Vyacheslav Ivanov and C.M. Bowra: a ... - UCL Discovery

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of his remarkable determination to revive ancient Dionsysian forms in Russian literature. To clarify the principles behind his verse and tragedies and to set the agenda for contemporary culture, Ivanov published many critical essays in the leading periodicals of his day. These studies were widely read and extremely influential; many of them were later collected in his three volumes of essays, published in 1909, 1916 and 1917. He also wrote up his scholarly investigations, sometimes for a specialist audience, but more often in a relatively popular, accessible form. His Paris lectures on Dionysus, for example, formed the basis of the series of essays on the religion of the suffering god that he published with the help of Bryusov and Merezhkovskii in Novyi put’ (1904) and Voprosy zhizni (1905). At the outset of this series, he explained that he had undertaken the study of the cult of Dionysus in order to clarify contemporary religious and philosophical searchings; the final goal of his investigations is reached in the penultimate section of his last article, ‘Dionysus and Hellenism – Dionysus and Christianity’. The introduction to Homer’s epic verse that he wrote for a new edition of the poet’s verse in Russian translation published in 1912 is one more example among many of his skill at presenting his vision of classical antiquity to a contemporary audience. In all these various ways, through his life-style, lectures, teaching, translations, poetry, tragedies, critical articles and scholarly investigations, Ivanov pursued his agenda of reviving classical antiquity with remarkable dedication. Although he was very successful in his efforts to assimilate the legacy of this tradition into contemporary Russian culture, he did not yet achieve its full integration into a Christian form of 16 Ibid., III, 7. 20
humanism; as we shall see below, the last phase of this complex process was not initiated until after the Revolution and only completed in emigration. During the 1900s and 1910s, Ivanov’s views attracted many followers but remained rather controversial. Why was it necessary for a true believer in Christ to invoke the mask of Dionysus? This was the question posed by Dimitrii Merezhkovskii in a provocative article questioning the relationship between aestheticism and mysticism, ‘Za ili protiv?’ (For or Against?, 1904), published in Novyi put’ alongside one of Ivanov’s essays on the cult of Dionysus. 17 At the root of this question lay a deeper one, relating to the religious significance of classical antiquity for Christianity. Why was it necessary to present Hellenism as an alternative ‘Old Testament’ for Russia? When Ivanov’s second collection of essays, Borozdy i mezhi (Furrows and Boundaries, 1916) appeared, it attracted some rather critical reviews from a number of leading philosophers and religious thinkers. In his comments on the collection Nikolai Berdyaev accused Ivanov of substituting philology for ontology and of replacing the realities of religion and philosophy with aesthetic and cultural constructs. 18 Lev Shestov, in an ironically entitled article ‘Vyacheslav Velikolepnyi’ (Vyacheslav the Magnificent, 1916), was even harsher, finding that Ivanov’s thought, for all its ornate beauty, suffered from an inherent lack of reality and exhibited classic symptoms of a culture of decadence and decline. 19 Such reservations did not, however, detract from the enthusiastic and largely uncritical reception that Ivanov’s ideas met with among creative artists, writers and poets. It would be impossible, for example, to imagine Aleksandr Blok’s Dionysian 17 D. M, ‘Za ili protiv?’, Novyi put’, 9, September 1904, 268-72. 18 Nikolai Berdyaev, ‘Ocharovaniya otrazhennykh kul’tur’, Birzhevye vedomosti, no.15833, 30 September 1916, morning issue, 2-3. 19 L. Shestov, ‘Vyacheslav Velikolepnyi: K kharakteristike russkogo upadochnichestva’, Russkaya mysl’, no.10, October 1916, 80-110 (second pagination). 21
Page 1 and 2: BIRMINGHAM SLAVONIC MONOGRAPHS No.
Page 3 and 4: Дорогой друг мой, м
Page 5 and 6: Illustrations Photograph of V.I. Iv
Page 7 and 8: Transcription and Transliteration I
Page 9 and 10: INTRODUCTION Vyacheslav Ivanov (186
Page 11 and 12: classical tradition of humanism to
Page 13 and 14: tradition’. 1 Although Ivanov beg
Page 15 and 16: he overlooked them because of his h
Page 17 and 18: ‘zhiznetvorchestvo’ (creation o
Page 19: (Transparency, 1904), Eros (1907),
Page 23 and 24: his transformation of the Russian l
Page 25 and 26: The publication of these letters in
Page 27 and 28: edition then formed the basis of th
Page 29 and 30: Жил Диониса новый с
Page 31 and 32: CHAPTER TWO Bowra as a Classical Sc
Page 33 and 34: company of a Russian friend's siste
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Page 37 and 38: made possible his election to the O
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Page 43 and 44: Moscow during the war years. 2 The
Page 45 and 46: (tiny little corner): 'это то
Page 47 and 48: of the existing anthologies of Russ
Page 49 and 50: (unchanged) in 1947 and then follow
Page 51 and 52: Pindar or Alcaeus.’ 21 In his bri
Page 53 and 54: Уединенная душа. 26 A
Page 55 and 56: К закатным пристан
Page 57 and 58: succeeds in conveying the power and
Page 59 and 60: Dimitrii, who also omit all referen
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you, poet, so much sympathy, compre
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mutans carmina in aes raucum’) in
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conventional morality. These aspect
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Bowra's interpretation and admired
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members of a common humanist tradit
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details of his meetings with Akhmat
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of Svet Vechernii back to Oxford, t
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he was clearly anxious to define in
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the way in which his generation of
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έστίν. 79 This Christian versi
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These are not just empty truisms. I
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Bowra were discovered in Wadham Col
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[To C. M. Bowra, Oxford high-priest
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prospere vigeant! 12 Iam ante quinq
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Dear Sir, 3 Ivanov - Bowra 1 Octobe
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Praestantissime poeta, 28 4 Bowra -
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5 Ivanov - Bowra 9 December 1946 33
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survival. 38 I am glad that you hav
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implies. 47 How hard it is, for ins
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Dear Professor Ivanov, 7 Bowra - Iv
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With all good wishes to your family
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compatriotes non-initiés. 64 Vos t
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Dear Professor Ivanov, 10 Bowra - I
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your book. 81 I have also written t
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His subsequent support for the publ
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Works by V.I. Ivanov 1 SELECT BIBLI
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Ivanov, Vyacheslav, Dionis i pradio
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Berlin and Frankfurt: Suhrkamp Verl
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Bowra, C.M., Early Greek Elegists,
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London: Duckworth, 1974, 48-85. Aub
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Vena 1998, ed. Sergei Averintsev an
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Konovalov, S., ed., Vyacheslav I. I
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Swinburne, Algernon Charles, Atalan
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INDEX OF NAMES AND WORKS 137
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