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Marcel Proust and the ‘Stabbed Dove:’ Maria Scheikévitch in In Search of Lost Time
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2025-5-69-90
Abstract
The article seeks to examine Marcel Proust’s relationship with the Parisian socialite Maria Scheikévitch, who was born near Moscow, in the village of Petrovskoe-Razumovskoe, and got to play her role in the genealogy of the epic In Search of Lost Time. Guided by the principles of genetic criticism, which imply close attention to various aspects of avant-text and paratext, as well as neo-biographism, which analyzes a literary text within strictly defined circumstances of a historical context, the scholar focuses his study on the reconstruction of an ‘epistolary novel’ that ties the French novelist to one of the most stunning Parisian beauties of the day. The novel’s central image, a ‘Stabbed Dove,’ associates Proust’s short-lived infatuation with the motif of the epistemological function of suffering that defines his oeuvre. The study concludes with the emphasis that Proust viewed Maria Scheikévitch less as an epitome of the ‘Russian soul’ or an ambassador of Russian culture and more as a highly receptive reader of his novel, almost ‘a confidante in the matters of its creation.’
About the Author
S. L. Fokin
St. Petersburg State University of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sergey L. Fokin, Doctor of Philology
191023; 21 Sadovaya St.; St. Petersburg
References
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Review
For citations:
Fokin S.L. Marcel Proust and the ‘Stabbed Dove:’ Maria Scheikévitch in In Search of Lost Time. Voprosy literatury. 2025;(5):69-90. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2025-5-69-90
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