IDEOLOGICAL AND AESTHETIC PROGRAM OF N. M. KARAMZIN IN THE ARTICLE «PANTHEON OF THE RUSSIAN AUTHORS»

Aim. The purpose of the study is to formulate some aspects of the literary-critical concept of N. M. Karamzin, based on the analysis of his work «Pantheon of the Russian Authors» (1802).

Methodology. Attention is drawn to the fact that Karamzin uses the word «pantheon» as a literary collection, which includes not only the works of various authors, but also of various genres. Using several examples, we show the originality of Karamzin’s analysis, as well as characterization and evaluation of literary portraits of Russian writers. At the same time, the interest of the author of «Pantheon ...» is revealed not only in writers’ biographies, but also in the individual characteristics of the work of this or that writer. A peculiar periodization of the history of the Russian literature of the 18th century, outlined by Karamzin, is presented. Methodologically, it is significant that it almost completely coincides with the modern periodization of the Russian literature of the 18^th century.

Results. It is emphasized that in the «Pantheon ...» Karamzin acts not only as a critic, but also as a historian of the Russian literature of the 18^th century. Despite the similarity in the structure of dictionary entries in the «Experience of a Historical Dictionary of the Russian Writers» (1772) by N. I. Novikov and the cycle of literary portraits in the «Pantheon of the Russian Authors», Karamzin is completely original in the selection and presentation of material, in the historical and literary assessment of the writers in question, and in the critical method of analysis, not to mention the subjective and indifferent, often highly emotional tone of the essays, in contrast to deliberately dispassionate and somewhat dry style of N. I. Novikov.

Research implications. The paper summarizes the material on the topic under study, discusses the main provisions and features of the cycle of literary portraits of Karamzin’s «Pantheon of the Russian Authors». But at the same time, attention is paid only to the most significant writers of the 18^th century (Feofan Prokopovich, A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky, M. V. Lomonosov, A. P. Sumarokov), as far as the scope of the paper allowed. Analysis of the essays and miniatures of the «Pantheon ...» helps determine the place and significance of N. M. Karamzin in the history of Russian literary criticism. The practical significance of the investigation is that its results can be used in the study of the history of the Russian literature of the 18^th century in university courses, special courses, and special seminars.

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