social status. In “K moim chitateliam, stikhov moikh strogim razbi-
rateliam” (To my readers, strict examiners of my verse, 1850 ), he argues
that because as a soldier he cannot afford Romantic preoccupations with
nature, glory, and love, he therefore cannot be a poet. His aristocratic
readers, he concludes, rather than criticize his poetry for these defi-
ciencies, should be indulgent, since at least he does not publish it. Like
Rostopchina in “Iskushenie” (discussed in chapter 4 ), Fedotov ironically
has written a poem arguing that he is not a poet. In all these examples
we see the mixture of accommodation and resistance to the role of Other
(discussed in chapter 1 ) that marks women’s poetry as well.
I suspect that, as with women’s poetry, an examination of noncanon-ical men’s poetry would reveal original reworkings of traditional liter-
ary conventions and categories. For example, Fedotov wrote at least two
poems in connection with his painting “Svatovstvo maiora” (The ma-
jor’s wooing): “Popravka obstoiatel’stv, ili zhenit’ba maiora (predislovie
k kartine)” (An improvement in circumstances or the major’s marriage
[foreword to the picture]), and “Ratseia (Ob”iasnenie kartiny ‘Sva-
tovstvo maiora’)” (Lecture [explanation of the picture “The major’s woo-
ing”]). Although literary historians consider these poems curiosities—
minor historical commentaries on the painting—the fact that Fedotov
wrote them indicates that he viewed the painting by itself as incomplete.
It might make sense, then, to analyze the painting-poems as a separate
and original genre. Fedotov’s fables à la Krylov also should be read in
the context of his paintings. Khomiakov’s work might repay examina-
tion on its own terms as well, in the tradition of religious or philosoph-
ical poetry. That is, along with interpretive strategies for women’s writ-
ings and gender-neutral aesthetic standards, we also need interpretive
strategies for the writings of nonaristocrats and class-neutral aesthetic
standards. Such speculations, however, which can only be verified by
close analyses of these poets’ works, cannot be pursued in this study.
Reception of Noncanonical Men Poets
While none of these poets is considered “first rank,” their reputations
range considerably. I would suggest that as sexual politics has influ-
enced the reception of the women poets, so literary and class politics
have influenced the reception of the noncanonical men. Let us take, for
example, the contrasting literary receptions of two nonaristocratic po-
ets from the provinces, Kol’tsov and Mil’keev.
Kol’tsov was discovered in Voronezh by the philosopher and poet172 In Conclusion: Noncanonical Men Poets