Baroque Traits in Russian Neoclassicism: Mikhail Lomonosov, Gavriil Derzhavin, and Symeon of Polotsk

Abstract

In this article, I trace some effects produced by Baroque on the Russian poetry and question the traditional attitude to the cultural epoch as to somewhat occasional and uninfluential; a mere buffer between the traditional Old Russian art and Russian Neoclassicism introduced by Peter the Great’s reforms oriented towards new European norms. In contrast to the vision, I put an emphasis on the genuine, rhetoric nature of the Neoclassicism. Russia has never been a country of the classical antiquity; thus, Russian poets use classical motifs solely and exclusively as popular verbal cliches. Beneath the new formulas, poets continue the Russian literary tradition; Russian Neoclassicism is shaped by the Baroque. I compare works by Symeon of Polotsk, Mikail Lomonosov, and Gavriil Derzhavin in order to explore a poetic tradition manifested by a shared plot and a set of motifs. Influenced by Symeon of Polotsk, Russian Neoclassicism continues to use baroque elements. Namely, the protagonists of Lomonosov are sceptical about the capabilities of the human mind to interpret nature. Quite opposite, they are admired by superabundance and the omnipresent mysteries of the Universe. In later poetry, such as Derzhvine’s ode titled “God”, the baroque vision is linked with Pre-Romanticism. There, an individual appears as someone who is able to have a sensual experience of the Universe and interact with it. The world turns into an area of dialogue and spiritual interaction between the Creator and the Human.