Contenu du sommaire : Autour du symbolisme russe (2)

Jutta Scherrer, Intelligentsia, religion, revolution : first manifestations of Christian socialism in Russia. 1905-1907 [II]. The last part of this study deals with the project of creation of a "Union of Christian policy" formulated by S. N. Bulgakov, economist and ex "legal" marxist. This project is in the line of the endeavours of certain members of progressive clergy and of the intelligentsia to elaborate a program of Christian policy. (See the first part of this article in CMRS, XVII, 4.) Bulgakov wanted to found in Russia a Christian-social party, or even different Christian parties with differenciated social programs and political lines. The "Christian socialism" as proposed by Bulgakov during the years 1905-1907 was viewed by the Bolshevik fraction of social-democracy as an alternative to be taken into very serious consideration.

Michel Niqueux, S. Klyčkov and S. Esenin between symbolism and aggelism. The autumn of 1918 was for S. Esenin and S. Klyčkov a period of friendship and close cooperation. The present article comments on the following declaration of S. Esenin: "At a certain moment, we became friends with S. Klyčkov, a poet with whom I had a great spiritual affinity. I was writing at the time The keys of Mary and was preparing to declare myself together with him as attached to the new movement, Aggelism." Between 1907 and 1918, Klyčkov's poetry was near to the aspirations of the symbolist manifesto of Esenin, but it is in his novels that from 1925 on, we find a brilliant illustration of the themes of The keys of Mary, in particular of the world assimilated to a book that has to be deciphered, or to a hedonistic dream. The research on the origin and the content of the term aggelism allows to define it as the sensation of the forces of evil within the man in action against nature, the antithesis of the myth of Paradise; Esenin felt with particular intensity the presence of these forces in 1920-1923. They took the aspect of fantastic demonism in the case of Klyčkov. The aspiration towards a spiritual and poetical transfiguration of the world, as expressed in The keys of Mary determines together with malencient aggelism the two poles of the work and the spirit of Klyčkov and Esenin.

Claudine Amiard-Chevrel, Valerij Brjusov, a symbolist poet, dramatic critic and theoretician. Brjusov was the first to strike at the naturalism of the Art Theatre of Moscow: it is necessary to appeal to the imagination of the spectator and to draw inspiration from the conscious convention of the ancient theatre. Whereas some would like to transform players into puppets, he wants to award the principal place on the stage to the actor. In order to put into limelight the three-dimensional body of the comedian, he suggests the use of a constructed and abstract scenery where volumes, and colours play their part. The profound psychic life of the characters must find expression through voices, gestures and mimics of the comedian corresponding to true life through an analysis of non-expressed motives of the comport ment and the words of the drama. Brjusov found an echo in Meyerhold, Stanislavskij, Tairov and Vahtangov.

Simon Markiš, The Russian-Jewish literature and Isaak Babel'. The author of the present article establishes that the fact of Babel's belonging to Jewish culture played a more important and profound part than generally admitted. He explains by Babel's double cultural appurtenance and by the invincible antinomies that resulted therefrom, the origin of the principal literary methods of this writer and his characteristic pathos. Starting with Babel', he endeavours to specify the place of non-Russian cultures of Russian expression in the Soviet literature and their contribution to same. Generally speaking this study stresses the methodological problem of the participation of a specifically Jewish culture to national literatures.

Georges Nivat, History of Belyan "teratogenesis" (the relations between Emilij Medtner and Andrej Belyj). The article is based on numerous extracts of correspondence that Belyj and Emilij Medtner exchanged throughout their chequered relations from 1902 to 1915. Critic of music, founder of the Musaget editions, Medtner (who wrote under the pen name of Vol'fing) had played an important part in the cultural life of Moscow, especially from 1909 to 1915. Furthermore, his intellectual relations with the poet Andrej Belyj had an important influence on the work of the latter. Obedient to the entropy of Belyj 's imaginary world, Medtner's image is slowly degraded in Belyj 's vision and the "monster" Medtner takes its place in the memoirs written by Belyj during the years 20 to 30 in the gallery of zoomorphic beings created by his imagination.

Georges Nivat, Letters of Andrej Belyj to "Asja"'s family. Asja Turgeneva (1890- 1966), Belyj 's first wife, played a most important part in the poet's life as from 1909. Later on, she burned the letters that she had received from him. Nevertheless, some of them had been spared this doom and are being published here together with those addressed by Belyj to Asja's mother and stepfather. These letters throw a light on several stages of Belyj 's life: in Volhynia in 1912, in Dornach in 1914 and 1915, in Moscow in 1919 and 1920. They fully illustrate Belyj 's creative verbal proficiency which endowes them with a remarkable plasticity.