Slovene (Dec 2015)
Praising the Ruler: Panegyrical Poetry and Russian Absolutism
Abstract
It is difficult to overrate the importance of the panegyric tradition for early modern Russian literature. Between the middle of the 17th to the end of the 18th century, it was practiced in many different genres—almost all Russian poets praised the ruler. This poetry deserves our interest as a specific form of political literature. As such it is not only relevant for the cult of the Russian monarchs, but it also sheds some light on the political mentality of their loyal—and literate—subjects in the age of Russian absolutism. Panegyrical poetry is per definitionem a thoroughly affirmative, noncritical form of political literature. But this did not prevent it from offering a certain scope for the expression of diverse and even contradictory political ideals. This can be exemplified by the panegyrical poems written in the early 1760s in the context of the coup d’état staged by Catherine II and against the backdrop of the Russo-Prussian peace treaty initiated by her predecessor, Peter III. In this situation, a fundamental difference of opinion about the tasks of the monarch and the mission of the Russian state emerged.
