Catherine II and A. N. Radishchev: On the Journal Contexts of Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow

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This work was carried out at IWL RAS with financial support of the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 23-18-00375 (https://rscf. ru/project/23-18-00375).
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Ivinskiy, А. D. “Catherine II and A. N. Radishchev: On the Journal Contexts of Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 7, no. 2, 2025, pp. 18–37. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2025-7-2-18-37
Abstract:
The article is devoted to the analysis of the historical and literary contexts of A. N. Radishchev’s Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow. We believe that Radishchev hoped to find his place in the public sphere organized by Catherine II and to do so, he had to demonstrate his mastery of the cultural and political languages of the era. To achieve this, Radishchev constructed his text as a kind of “encyclopedia” of motifs of contemporary Russian literature of the 18th century, in which references to periodicals of the 1760s–1780s, and especially to Vsyakaya Vsyachina and Truten, took almost the first place. The article shows that Radishchev did not strive for the integrity of his work, constantly “blurring” the unity of the text, building a complex system of “storytellers.” Radishchev could have conceived of “Journey” as a kind of “journal” dedicated to modern Russia. It was precisely such an innovative, uncompromising, and even “daring” text that, according to the author, was supposed to attract the attention of the authorities and ensure him a worthy place on Parnassus. The article also analyzes the reasons for the catastrophe that befell the author.
Keywords: : Catherine II, A. N. Radishchev, Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, motifs, artistic unity, narrator.
Author: Aleksander D. Ivinskiy
Information about the author:
Aleksander D. Ivinskiy, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25A, bld. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9007-3996

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: February 11, 2025
Approved after reviewing: March 17, 2025
Published: June 25, 2025
Issue: 2025 Volume 7 No. 2
Department: Russian Literature of the 18th–19th Centuries
Pages: 18–37
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/ALHBFG
UDK: 821.161.1.09"18"
Publication Type: Research Article

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