LITERARY-CRITICAL POSITION OF N. KARAMZIN IN THE PERIOD OF THE “HERALD OF EUROPE” (1802-1803)

Abstract

Publications of Karamzin of 1802-1803 are examined from the point of view of the tasks of literature in a new era for Russia. Orientation towards benevolent criticism is interpreted as a way of promoting the creative abilities of the author, who is called up to serve the good of the fatherland. The article poses the problem: was art an inherently valuable phenomenon for Karamzin, or was it always a way to achieve the external goals (Europeanization of Russian culture, the oblivion of sad reality, breeding virtue and patriotism). The paradox of the combination of creative activity with the definition of life as a dream is overlaid by Karamzin’s conviction that the realization of all the spiritual faculties of a man is a way to immortality.