“The riddle that the critic must solve”: V. Bryusov about Villiers de l’Isle-Adam

Abstract

This publication concerned with the problems of Valeriy Bryusov’s critical works and his interest in French culture. The aim of the paper is to introduce into scientific circulation the Bryusov’s text relating to the late French Romanticist Au. Villiers de l'Isle- Adam. Our introductory article gives a brief description of the literary relations between the Russian poet and the French writer. It is noted that for a quarter of a century Brusov turned to the work of Villiers de l'Isle-Adam as an editor, as a translator and as a novelist, attentive to the creative search of his predecessors. The published materials are a draft of Bryusov's article, made after 1910. In this text Bryusov expresses his attitude towards the French writer in detail and turns to the analysis of his short stories. The critic sums up literary fate in Russia of Villiers de L'Isle-Adam and other poètes maudits. In addition, Bryusov gives his vision of the level of the Russian readership and determines the degree of familiarity of the “average reader” with the French literature.

Keywords

• v. bryusov
• villiers de l’isle-adam
• russian-french literary relations
• criticism
• short stories
• literary reputation
• poètes maudits