V.F. Odoevskij and Novalis, the heritage of the German Fruehromantik in Odoevskij's thought and Russian nights

Abstract

Despite the significant influence of German thought and literature on Russian romanticism, the Jena variety of early German romanticism (Fruhromantik) never fully resonated in Russia. An exception to this rule is V.F. Odoevskij (1804-1869), who immersed himself in a life-long study of German romantic philosophy (Kant, Fichte, Oken, Schelling). While Odoevskig's philosophical affinity to German idealism is well-known and well-studied, the heritage of the literary Fruhromantik in Odoevskij's though and its impact on his literary creativity has largely gone unnoticed. A consideration of Odoevskij's poetics and fiction in terms of early German romanticism suggests a more suitable context for critical reappraisal that challenges this writer's image of an outdated, somewhat dilettantish romantic eccentric.

The dissertation uses the Jena romantic Novalis (F. von Hardenberg, 1772-1801) and his novel fragment Heinrich von Ofterdingen (1802) as a yardstick for a comparative analysis of Odoevskij's philosophical theories, poetics and their literary application in his work Russian Nights (Russkie Nochi; 1844). Chapter I examines the Russian reception of German romanticism for a proper literary-historical context; Chapter II compares Novalis's and Odoevkij's background, general body of works and their literary reception; Chapter III provides a comparative analysis of the two writers' philosophical investigations and literary theories, which culminate in a concept of a "universal poetry" for which the romantic novel became the literary vehicle; and Chapter IV isolates the main features in Heinrich von Ofterdingen as a romantic novel, which also appear as the underlying principles in Russian Nights, where they are productively applied to offer a romantic novel of the Jena variety that is relevant to Russia in the modern age.

The comparison of Novalis's theories and their application in his chief novel to Odoevskij's poetics and Russian Nights reveals the German Fruhromantik as Odoevskij's true literary roots, thus linking him to a progressive, innovative and solution-oriented literary movement. As a result, he emerges as a romantic fundamentalist dedicated to the core concepts of transcendental poetics. The thesis thus demonstrates that any future consideration of Odoevskij's fiction and other writings can no longer ignore the heritage of the literary Fruhromantik contained therein.