Soul of Russian Culture (Pushkin)

Author: Wu Xiaodu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Readers who have entered the new century may still remember a cultural event of the last year of the 20th century in the world of literature. In early summer of that year, an outstanding classical poet, once again, prominently stepped onto the stage of world literary memory, awakening the inherent poetic spirit in readers' hearts. This poet was none other than Alexander Pushkin, the founder of modern Russian literature, whom we are all very familiar with and love. In 1999, exactly 200 years after Pushkin's birth, literary enthusiasts around the world paid him a grand tribute. Among the many foreign poets, Pushkin is not just familiar to Chinese readers but also like a trusted friend. His passionate works of positive romanticism once moved countless progressive young people in China. He sympathized with the working masses, wrote in the language of the people, and reflected the spirit of realism in the life of the times, which shared a similar historical and artistic context with the literary creation direction we advocate. Therefore, Chinese readers have a special fondness for Pushkin's works. The immortal works left behind by Pushkin in his short yet brilliant life have won the universal love of readers from teenagers to adults. Looking back at the thousand-year history of world literature, it is rare to find a literary figure with such a broad creative field and artistic achievements, as well as such a wide readership. This book records the life of this master from different perspectives in a concise manner. Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was born on June 6, 1799, in Moscow to a declining noble family. His parents paid little attention to his education and entrusted him to tutors. From a young age, Pushkin was exposed to the works of authors such as Rabelais, Corneille, Racine, Molière, Boileau, Voltaire, and Shakespeare, and he was also well-versed in the works of Russian writers like Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Karamzin, and Dmitriev. From 1811 to 1818, Pushkin studied at the Imperial Lyceum in St. Petersburg. At the age of 15, in 1814, he published his first poem, "To a Poet Friend." The patriotic fervor of the war of resistance against Napoleon in 1812 inspired the poet. Under the influence of the Decembrists, he wrote a series of poems that criticized tyranny, celebrated freedom, satirized the nobility, sympathized with the peasants, and exposed the cruelty of the slave owners, including "Ode to Freedom," "To Chaadaev," and "The Village." As a result, he offended the great nobles and the Tsar, and in 1820, he was exiled to the south. During his exile in the south, he wrote romantic narrative poems such as "The Captive of the Caucasus," "The Brothers in Arms," "The Gypsies," "To the Sea," "To the Prisoners of Siberia," "Ruslan and Ludmilla," "Count Nulin," and "The Bronze Horseman." In 1825, he wrote the historical play "Boris Godunov," and in 1831, he completed the poetic novel "Evgeny Onegin." In 1834, he finished the prose novel "The Tales of Belkin," "The Queen of Spades," and "The Captain's Daughter." Due to increasing conflicts with the authorities, the Tsar and the government grew displeased, and the authorities incited a French émigré, Dantes, to pursue Pushkin's wife relentlessly. Rumors spread in St. Petersburg society. The poet often received anonymous letters from St. Petersburg that insulted his reputation. In the face of unbearable provocation, the poet challenged Dantes to a duel. On January 27, 1837, he fought the duel with Dantes and died of his wounds on January 29, at the age of 39.