From the revolution to gnosticism: Mikhail Kuzmin in the autumn of 1917
https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2023-1-52-66
Abstract
The article analyzes Mikhail Kuzmin’s poetic cycle Sofia. Gnostic Poems (1917–1918) in the context of his political position in the second half of 1917. Contrary to the assumptions that this cycle, inspired with Gnostic symbolism, became Kuzmin’s way of escapism and his departure from actual problems, a new interpretation of the cycle is proposed. Analysis of the poetics and pragmatics of the cycle against the background of his other works and diaries of 1917 suggests that the gnostic theme has become the way of his mystical understanding of the revolution. Taking into account the fact that the poems were written during a period when Kuzmin shared revolutionary enthusiasm and welcomed both the February and October revolutions. The central Gnostic myth, the descent of Sophia, Kuzmin juxtaposed onto current events, trying to see in the revolution a project for a radical reorganization of the world and the spiritual renewal of man.
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the RSF grant № 19-78-10012 «Writer – criticism – reader (Mechanisms of the formation of literary reputation in Russia at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries)».
About the Author
A. S. Pakhomova
HSE University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Alexandra S. Pakhomova, PhD
bld. 119–121, 123, Kanal Griboyedov Emb., Saint Petersburg
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Review
For citations:
Pakhomova A.S. From the revolution to gnosticism: Mikhail Kuzmin in the autumn of 1917. Studia Religiosa Rossica: Russian Journal of Religion. 2023;(1):52-66. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2658-4158-2023-1-52-66
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