Studia Litterarum (Dec 2016)
ON THE FRAGMENTARY PERCEPTION OF FRENCH LITERATURE IN THE 18 TH CENTURY RUSSIA AND SWEDEN
Abstract
The essay examines the problem of the fragmentary perception of European literature in the 18 th Century Russia. The author compares the body of 17 th Century French poetical works translated into Russian and Swedish languages and published in the Russian and Swedish editions in the middle of the 18 th Century. Regardless of many predicted coincidences, Russian and Swedish lists are not identical. Some 17 th Century French poets unknown in Russia were, however, extremely popular in the 18 th Century Sweden. The essay focuses on the work of E. Pavillon, a member of the French Academy and of the General R. de Bussy-Rabutin. The “Våra fӧrsӧk” edition released in Sweden in the 1750s, included numerous translations of the poems by these two authors as well as discussions about the specificity of their poetic gifts. Pavillon’s works are in the center of discussion by Swedish authors. In G. F. Gyllenborg’s “Satire öfver Sprätthökar,” E. Pavillon is compared with J.-B. Rousseau, in H. Ch. Nordenflycht’s “De svenska poeter” he is identified with a famous Swedish poet J. Frese. Swedish poems mentioning R. de Bussy are absent in the edition of “Våra fӧrsӧk”, however the French poet was familiar to Swedish authors, and the interest in his works drew on his role in the 17 th Century Franko-Swedish history. Swedish and French participation in the Thirty Years War and a visit of Christine, Queen of Sweden, to Paris were well known to Swedish authors. The paper argues that the lack of interest in the work of these authors in Russia is conspicuous if compared with their Swedish perception. This may be explained by cultural and historical circumstances and also by the lack of demand for some of the “species” of the 17 th Century French poetry in the Russian poetry of the 18 th Century.
Keywords
