Mikhail Muravyev, Catherine II and Friedrich II: On the Status of the Russian Language

Occupation: Senior Researcher
Affiliation: A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: 25a Povarskaya St., Moscow, 121069, Russia

Journal name

Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka

Edition

Volume 80 Issue 2

Pages

30-37

Abstract

The article focuses on the interpretation of the linguistic heritage of M.N. Muravyev. A Tutor to Grand Dukes Alexander and Konstantin Pavlovich, he wrote a series of texts on the genesis and evolution of the Russian literary language. The researchers denied the originality of these works and underestimated them as texts concerned just with pragmatic pedagogical tasks. However, as we demonstrate, Muravyev’s linguistic articles were directly connected to the cultural project of Catherine II. The writer, following the Empress, argued for the antiquity of the Russian language, and consequently, history and culture as well. At the same time, the key object of Muravyev’s criticism was Friedrich II. Muravyev, as well as Catherine the Great, assumed that the Prussian king did not understand the main mechanism for the development of national court culture. As a result, his claims to cultural and political hegemony were rejected. Thus, Muravyov used the ideas of Catherine II’s linguistic works, structured the material, and offered his students a clear and vivid concept of the development of the Russian language and national culture, in general.

Keywords

Catherine II, Mikhail Muravyev, Frederic II, “Companion of Lovers of Russian Letters”

Received

24.06.2021

Publication date

24.06.2021

Number of characters

22901

Cite

GOST	Ivinskij A. Mikhail Muravyev, Catherine II and Friedrich II: On the Status of the Russian Language // Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka – 2021. – V. 80. – Issue 2 C. 30-37 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://izv-oifn.ru/S241377150014551-9-1 (circulation date: 26.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S241377150014551-9
MLA	Ivinskij, Alexander D "Mikhail Muravyev, Catherine II and Friedrich II: On the Status of the Russian Language." Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 80.2 (2021):30-37. DOI: 10.31857/S241377150014551-9
APA	Ivinskij A. (2021). Mikhail Muravyev, Catherine II and Friedrich II: On the Status of the Russian Language. Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 80(2), pp.30-37 DOI: 10.31857/S241377150014551-9

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