Kuchelbecker’s Unknown Stanzas about Napoleon
https://doi.org/10.18384/2949-5008-2026-3-107-112
Abstract
Aim. To analyse the image of Napoleon in the early unpublished edition of V. K. Kuchelbecker’s poem “The Seven Sleeping Youths.”
Methodology. The subject of the study is an early version of the poem, the autograph of which is kept in the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian State Library. The research uses textual and comparative methods.
Results. The result of the article is the publication of two stanzas from an early edition of V. K. Kuchelbecker’s poem “Seven Sleepers,” which had not been published before. These two stanzas are about Napoleon. The appearance of the French emperor at the end of the second part of the poem helps us to assume about why the author needed to change the time of action in the poem. The plot of the poem is based on the legend of the seven sleeping youths of Ephesus, which traditionally dates to the reign of Emperor Decius. Kuchelbecker changed the time period and replaced Emperor Decius with Diocletian. The figure of Diocletian was of particular interest to the author, as he was close to the image of Napoleon in Russian poetry of that time. Several similarities can be found between the two emperors’ images, they become symbols of temporal earthly power opposed to eternity, the bearers of which are youths.
Research implications. The materials can be used in courses on the history of Russian literature.
About the Author
M. Kiva
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Mariya Kiva - Postgraduate Student, Department of History of Russian Literature
Moscow
References
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