Alexander Pushkin Criticism
Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin (1799–1837) is a foundational figure in Russian literature, revered for shaping the modern literary language by blending native simplicity with European stylistic nuances. His role as Russia's national poet is affirmed by contemporaries like Nikolai Gogol, who praised his works’ technical precision and narrative depth. Pushkin's poetry and prose, including Eugene Onegin and The Bronze Horseman, moved Russian literature beyond the confines of eighteenth-century neoclassicism, making a lasting impact on successors like Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.
Born into aristocracy and exposed to European literature, Pushkin’s early works, such as Ruslan and Lyudmila, combine humor with themes of love and personal growth. His exile to southern Russia inspired works like The Captive of the Caucasus, reflecting Byron's influence in exploring civilization's tensions with nature. This evolution in narrative style is evident in later works such as The Queen of Spades and The Captain’s Daughter, as analyzed by Paul Debreczeny, who highlights Pushkin's prose innovations.
Pushkin's dramatic works like Boris Godunov and the "Little Tragedies" showcase his exploration of power and emotion. Critical reevaluations by scholars such as Barbara Heldt Monter and Robert Karpiak offer insights into the thematic unity of love and death in these works.
Although Pushkin's lyrical poetry presents challenges in translation, limiting his international reach, his influence persists through the narrative innovations and nuanced use of irony and parody, as explored by Walter N. Vickery. His short fiction, particularly The Tales of Belkin, marks a departure from sentimental norms, offering direct prose and revealing human behavior with minimal psychological commentary, as noted by Richard Gregg and J. Thomas Shaw.
Among his finest prose, The Queen of Spades stands out for its Gothic elements and succinct style, drawing comparisons to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s stories, as discussed by Adele Barker. In contrast, The Captain's Daughter showcases Pushkin's late style and historical narrative within the context of the Pugachev Rebellion, as analyzed by Caryl Emerson. Modern criticism continues to explore Pushkin's legacy, employing psychological approaches to his narrative structures and focusing on his reshaping of Russian fiction, as highlighted in the Introduction.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Pushkin, Alexander (Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism)
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A Few Words About Pushkin
(summary)
In the following essay, originally published in 1832, Gogol lauds Pushkin as Russia's national poet.
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The Reception of Pushkin's Poetic Works in the 1820s: A Study of the Critic's Role
(summary)
In the following essay, Debreczeny explores early commentary on Pushkin's works in relation to the evolution of Russian literary criticism.
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Lyric Poetry—1820-1836
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Vickery studies Pushkin's mature lyric poetry, focusing on poems that reflect his intimate personal experiences, reactions, moods, and outlook.
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Love and Death in Pushkin's 'Little Tragedies'
(summary)
In the following essay, originally published in 1972, Monter probes the thematic unity of Pushkin's 'Little Tragedies' in their concern with 'the recognition of love and the recognition of death.'
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The Art of the Anecdote in Pushkin
(summary)
In the following essay, Grossman views the centrality of the anecdote to Pushkin's prose and poetry.
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On Pushkin's Evolution as a Poet in the 'Thirties (The Tale of the Golden Cockerel)
(summary)
In the following essay, Nepomnyashchy examines Pushkin's verse fairy-tale, The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, acknowledging its significance to Pushkin's work of the 1830s.
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Pushkin's Little Tragedies: The Controversies in Criticism
(summary)
In the following essay, Karpiak surveys twentieth-century thematic criticism of Pushkin's dramas The Covetous Knight, Mozart and Salieri, and The Stone Guest.
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The Execution of Captain Mironov: A Crossing of the Tragic and Comic Modes
(summary)
In the following essay, Debreczeny considers the place of Captain Mironov's tragic execution in the otherwise comic The Captain's Daughter.
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The Poetics of Authority in Pushkin's 'André Chénier'
(summary)
In the following essay, Sandier analyzes Pushkin's 'André Chénier,' and observes that the poem is indicative of a significant development in Pushkin's authorial voice.
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Experiments with Narrative Modes
(summary)
In the following essay, Debreczeny discusses innovative developments in the narrative technique of Pushkin's prose fiction.
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Pushkin and Neoclassical Drama
(summary)
In the following essay, Karlinsky characterizes Pushkin's works as "the culmination of Russian eighteenth-century neoclassicism."
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Paradoxes of the Popular Mind in Pushkin's Boris Godunov
(summary)
In the following essay, Serman focuses on the central importance of The Pretender, the false Tsarevich Dmitry, to Boris Godunov—a drama he sees as a folk-historical tragedy concerned with the changing consciousness of the Russian people.
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Fallibility and Perfection in the Works of Alexander Pushkin
(summary)
In the following essay, Briggs presents a critical survey of Pushkin's works, concentrating on Pushkin's relation to romanticism.
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Boris Godunov: The Expectations of an Audience
(summary)
In the following essay, Sandler offers an interpretation of Boris Godunov that finds dramatic success and unity in its rhetoric of loneliness and separation.
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A Few Words About Pushkin
(summary)
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Pushkin, Alexander (Short Story Criticism)
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Pushkin's Prose
(summary)
In the following essay, Shklovski praises Pushkin's prose and describes his historical narratives of Russian life.
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Russian Genius
(summary)
In the following review, Conquest observes that Pushkin "did not produce a literature of extreme situations, " but rather explored "the circumstances of man as a passive object."
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Preface to 'The Queen of Spades'
(summary)
In the following essay, Gide notes that the "clarity, balance, [and] harmony" of Pushkin's prose works set them apart from other Russian fiction of the same period.
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Puškin's The Shot
(summary)
In the following essay, Shaw argues that "The Shot" offers two points of view—youth and maturity—and that Pushkin does not choose a privileged vantage for the reader.
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A Scapegoat for All Seasons: The Unity and the Shape of The Tales of Belkin
(summary)
In the following essay, Gregg analyzes the individual stories of Pushkin's Tales of Belkin, noting structural and thematic elements in the tales that unify the work as a whole.
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The Queen of Spades
(summary)
In the following essay, Bocharov examines Pushkin's narrative technique and use of differing modes of speech in The Queen of Spades.
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Grinev's Dream: The Captain's Daughter and a Father's Blessing
(summary)
In the following essay, Emerson deploys Freudian analysis to interpret and explore the thematic significance of Grinev's dream in The Captain's Daughter.
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Introduction
(summary)
In the following essay, Debreczeny places Pushkin's prose within the context of European-influenced Russian fiction and suggests that even Pushkin's incomplete prose fragments were influential.
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Pushkin's Belkin Tales
(summary)
In the following essay, Mersereau analyzes Pushkin's prose fiction—particularly the Tales of Belkin—tracing influences of the tales and viewing them as part of a story cycle.
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Pushkin's 'Queen of Spades': A Displaced Mother Figure
(summary)
In the following essay, Barker argues that Hermann's actions in The Queen of Spades are the result of an unresolved Oedipal fixation.
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Alexander Pushkin: Stories
(summary)
In the following essay, originally published in 1984, Pritchett briefly surveys developments in Pushkin's short fiction, characterizing his early prose style as 'expository' and 'scholarly,' but praising his later works, especially The Queen of Spades.
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Pushkin's Tales
(summary)
In the following essay, Bayley places Pushkin's tales within a biographical context and explains the difficulty Westerners often have in detecting the originality of his works.
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Prose Writings
(summary)
In the following excerpt, Vickery presents an overview of Pushkin's short fiction and concludes that his integral contribution to the Russian short story lies in his use of narrative technique rather than in the content of his writings.
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Pushkin's Prose
(summary)
- Further Reading