Svetskaja povest' v rannem tvorčestve V.F. Odoevskogo: tipologičeskie čerty i tematičeskie gruppy

The topic of the present paper is a relatively neglected area of Odoevskij’s narrative work: the society tale. As is well-known, in the 1830’s the society tale represented a real workshop in which writers experimented with topical themes and narrative techniques that would undergo further development during the great era of realism. In particular, the svetskaja povest’ as its roots in the literature of the 1820’s, when the need for greater realism in the construction of characters and plots began to come to the fore in Russian prose. This was often in sharp contrast to the traditional fiction of the time, mostly characterized by sentimental, romantic literary clichés. In his seminal monograph devoted to the life and work of Odoevskij, P. Sakulin already pointed out how the tales written by the Russian author during the period of his artistic maturity, his “Petersburg period” (including the famous Princess Mimi, 1834, and Princess Zizi, 1839), drew heavily on the early fictional experiences of his “Moscow period”, which witnessed the foundation of the Society of Ljubomudry (‘Wisdom lovers’) and the publication of the “Mnemosina” almanac (1824-25). The literary début of Odoevskij (“the Griboedov of fiction”, as by Sakulin called him) was indeed characterised by an intense and varied literary activity, the fruits of which are mostly unknown to the modern reader, given that, after their first publication in the major journals of the time, these works have never been published again, either during the author’s lifetime or posthumously. Even if not always perfect from an artistic point of view, Odoevskij’s early works are of considerable historical and literary interest, because they reflect the intense philosophical and cultural debate of the time. In these tales the author chose as the target of his criticism the corrupt behaviour of the Russian high society of the time and the ignorance of its members, against which he set a young character, a typical romantic hero, endowed with integrity, intelligence and sensitivity, but doomed to be crushed by the evil of that environment.