Comparing Literary Criticism and Art History: The Problem of Sentimentalism in Russian Historiography
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu15.2023.109Abstract
The article is devoted to the historiography of sentimentalism in the Russian scientific tradition. The purpose of the research is to compare the methods used in literary and art studies to overview this phenomenon. The uncertainty of ideas about sentimentalism in the visual arts requires an appeal to literary studies. A careful analysis of works on sentimentalism in this field revealed the special role of the works of M. M. Bakhtin and G. N. Pospelov, who created original concepts of this phenomenon, and has made it possible to state a wide range of methods. Consideration of the sentimentalism problem in the history of art has demonstrated not only the generality of ideas and a small number of methods in comparison with literary criticism, but also the main principles inherent in the scientific tradition. Firstly, the idea of sentimentalism is based on abstract theses. Secondly, the main approach is to compare sentimentalism with classicism and Romanticism, which prevents determining its place in the art of the 1790s. Thirdly, the pictorial system of sentimentalism is considered in the most general form and turns out to be devoid of a thorough art historical description. A critical analysis of historiography allowed to identify promising areas of modern research of sentimentalism in art criticism: a careful analysis of the artistic features of works, the study of the metamorphoses of the portrait genre as well as a comparison of the Russian portrait with European art of the 18th — early 19th centuries.
Keywords:
historiography, sentimentalism, literary studies, art criticism, Russian art, 18th century, portrait painting, problem of style, classicism, pre-romanticism, romanticism
Downloads
Download data is not yet available.
References
References
1. Turchin, Valerii. “Russian Portrait of the Romantic Epoch”. PhD diss., Moscow State University, 1969. (In Russian)
2. Lapshina, Natal’ia. Russian Art of the 18th Century. Moscow: Akademiia Khudozhestv SSSR Publ., 1963. (In Russian)
3. Turchin, Valerii. Epoch of Romantism in Russia: to the History of Russian Art of the First Third of the 19th Century. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 1981. (In Russian)
4. Berkov, Pavel. Problems of Historical Development of Literature. Leningrad: Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1981. (In Russian)
5. Veselovskii, Aleksandr. Western Influence in Russian Literature. Moscow: Kushnerev i K Publ., 1916. (In Russian)
6. Sipovskii, Vasilii. Karamzin — the Author of “Letters of Russian Traveller”. St Petersburg: Tipografiia V. Demakova Publ., 1899. (In Russian)
7. Rozanov, Matvei. J.-J. Rousseau and Literary Movement in the End of the 18th Century — Early 19th Century. Moscow: Moscow University Press, 1910. (In Russian)
8. Veselovskii, Aleksandr. V. A. Zhukovsky. Poetry of Feeling and Hearty Imagination. St Petersburg: Imperatorskaia Akademiia khudozhestv Publ., 1904. (In Russian)
9. Sakulin, Pavel. Russian Literature. Socio-synthetic Review of Literary Styles. Moscow: Gosudarstvennaia akademiia khudozhestvennykh nauk Publ., 1929, vol. 2 (In Russian)
10. Gukovskii, Grigorii. “At the Origins of Russian Sentimentalism”. In Gukovskii, Grigorii. Ocherki po istorii russkoi literatury i obshchestvennoi mysli XVIII veka, 235–314. Leningrad: Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1938. (In Russian)
11. Gukovskii, Grigorii. Russian Literature of the 18th Century. Leningrad: Khudozhestvennaia literatura Publ., 1939. (In Russian)
12. Pumpianskii, Lev. “Sentimentalism”. In Istoriia russkoi literatury. 10 vols, ed. by Grigorii Gukovskii and Vasilii Desnitskii, 430–45. Moscow; Leningrad: Akademiia Nauk SSSR Publ., 1947, vol. IV, part 2. (In Russian)
13. Pospelov, Gennadii. “At the Origin of Russian Sentimentalism”. Vestnik MGU, no. 1 (1948): 3–27. (In Russian)
14. Bakhtin, Mikhail. “The Problem of Sentimentalism”. In Bakhtin, Mikhail. Sobranie sochinenii. 7 vols, 304–5. Moscow: Russkie slovari Publ., 1997, vol. 5. (In Russian)
15. Blagoi, Dmitrii. The History of Russian Literature of the 18th Century. Moscow: Uchpedgiz Publ., 1960. (In Russian)
16. Nazaretskaia, Konkordiia. “About Origin of Russian Sentimentalism”. In Voprosy estetiki i teorii literatury, ed. by Nikolai Guliaev, 3–32. Kazan: Kazanskii universitet Publ., 1963. (In Russian)
17. Kulakova, Liubov’. “Russian Sentimentalism and Its Rivals”. In Kulakova, Liubov’. Ocherki istorii russkoi esteticheskoi mysli XVIII veka, 180–263. Leningrad: Prosveshchenie Publ., 1968. (In Russian)
18. Pospelov, Gennadii. “Formation of Literary Style in the Work of Russian Sentimentalists”. In Pospelov, Gennadii. Problemy literaturnogo stilia, 163–244. Moscow: Moscow University Press, 1970. (In Russian)
19. Pospelov, Gennadii. Problems of the Historical Development of Literature. Moscow: Prosveshchenie Publ., 1972. (In Russian)
20. Pavlovich, Selima. Ways of Development of Russian Sentimental Prose in the 18th Century. Saratov: Saratovskii universitet Publ., 1974. (In Russian)
21. Orlov, Pavel. Russian Sentimentalism. Moscow: Moscow University Press, 1977. (In Russian)
22. Fedorov, Valentin. “From Classicism to Romanticism: Formation of New Literary Style”. In Istoriia romantizma v russkoi literature (1790–1825), ed. by Aleksandr Kurilov, 42–70. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1979. (In Russian)
23. Fedorov, Valentin. “From Sentimentalism to Romanticism: Searches of New Poetic Content and Forms if Its Expression”. In Istoriia romantizma v russkoi literature (1790–1825), ed. by Aleksandr Kurilov, 70–88. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1979. (In Russian)
24. Zapadov, Vladimir. “Sentimentalism and Pre-romanticism in Russia”. In Problemy izucheniia russkoi literatury XVIII veka: Ot klassitsizma k romantizmu, ed. by Vladimir Zapadov, 135–50. Leningrad: Leningradskii gosudarstvennyi pedagogicheskii universitet Publ., 1983. (In Russian)
25. Kaminskii, Vladimir. “To the Question of Sentimental Artistic Method in Literature”. Russkaia literatura, no. 2 (1984): 124–37. (In Russian)
26. Zhirmunskii, Viktor. “Poetry of English Sentimentalism”. In Zhirmunskii, Viktor. Iz istorii zapadnoevropeiskikh literatur, 125–48. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1981. (In Russian)
27. Zhirmunskii, Viktor. “English Pre-romanticism”. In Zhirmunskii, Viktor. Iz istorii zapadnoevropeiskikh literatur, 149–74. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1981. (In Russian)
28. Levin, Iurii. “English Poetry and Literature of Russian Sentimentalism”. In Levin, Iurii. Vospriiatie angliiskoi literatury v Rossii, 134–230. Leningrad: Nauka Publ., 1990. (In Russian)
29. Kochetkova, Natal’ia. Literature of Russian Sentimentalism (Aesthetic and Artistic Searches). St Petersburg: Nauka Publ., 1994. (In Russian)
30. Ivanov, Mikhail. The Fate of Russian Sentimentalism. St Petersburg: Eidos Publ., 1996. (In Russian)
31. Kurilov, Aleksandr. “Classicism and Sentimentalism: Correlation of Terms”. In Zhivaia mysl’. K 100-letiiu so dnia rozhdeniia G. N. Pospelova, ed. by Petr Nikolaev et al., 188–204. Moscow: Moscow University Press, 1999. (In Russian)
32. Pashkurov, Aleksei. “Genre-thematic Modifications in the Poetry of Russian Sentimentalism and Pre-romanticism in the Light of the Category of the Sublime”. DA diss., Kazanskii gosudarstvennyi universitet, 2005. (In Russian)
33. Lotman, Iurii. Creation of Karamzin. Moscow: Kniga Publ., 1987. (In Russian)
34. Makogonenko, Georgii. Radishchev and His Time. Moscow: Goslitizdat Publ., 1956. (In Russian)
35. Toporov, Vladimir. From History of Russian Literature. Vol. 2: Russian Literature of the Second Half of the 18th Century: Researhes, Materials, Publications. M. N. Muravyov: Introduction to the Creative Heritage. Moscow: Iazyki russkoi kul’tury Publ., 2001, part 1. (In Russian)
36. Toporov, Vladimir. From History of Russian literature. Vol. 2: Russian Literature of the Second Half of the 18th Century: Researhes, Materials, Publications. M. N. Muravyov: Introduction to the Creative Heritage. Moscow: Iazyki russkoi kul’tury Publ., 2003, part 2. (In Russian)
37. Makogonenko, Georgii. “Introductory Article”. In Dmitriev I. I. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii, comp. by Georgii Makogonenko, 5–68. Leningrad: Sovetskii pisatel’ Publ., 1967. (In Russian)
38. Gromova, Tat’iana. “Poetic Work of V. V. Kapnist and His Literary and Social Positions (1780–1820)”. PhD diss., Kievskii gosudarstvennyi pedagogicheskii institut imeni A. M. Gor’kogo, 1973. (In Russian)
39. Lappo-Danilevskii, Konstantin. “Literary Activity of N. A. Lvov”. PhD diss., Institut russkoi literatury Akademii Nauk SSSR, 1988. (In Russian)
40. Valeev, Emil’. “Sud’boiu prervannyi polet”. G. P. Kamenev in Russian Literature at the Turn of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Kazan: Nasledie Publ., 2001. (In Russian)
41. Korovin, Vladimir. “S. S. Bobrov. Life and work”. PhD diss., Moscow State University, 2000. (In Russian)
42. Alekseeva, Tat’iana. Vladimir Lukich Borovikovsky and Russian Culture at the Turn of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 1975. (In Russian)
43. Mikhailova, Kira. V. L. Borovikovsky. Leningrad: Khudozhnik RSFSR Publ., 1968. (In Russian)
44. Turchin, Valerii. Alexander I and Neoclassicism in Russia. Moscow: Zhiraf Publ., 2001. (In Russian)
45. Abramkin, Ivan. “A Problem of Style in Historiography of Russian Art of the 18th Century”. Dekorativnoe iskusstvo i predmetno-prostranstvennaia sreda. Vestnik MGKhPA, no. 1, part 1 (2021): 153–64. (In Russian)
46. Kovalenskaia, Natal’ia. Russian Classicism. Painting. Sculpture. Drawing. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 1964. (In Russian)
47. Kantor, Anatolii. “Art of the 18th Century. Part I”. In Malaia istoriia iskusstv. Iskusstvo XVIII veka, 6–27. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ.; Dresden: Verl. der Kunst, 1977. (In Russian)
48. Evangulova, Olga. “Ermenev and Problems of Stylistic Development in Russian Art in the End of the 18th Century”. In Russkii klassitsizm vtoroi poloviny XVIII — nachala XIX veka. Sbornik statei, ed. by Gleb Pospelov, 78–84. Moscow: Izobrazitel’noe iskusstvo Publ., 1994. (In Russian)
49. Turchin, Valerii. “Main Problems of Western European and Russian Art in the End of the 18th — Early 19th Century”. DA diss., Moscow State University, 1989. (In Russian)
50. Turchin, Valerii. “Problems of Russian art in the Second Half of the 18th — Early 19th Century in the Context of Studying Western European Classicism”. In Russkii klassitsizm vtoroi poloviny XVIII — nachala XIX veka. Sbornik statei, ed. by Gleb Pospelov, 138–46. Moscow: Izobrazitel’noe iskusstvo Publ., 1994. (In Russian)
51. Kovalenskaia, Natal’ia. History of Russian Art of the 18th Century. Moscow; Leningrad: Iskusstvo Publ., 1940. (In Russian)
52. Alekseeva, Tat’iana. Borovikovsky. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 1960. (In Russian)
53. Alekseeva, Tat’iana. “Some Problems in Study of Russian Art of the 18th Century”. In Russkoe iskusstvo XVIII veka. Materialy i issledovaniia, ed. by Tat’iana Alekseeva, 7–19. Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1973. (In Russian)
54. Sarab’ianov, Dmitrii. Russia and West. Historical and Artistic Relations of the 18th — early 20th Century. Moscow: Iskusstvo Publ., 2003. (In Russian)
55. Evangulova, Olga. Russian Artistic Mentality of the 18th Century and Art of Western European Schools. Moscow: Pamiatniki istoricheskoi mysli Publ., 2007. (In Russian)
56. Karev, Andrei. “About the Interaction of Word and Image in Cultural Space of Derzhavin-Lvov’s Circle. N. A. Lvov and V. L. Borovikovsky”. In Russkoe iskusstvo Novogo vremeni. Issledovaniia i materialy. Sbornik statei, ed. by Igor Riazantsev, 125–37. Moscow: NII teorii i istorii izobrazitel’nykh iskusstv Publ., 2008, iss. 11. (In Russian)
57. Lotman, Iurii. “Dynamic Model of Semiotic System”. In Lotman, Iurii. Izbrannye stat’i. 3 vol. Stat’i po semiotike i tipologii kul’tury, 90–101. Tallinn: Aleksandra Publ., 1992, vol. 1. (In Russian)
58. Alekseeva, Tat’iana. “Russian Portrait at the Turn of the 18th and 19th Centuries”. In Problemy portreta. Materialy nauchnoi konferentsii, 179–98. Moscow: Sovetskii khudozhnik Publ., 1973. (In Russian)
59. Daniel’, Sergei. Rococo. From Watteau to Fragonard. St Petersburg: Azbuka-klassika Publ., 2007. (In Russian)
60. Sarab’ianov, Dmitrii. Russian Painting of the 19th Century among European Schools. Moscow: Sovetskii khudozhnik Publ., 1980. (In Russian)
Downloads
Published
2023-03-30
How to Cite
Abramkin, I. A. (2023). Comparing Literary Criticism and Art History: The Problem of Sentimentalism in Russian Historiography. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts, 13(1), 188–206. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu15.2023.109
Issue
Section
Interdisciplinary studies
License
Articles of "Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Arts" are open access distributed under the terms of the License Agreement with Saint Petersburg State University, which permits to the authors unrestricted distribution and self-archiving free of charge.
