Deržavin und seine Marmorbüste frontmatter Joachim Klein Die Welt der Slaven, Volume 69 (2024), Issue 1, Page 190 - 206 This paper deals with Deržavin’s autobiographical poetry as exemplified by his poem "My Bust". A marble bust which Deržavin had ordered for himself is a source of hope and self-doubt for his lyrical speaker. Does he actually deserve the honour represented by this sculpture and, if so, on which grounds? Accordingly, the lyrical monologue turns into a sequence of sharply contrasting moods of confidence and self-deprecation, which is unique in eighteenth-century Russian poetry. The dramatism of this monologue calms down at the end of the poem in a spirit of Horatian wisdom. The poem is remarkable for its self-critical and self-ironic character. The article closes with a reflection on Deržavin and his claim of eternal fame.
„Stichi na končinu…“. Russische Begräbnisdichtung im 18. Jahrhundert article Joachim Klein Die Welt der Slaven, Volume 66 (2021), Issue 1, Page 141 - 177 “Stixi na končinu…”: Russian funeral poetry in the 18th centuryFuneral poetry was a very popular type of occasional poetry in eighteenth- and early nineteenthcentury Russia. In its development, it expressed an enlightened, sentimentalist zeitgeist, turning away from the fundamental values of the Petrine ethos. The shift entailed a rethinking of the concept of human greatness. Now, not only monarchs and military heroes were considered worthy of a funeral poem but also heroes of culture and of charity. The principle of personal achievement also shifted: to be deserving of a funeral poem, it was now sufficient to be an ordinary person. Funeral poetry was increasingly dedicated to relatives and especially to friends. It turned out to be a favourite medium for the cult of sentimental friendship in Russia.The article is written in German.
