Reinventing Romantic Poetry : Russian Women Poets of the Mid-nineteenth Century

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teur whose entire literary output consisted of six povesti(tales). Pavlova


is described in these encyclopedias as “Pavlov’s wife” and an “author-


ess” (pisatel’nitsa).As late as 1991 a Soviet publication identified Pav-


lova as a “poetess”—although one of “surprisingly varied themes and


genres”—to whom several well-known men poets dedicated poems.^22


Soviet ideology appears to have promoted and even encouraged a

condescending attitude toward women’s writing. Collections appeared


with such titles as Serdtsa chutkogo prozren’em... : Povesti i rasskazy


russkikh pisatel’nits XIX v.(With the insight of a sensitive heart... : Tales


and stories by Russian authoresses of the nineteenth century, 1991 ),


Moskovskaia muza(The Moscow muse, 1998 ), and Ts aritsy muz: Russkie


poetessy XIX veka (Queens of the muses: Russian poetesses of the nine-


teenth century, 1989 ). No collection of Russian men’s poetry bore the title


“The Moscow Muse” or “Kings of the Muses.” Several Soviet scholars


in studies of nineteenth-century women poets referred to them by their


first names, something one cannot imagine them doing to male literary


figures.^23 Nor were women poets even included in the minor canon


known to literary specialists. In the scholarly Biblioteka poeta (Poet’s li-


brary) series of the Soviet period only one nineteenth-century woman


poet, Pavlova, had a volume entirely devoted to her work.


Methodological and Theoretical Considerations


Some methodological and theoretical issues should be clarified before


we proceed. First, I have included women poets in this study on the ba-


sis of the quality and quantity of their poetry. Most published at least


one book of poetry, a feat in itself for a Russian woman at this time; a


few left notebooks of unpublished poems.^24


Second, I have chosen to consider the work of these women poets in

relation to that of their male contemporaries. Gynocritical studies that


look at women writers in their own terms have been essential for re-


covering forgotten women writers, defining women’s literary traditions,


and developing “interpretive strategies” appropriate to their work.^25


However, many critics have realized the importance of eventually treat-


ing men and women writers together. Indeed, such a comparative ap-


proach is necessary in order to answer fully the question that Elaine


Showalter calls central to feminist criticism: “What is the difference of


women’s writing?”^26


Although, as I intend to show, the women poets of this generation

Introduction 9

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