The object of this study is to show how the sentimentalist movement in the literatures of Western Europe found its way into Russian literature, and how Karamzin eventually emerged as the most significant representative of the Russian sentimentalist school. The sentimentalist movement, originating in England, soon affected all European literature, particularly the French and the German. Because of Russia's relative isolation, these new tendencies were slow in appearing, but some of the characteristics, namely a sense of the transience of life and vanity of all things, together with an aspiration toward virtue, appeared in the lyrics of Xeraskov, Murav'ev and Sumarokov. These signs of incipient sentimentalism were, however, present only in haphazard form. It was Nikolaj Mixajlovič Karamzin who crystallized these vague tendencies and gave Russian sentimentalism a definite identity. Karamzin's education, his contact with Masonic circles, and his travels in Western Europe drew him toward the mainstream of European culture. His early works are mainly translations of Western European authors, the most significant work being a translation of Julius Caesar, prefaced by an appraisal of Shakespeare's genius. An able and discriminating journalist, Karamzin modelled the Moskovskij Žurnal (Moscow Journal) on the lines of European literary magazines. In this journal he published his most famous works, such as "Bednaja Liza" (Poor Liza), "Natal’ja, bojarskaja doč’" (Natalia, the Boyar's Daughter) and Pis'ma russkogo putesestvennika (Letters of a Russian Traveller). Karamzin popularized the short story and created a wide Russian reading public, commanding the attention of readers with his portrayal of simplicity, virtue and feeling, often set off by a nostalgic pastoralism, but also tinged by suggestions of the romance of the past and of the exotic. His approach to story-telling necessarily involved a considerable degree of the psychological analysis of characters, and this assumes great importance as a prelude to the great Russian novels of the nineteenth century. Considered in the light of the development of Russian literature, Karamzin's most representative work is Letters of a Russian Traveller, which shows his insistence on the sovereignty of the heart and the importance of creating characters as living persons. This work, therefore, remains the first and best example of Russian sentimentalism, which set the norm for a movement that made possible the searching exploration of the human psyche in the great tradition of Russian fiction. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Gothenburg, 1980. / Summaries in English and German. Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-203).

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Gothenburg, 1980. / Summaries in English and German. Includes bibliographical references (p. 202-203).

No description available.

Freiburg (Breisgau), Universiẗat, Diss., 2003. / Erscheinungsjahr an der Haupttitelstelle: 2004.

Diss.--Lett.--Tübingen--Univ., Neuphilologischen Fakultät, 1998. / Bibliogr. p. 178-185. Notes bibliogr.

Because of the recent ban on a Bible translation, in part because of the renderingof God’s name as Jehovah, this thesis analyses what can be learned on the topic of the attitude in Russia towards that name from a historic viewpoint. Early occurrences of the name within the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as examples of prominent authors’ usage of the name in the secular literary sphere, are being discussed. Particular interest is paid to the literature of the 19th century, in an attempt to determine what knowledge the authors had access to, as well as to establish how familiar this rendering of the name was to the society. The analysis continues with literary examples from the 20th century, searching for indications that could reveal the time and possible reason for the altered connotations to the name. My interest is the cultural and historical perspective on the awareness of the name, whether it was a natural part of the cultural and religious heritage or not. And if it was – when and why was the general public deprived of that heritage?I believe that this interdisciplinary approach can provide a valuable picture, impossible to gain if the discussion would have been solely about religiousminorities’ rights.