“A poet in Russia is more than a poet”: poets, rest and activity in the 20th century Russian novel

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6093/sigma.v0i7.10528

Keywords:

Bulgakov, Brodsky, Pasternak, Poet, Silence

Abstract

Starting from a famous verse by Evgenij Evtušenko, which states that “a poet in Russia is more than a poet”, the article focuses on the figure of the Russian poet, especially his social role and the value of his clash with power, throughout the 20th century. The analysis is carried out with particular attention to the Soviet period and especially through the prism of two fundamental novels, The Master and Margarita and Doctor Zhivago, where the figure of the poet, especially his non-immediate relationship with power, history and civil society, is reflected in the characters of Ivan Bezdomny and Yuri Zhivago.

This contribution was published in the book Il ritratto dell’artista nel romanzo tra ’700 e ’900, edited by Paolo Pepe and Enrica Villari, Rome, Bulzoni, 2002, pp. 149-169 («I libri dell’Associazione Sigismondo Malatesta. Studi di letteratura comparata e teatro», 19).

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Author Biography

Gian Piero Piretto, University of Milan

Gian Piero Piretto taught Russian Culture and Visual Culture at the State University of Milan. He has written numerous essays on Russian literature of the 19th and 20th centuries (Derelitti, bohémiens e malaffari. Il mito povero di Pietroburgo, Bergamo, 1989; Da Pietroburgo a Mosca. Le due capitali in Dostoevskij, Belyj e Bulgakov, Milano, 1990). For years, he has devoted himself to the methodology  of Cultural Studies, with a particular focus on the Soviet era in Russian history (1961: il sessantotto a Mosca, Bergamo, 1998; Quando c’era l’URSS: 70 anni di storia culturale sovietica, Milano, 2018) and the visual aspect of its culture (Il radioso avvenire. Mitologie culturali sovietiche, Torino, 2001; Gli occhi di Stalin. La cultura visuale sovietica nell’era staliniana, Milano, 2010).

Published

2023-12-15

How to Cite

Piretto, G. P. (2023). “A poet in Russia is more than a poet”: poets, rest and activity in the 20th century Russian novel. SigMa - Rivista Di Letterature Comparate, Teatro E Arti Dello Spettacolo, (7), 323–339. https://doi.org/10.6093/sigma.v0i7.10528

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