The Image of the Flâneur in the Early Lyrics of Valeriy Bryusov: the National and Western European Context

The article analyzes four collections of V. Bryusovʼs poems – “Chefs dʼeuvre,” “Tertia vigilia,” “Stefanos,” and “All Melodies” – by focusing on the special figure of the observing poet, who closely follows the scenic city life and reflects on his consequent states of mind. The most notable poems are compared with the works of Sh. Baudelaire, and first of all, with the texts included in the infamous collection the “Flowers of Evil” (Les Fleurs du mal), as well as with some poems by N. Nekrasov. The analysis of the established echoes demonstrates an interesting interplay, within Bryusov's early urban lyrics, of poetics, themes and motifs taken from both the French cursed poet and the master of Russian civil poetry. The first book of the Russian symbolist reveals his apprenticeship to Baudelaire (Bryusov creates translations, poetic paraphrases of and variations on the works of the author of the “Flowers of Evil”) and his gradual interiorization of the image of the flâneur-the artist, which proved extremely productive for creating new symbolist lyrics. The lens of the flâneur-the visionary allows him not only to describe the rapidly changing urban reality, but also to multiply its projections: cultural, historical and phantasmagoric. Under the influence of the French poet, Bryusov comes to recognize beauty in ugliness and sweetness in suffering; however, it is not an acute mental anguish and misery, but rather mild melancholy that defines Bryusov’s take on the flâneur figure.

Keywords

V. Bryusov, Sh. Baudelaire, N. Nekrasov, symbolism, flâneur, urbanism, cultural transference

Received

27.06.2021

Publication date

27.06.2021

Number of characters

61054

Cite

GOST	Kuznetsova E. The Image of the Flâneur in the Early Lyrics of Valeriy Bryusov: the National and Western European Context // Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka – 2021. – V. 80. – Issue 3 C. 24-41 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://izv-oifn.ru/S241377150015620-5-1 (circulation date: 19.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S241377150015620-5
MLA	Kuznetsova, Ekaterina "The Image of the Flâneur in the Early Lyrics of Valeriy Bryusov: the National and Western European Context." Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 80.3 (2021):24-41. DOI: 10.31857/S241377150015620-5
APA	Kuznetsova E. (2021). The Image of the Flâneur in the Early Lyrics of Valeriy Bryusov: the National and Western European Context. Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 80(3), pp.24-41 DOI: 10.31857/S241377150015620-5

100 rub.

When subscribing to an article or issue, the user can download PDF, evaluate the publication or contact the author. Need to register.

Number of purchasers: 2, views: 506

Readers community rating: votes 0

1. Balashov, N.I. Legenda i pravda o Bodlere [The Legend and the Truth about Baudelaire]. Baudelaire, Ch. Tsvety zla [The Flowers of Evil]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1970, pp. 233–287. (In Russ.)
2. Benyamin, V. Bodler [Baudelaire]. Moscow, Ad Marginem Press Publ., 2015. 224 p. (In Russ.)
3. Baudelaire, Ch. Tsvety zla. Oblomki. Parizhskiy splin. Iskusstvennyy ray. Esse, dnevniki. Stati ob iskusstve [The Flowers of Evil. The Wreckage. Parisian Spline. Artificial Paradise. Essays, Diaries. Articles about Art]. Moscow, Ripol-klassik Publ.. 1997. 957 p. (In Russ.)
4. Shishmareva, Ye., Zhukov, L. Fiziologicheskiy ocherk [Physiological Essay]. Literaturnaya entsiklopediya: V 11 t. [Literary Encyclopedia in 11 Vols.], Vol. 11. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1939, pp.713–716. (In Russ.)
5. Yampolskiy, M. Nablyudatel. Ocherki istorii videniya [The Observer. Essays on the History of Vision]. Moscow, Ad Marginem Publ., 2000. 287 p. (In Russ.)
6. Postoutenko, K. Balzak–Bodler–Benyamin: flaner v kapitalisticheskom gorode [Balzac–Baudelaire–Benjamin: Flaneur in the Capitalist City]. Sharl Bodler&Valter Benyamin: Politika&Poetika [Charles Baudelaire&Walter Benjamin: Politics&Poetics]. Moscow, NLO Publ., 2015, pp. 253–265. (In Russ.)
7. Smirnov, D.A. Intellektualnyy flaner v labirinte kultur i vremen: teoriya i praktika nauchnogo poiska Valtera Benyamina [The Intellectual Flanker in the Labyrinth of Cultures and Times: The Theory and Practice of Scientific Search by Walter Benjamin]. Ivanovo, IvGU Publ.. 2013. 182 p. (In Russ.)
8. Novikova, N. “Myslyashchiy kaleydoskop” Sharlya Bodlera [The “Thinking Kaleidoscope” by Charles Baudelaire]. Novoye literaturnoye obozreniye [New Literary Review], 2015, No. 4 (134), pp. 376–380. (In Russ.)
9. Sokolova, T.V. Siluet ekstsentricheskoy lichnosti v tvorchestve Sh. Bodlera [The Silhouette of an Eccentric Personality in the Work of Ch. Baudelaire]. Sharl Bodler&Valter Benyamin: Politika&Poetika [Charles Baudelaire&Walter Benjamin: Politics&Poetics]. Moscow, NLO Publ., 2015. pp. 48–67. (In Russ.)
10. Bryusov, V. Polnoye sobraniye sochineniy i perevodov [Complete Works of Translations]. Vol. XXI: Frantsuzskiye liriki XIX veka [French lyrics of the XIX century]. St. Petersburg, Sirin Publ., 1913. 296 p. (In Russ.)
11. Lukov, Vl.A., Trykov, V.P. “Russkiy Bodler”: Sudba tvorcheskogo naslediya Sharlya Bodlera v Rossii [“Russian Baudelaire”: The Fate of the Creative Heritage of Charles Baudelaire in Russia]. Vestnik Mezhdunarodnoy akademii nauk (russkaya sektsiya) [Bulletin of the International Academy of Sciences (Russian section)], 2010, No. 1, pp. 48–52. (In Russ.)
12. Marinina, Yu.A. Traditsii Bodlera i Verlena v tvorchestve Bryusova [The Traditions of Baudelaire and Verlaine in the Works of Bryusov]. Russkaya rech [Russian Speech], 2007, No. 2, pp. 46–51. (In Russ.)
13. Fonova, Ye.G. Retseptsiya tvorchestva Sh. Bodlera v russkom simvolizme [Reception of the Work of Ch. Baudelaire in Russian Symbolism]. Solovyevskiye issledovaniya [Solovyov Studies], 2016, No. 1 (49), pp. 155–169. (In Russ.)
14. Taganov, A.N. Bodlerovskiye otzvuki v russkoy literature kontsa XIX – nachala ХХ veka [Baudelaire Echoes in Russian Literature of the Late 19th – Early 20th Century]. Solovyevskiye issledovaniya [Solovyov Studies], 2016, No. 1 (49), pp. 123–136. (In Russ.)
15. Paliy, Ye. Motivy frantsuzskikh simvolistov v sbornike Valeriya Bryusova “Shedevry” [Motifs of French Symbolists in the Collection of Valery Bryusov “Masterpieces”]. Voprosy literatury [Topics in the Study of Literature], 2013, No. 26 (83), pp. 139–148. (In Russ.)
16. Bryusov, V.Ya. Sobraniye sochineniy v 7 t. [Collected Works in 7 Vols.]. Moscow, Khudozhestvennaya literatura Publ., 1973. (In Russ.)
17. Nekrasov, N.A. Izbrannoye v 2 t. [Selected Works in 2 Vols.], Vol. 1. Moscow, Terra–Knizhnyy klub Publ., 2007. 446 p. (In Russ.)
18. Burlakov, N.S. Valeriy Bryusov. Ocherk tvorchestva [Valery Bryusov. Essay of Creativity]. Moscow, Prosveshcheniye Publ., 1975. 240 p. (In Russ.)
19. Maksimov, D.Ye. Russkiye poety nachala veka [Russian Poets of the Beginning of the Century]. Leningrad, Sovetskiy pisatel Publ., 1986. 404 p. (In Russ.)
20. Baudelaire, Ch. Tsvety zla [The Flowers of Evil]. Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1970. 480 p. (In Russ.)
21. Sokolova, T.V. Ot romantizma k simvolizmu. Ocherki istorii frantsuzskoy poezii [From Romanticism to Symbolism. Essays on the History of French Poetry]. St. Petersburg, Filologicheskiy fakultet SPbGU Publ., 2005. 308 p. (In Russ.)
22. Ginzburg, L.Ya. O lirike [About Lyrics]. Moscow, Intrada Publ., 1997. 414 p. (In Russ.)
23. Marinina, Yu.A. Mifologizirovannyy obraz goroda vo frantsuzskoy poezii vtoroy poloviny XIX veka: ot Bodlera k simvolistam. Diss. kand. filol. nauk [The Mythologized Image of the City in French Poetry of the Second Half of the 19th Century: from Baudelaire to the Symbolists. Dissertation of the Candidate of Philological Sciences]. Nizhniy Novgorod, 2007. 207 p. (In Russ.)
24. Lavrov, A.V. Bryusov v Parizhe (osen 1909 goda) [Bryusov in Paris (Autumn 1909)]. Lavrov, A.V. Russkiye simvolisty. Etyudy i razyskaniya [Russian Symbolists. Etudes and Searches]. Moscow, Pleyada-Progress Publ., 2007, pp. 143–153. (In Russ.)
25. Hugo, V. Sobraniye sochineniy v 6 t. [Collected Works in 6 Vols.], Vol. 3. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1988. 556 p. (In Russ.)
26. Ten, I. Balzak: Etyud Ippolita Tena [Balzac: A Study by Hippolyte Taine]. St. Petersburg, Ya. Berman Publ., 1894. 109 p. (In Russ.)
27. Baudelaire, Ch. Tsvety zla. Perevod Ellisa [The Flowers of Evil. Transl. by Ellis]. Moscow, Zaratustra Publ., 1908. 305 p. (In Russ.)
28. Bryusov, V. Zarubezhnaya poeziya v perevodakh V.Ya. Bryusova [Foreign Poetry in Translations by V.Ya. Bryusov]. Moscow, Raduga Publ., 1994. 894 p. (In Russ.)
29. Marinina, Yu.A. Motiv vstrechi v stikhotvoreniyakh V.Ya. Bryusova: vliyaniye Sh. Bodlera i originalnost traktovki [The Motive of the Meeting in the Poems of V.Ya. Bryusov: the Influence of Ch. Baudelaire and the Originality of the Interpretation]. Traditsii v russkoy literature. Mezhdunarodnyy sbornik nauchnykh trudov [Traditions in Russian Literature. International Collection of Scientific Papers]. Nizhniy Novgorod, 2014, pp. 132–136. (In Russ.)
30. Gromova, A.G. Bryusov [Bryusov]. Kratkaya literaturnaya entsiklopediya v 9 t. [Short Literary Encyclopedia in 9 Vols.], Vol. 1. Moscow, Sovetskaya entsiklopediya Publ., 1962, pp. 754–758. (In Russ.)