|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
In search of a ‘crosscurrent.’ The metaplot of Eugene Onegin
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2022-1-13-54
Abstract
To this day, the ideas of A. Veselovsky’s Historical Poetics [Istoricheskaya poetika] have been confined to philological discourse. V. Shklovsky’s quip that ‘Aleksandr Veselovsky had no pupils, only admirers’ still rings true. The article represents the first attempt at analysing the metaplot of Eugene Onegin, Pushkin’s novel in verse, through the application of Veselovsky’s comparative method. The study seeks to resolve the problem of imitation, which occupied the mind of the novel’s creator, from the viewpoints of the author and his artistic doppelganger the poet. In this regard, a resolution of the dilemma ‘one’s own — someone else’s’ is reached by means of Veselovsky’s comparative approach, which owes its recent revival in scholarly discourse to works by I. Shaytanov. Assimilation of ‘someone else’s’ is explained in the context of Veselovsky’s concept of ‘crosscurrent’ discovered by the scholar during his study of Pushkin’s ideas on the subject. In her examination of ‘imitativeness,’ the author is guided by Pushkin’s understanding of it, as later embraced by Veselovsky; i. e., rather than as a mechanical act, it is viewed as an act of creation, whose purpose it is to reveal the uniqueness of a specific national culture.
About the Author
V. K. Zubareva
University of Pennsylvania
United States
United States
Vera K. Zubareva – PhD
745 Williams Hall, 255 South 36th St., Philadelphia, 19104-6305
References
1. Akimova, М. (1999). Pushkin and Katenin (Necessary clarifications). Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Literature and Language Series, 3(58), pp. 76-79. (In Russ.)
2. Blagoy, D., ed. (1955). The complete works of V. Belinsky (13 vols). Vol. 7. Moscow: AN SSSR. (In Russ.)
3. Blagoy, D. (1959). ‘Eugene Onegin.’ In: D. Blagoy et al., eds., The collected works of А. Pushkin (10 vols). Vol. 4. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, pp. 513-554. (In Russ.)
4. Blagoy, D. et al., eds. (1962a). The works of A. Pushkin (10 vols). Vol. 6. Moscow: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
5. Blagoy, D. et al., eds. (1962b). The works of A. Pushkin (10 vols). Vol. 9. Moscow: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
6. Blagoy, D. et al., eds. (1962c). The works of A. Pushkin (10 vols). Vol. 10. Moscow: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
7. Bocharov, S. (1985). On artistic worlds. Moscow: Sovetskaya Rossia. (In Russ.)
8. Bocharov, S. (1986). The problem of the real and possible plot (‘Eugene Onegin’). In: The genesis of fiction. Proceedings of the Soviet-French colloquium. Moscow: IMLI, pp. 143-155. (In Russ.)
9. Britenkova, L. (2019). A. S. Puchkin and Tula. [online] Samovarmuseum.ru. Available at: https://www.samovarmuseum.ru/arhivnye-tajny/pushkintula/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2021]. (In Russ.)
10. Bulgarin, F. (1996). ‘Eugene Onegin,’ a novel in verse. The work of Aleksandr Pushkin. Chapter two. In: V. Vatsuro and S. Fomichev, eds., Pushkin in lifetime criticism (1820-1827). St. Petersburg: Gosudarstvenniy pushkinskiy teatralniy tsentr, pp. 300-301. (In Russ.)
11. Chernsky District: The official website of the municipality. [n. d.] [online] Available at: https://chern.tularegion.ru/city/general_information/ [Accessed 30 Apr. 2021]. (In Russ.)
12. Chumakov, Y. (1996). Princess — Tatiana — Muse. In: A. Muratov and P. Bukharkin, eds., Concept and meaning: Collected papers marking Professor V. M. Markovich’s 60th birth anniversary. St. Petersburg: SPbGU, pp. 101-114. (In Russ.)
13. Chumakov, Y. (1999). Pushkin’s poetic manner. St. Petersburg: Gosudarstvenniy pushkinskiy teatralniy tsentr v Sankt-Peterburge. (In Russ.)
14. Egorov, B., Zlochevskaya, A., Moiseeva, V. et al., eds. [n. d.] [online] Στέφανος: Russian literature and cultural life of the 20th c. An online encyclopaedia. Available at: http://stefanos.philol.msu.ru/index.htm [Accessed 10 Jan. 2022]. (In Russ.)
15. Essipov, V. (2021). А. S. Pushkin’s correspondence with A. K. Benckendorff. St. Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya. (In Russ.)
16. Fenomenov, K. et al., eds. (1978). The works of A. Pushkin (10 vols). Vol. 7. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
17. Fortunatova, V. (2016). Madness as a form of cognition: On the specifics of Pushkin’s protagonist. In: I. Yukhnova, ed., Boldino Readings 2016. Arzamas: Arzamasskiy filial NNGU, pp. 51-58. (In Russ.)
18. Ginsburg, L. (1977). On psychological prose. Leningrad: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
19. Gippius, V. (1941). Pushkin’s feud with Bulgarin in 1830-1831. In: D. Yakubovich, ed., Pushkin Commission Yearbook. Issue 6. Leningrad: Nauka, pp. 235-255. (In Russ.)
20. Gukovsky, G. (1957). Pushkin and the problems of the realistic style. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
21. Gusev, N. (1970). L. N. Tolstoy. Materials for his biography between 1881 and 1885. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
22. Iezuitova, R. (1969). Pushkin and the evolution of romantic lyrics in the late 20s and 30s. In: B. Meilach, ed., Pushkin: Materials and research. Vol. 6: Pushkin’s realism and the literature of his time. Leningrad: Nauka, pp. 60-97. (In Russ.) Kireevsky, I. (1979). Literary criticism and aesthetics. Moscow: Iskusstvo. (In Russ.)
23. Koshelev, V. (2021). ‘Onegin’s Album’ and Chapter X (An episode from the creative history of Pushkin’s novel in verse). Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2, pp. 267-322. (In Russ.)
24. Kunin, V. (1987). Pushkin’s life: Letters, memoirs, diaries (2 vols). Moscow: Pravda. (In Russ.)
25. Lebedeva, O. and Yanushkevich, A. (1999). ‘Foggy Germany.’ In: N. Mikhaylova, ed., Onegin encyclopaedia (2 vols). Vol. 1. Moscow: Russkiy put, pp. 231-234. (In Russ.)
26. Lotman, Y. (1995). Pushkin’s novel in verse ‘Eugene Onegin’: Special course. An introduction to the study of the text. In: Y. Lotman, Pushkin: Author’s biography; Articles and notes, 1960-1990; ‘Eugene Onegin’: A commentary. St. Petersburg: Iskusstvo-SPB, pp. 393-462. (In Russ.)
27. Lotman, Y. (2003). Pushkin. Author’s biography. Articles and notes. 1960-1990. ‘Eugene Onegin.’ A commentary. St. Petersburg: Iskusstvo-SPB. (In Russ.)
28. Makogonenko, G. (1982). A. S. Pushkin’s works in the 1830s (1833-1836). Leningrad: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
29. Markovich, V. (1997). Pushkin and Lermontov in the history of Russian literature. St. Petersburg: SPbGU. (In Russ.)
30. Meilach, B. (1984). A. S. Pushkin’s works: The development of his artistic system. A teacher’s book. Moscow: Prosveshchenie. (In Russ.)
31. Nepomnyashchy, V. (1987). ‘...At the crossroads...’: ‘Eugene Onegin’ in Pushkin’s spiritual biography. A study of Chapter II. Voprosy Literatury, 2, pp. 110-145. (In Russ.)
32. Petrova, L. (2013). Onegin and Tatiana in the finale of A. S. Pushkin’s novel. Uchenye Zapiski Orlovskogo Gosudarstvennogo Universiteta, 4, pp. 300-306. (In Russ.)
33. Proskurin, O. (1999). Pushkin’s poetry, or The moving palimpsest. Moscow: NLO. (In Russ.)
34. Rachinsky, S. (1899). Tatev collection. St. Petersburg: Obshchestvo revniteley russkogo istoricheskogo prosveshcheniya. (In Russ.)
35. Reifman, P. (2001). Who is Melmoth? In: L. Kiseleva, ed., Works on Russian and Slavic philology. Literary criticism. IV (New Series). Tartu: Tartu U-umllikooli Kirjastus, pp. 126-155. (In Russ.)
36. Rodnyanskaya, I. (1987). Author’s image. In: V. Kozhevnikov, ed., Literary encyclopaedic dictionary. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, pp. 22-23. (In Russ.) Rodnyanskaya, I. (2006). The movement of literature (2 vols). Vol. 1. Moscow: Znak; Yazyki slavyanskoy kultury. (In Russ.)
37. Rozanov, I. (1936). The early imitations of ‘Eugene Onegin.’ In: Y. Oksman, ed., Pushkin Commission Yearbook. Issue 2. Moscow, Leningrad: AN SSSR, pp. 213-239. (In Russ.)
38. Shaytanov, I. (2010a). ‘Historical Poetics’ [‘Istoricheskaya poetika’]: Experience of reconstruction of the unwritten. In: I. Shaytanov, ed., The selected works of A. Veselovsky. On the way to historical poetics. Moscow: Avtokniga, pp. 621-648. (In Russ.)
39. Shaytanov, I., ed. (2010b). The selected works of A. Veselovsky. On the way to historical poetics. Moscow: Avtokniga. (In Russ.)
40. Shaytanov, I. (2011a). Classical poetics of the non-classical era. In: I. Shaytanov, ed., The selected works of A. Veselovsky: Historical poetics. St. Petersburg: Universitetskaya kniga, pp. 5-50. (In Russ.)
41. Shaytanov, I., ed. (2011b). The selected works of A. Veselovsky: Historical poetics. St. Petersburg: Universitetskaya kniga. (In Russ.) Tomashevsky, B. (1961). Pushkin (1824-1837) (2 books). Book 2. Moscow, Leningrad: AN SSSR. (In Russ.)
42. Toporov, V. (2003). The Petersburg text of Russian literature: Selected works. St. Petersburg: Iskusstvo-SPB. (In Russ.)
43. Tynyanov, Y. (2019). History of literature. Poetics. Selected works. Moscow: Yurayt. (In Russ.)
44. Veselovsky, A. (1889). Research in the field of Russian spiritual verse. Vol. 5. St. Petersburg: Tipografiya Imperatorskoy Akademii nauk. (In Russ.)
45. Yazykov, N. (2003). Golden-domed, saint...: Verses, fairy tales, a poem, prose, letters. Moscow: Russkiy mir. (In Russ.)
46. Zubareva, V. (2011). Chekhov as a founder of the comedy of a new type. Voprosy Literatury, 4, pp. 92-123. (In Russ.) Zubareva, V. (2013a). Egorushka’s present and future. ‘Steppe’ [‘Step’] in the light of positional style. Voprosy Literatury, 1, pp. 193-227. (In Russ.) Zubareva, V. (2013b). Rereading Veselovsky in the 21st c. Voprosy Literatury, 5, pp. 47-81. (In Russ.)
47. Zubareva, V. (2019). ‘The Belkin Tales’ [‘Povesti Belkina’]: The literature of ‘everday life’ and mass literature. Voprosy Literatury, 5, pp. 183-229. (In Russ.)
48. Zubareva, V. (2021). ‘The Song of Prince Igor’s Campaign’ [‘Slovo o polku Igoreve’]: New translation and commentary. Moscow: Yazyki clsavyanskoy kultury. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Zubareva V.K. In search of a ‘crosscurrent.’ The metaplot of Eugene Onegin. Voprosy literatury. 2022;(1):13-54. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2022-1-13-54
Views:
230
Email this article 
