note. In: O. Lekmanov et al., eds., ‘Save my speech forever’. Issue 3. Part 1. Publications and articles. Moscow: RGGU, pp. 17-18. (In Russ.)
25. Musatov, V. (2000). O. Mandelstam’s lyrics. Kiev: Elga-N; Nika-Tsentr. (In Russ.)
26. Nappelbaum, I. (1991). A blind swallow. Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 1, pp. 87-88. (In Russ.)
27. Nerler, P., ed. (1991). The reminiscences of E. Livshits. Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 1, pp. 88-89. (In Russ.)
28. Nerler, P., ed. (2015a). ‘Let’s see who is more stubborn...’: Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam in letters, reminiscences, testimonies. Moscow: AST. (In Russ.)
29. Nerler, P. (2015b). Osip Mandelstam and his campmates. Мoscow: АSТ. (In Russ.)
30. Nerler, P. and Nikitaev, A. (1993). Commentary. In: P. Nerler and A. Nikitaev, eds., The collected works of O. Mandelstam (4 vols). Vol. 1: Poems and prose. 1906-1921. Moscow: Art-Biznes-Tsentr, pp. 277-295. (In Russ.)
31. Odoevtseva, I. (1988). On the banks of the Neva. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
32. Orlova, R. (2015). Getting yourself out of the past. In: P. Nerler, ed. ‘Let’s see who is more stubborn...’: Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam in letters, reminiscences, testimonies. Moscow: АSТ, pp. 211-220. (In Russ.)
33. Parnis, A. (1991). A few details for the futuristic portrait of Osip Mandelstam. In: Z. Paperny, ed., Word and destiny. Osip Mandelstam: Research and materials. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 183-204. (In Russ.)
34. Plungyan, N. (2015). Olga Hildebrandt-Arbenina and Mari Loransen: The boundaries of fictional and real similarities. In: A. Lavrov, P. Dmitriev, eds., Mikhail Kuzmin. Literary path and the art world. St. Petersburg: Renome, pp. 341-356. (In Russ.)
35. Shindin, S. (1997). The Acmeism fragment of Mandelstam’s aesthetic world: Metatextual aspect. Russian Literature, 42(2), pp. 211-258. (In Russ.)
36. Shindin, S. (2016). Book in Mandelstam’s biography and artistic vision. Toronto Slavic Quarterly, 55(1), pp. 1-109. (In Russ.)
37. Shindin, S. (2017). Arbenina O. N. In: Mandelstam Encyclopaedia (2 vols). Vol. 1. 1st ed. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, pp. 83-84. (In Russ.)
38. Surat, I. (2016). The word ‘to love’. Noviy Mir, 1, pp. 169-176. (In Russ.)
39. Suvorova, N., ed. (1996). The notebooks of Anna Akhmatova (1958-1966). Moscow, Torino: Giulio Einaudi editore. (In Russ.)
40. Tarakhovskaya, E. (1993). Osip Emilievich Mandelstam. In: O. Lekmanov and P. Nerler, eds., ‘Save my speech forever’. Issue 2. Moscow: Knizhniy Sad, pp. 23-25. (In Russ.)
41. Taranovsky, K. F. (2000). Bees and wasps: Mandelstam and Vyacheslav Ivanov. In: K. Taranovsky, On poetry and poetics. Moscow: Yazyki russkoy kultury, pp. 123-163. (In Russ.)
42. Vasilenko, S., Nerler, P. and Freidin, Y. (2014). The collected works of N. Mandelstam (2 vols). Vol. 2: ‘The Second Book’ and other works (1967-1979). Ekaterinburg: GONZO. (In Russ.)
43. Vidgof, L. (2015). Articles on Mandelstam. Moscow: Noviy khronograf. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Shindin S.G. ‘The beauties of those times...’. Osip Mandelstam and Olga Hildebrandt. Voprosy literatury. 2018;(5):166-191. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-5-166-191