The Russian “North”. Metamorpho-ses of National Identity in the Late 18th - Early 19th Centuries: G.R. Derzhavin

Abstract

Thе article explores the question of the role of the poet and state-man Gav-riil Romanovitch Derzhavin (1743-1816) in the development of the concept of “Russian Northernship” - a rich “identification matrix”, which played a big role in the philosophical and ideological thought of the 18th and the first third of 19th centuries and pushed back into the distance in the middle of the 19th cen-tury, with the beginning of the “classical” Russian dispute between “Wester-ners” and “Slavophiles” and reorientation searches of Russian identity on the axis East - West. The article analyzes the ratio between “spiritual poetry” and “ideological” practices in the work of Derzhavin. The author explores the major philosophical and literary works of Derzhavin, which sets out the main mean-ings of the concept “Russian Northernship”: solemn Оdes on the capture of Ochakov (1788), Izmail (1790), Alexander Suvorov victories in Italy (1799), the expulsion of the French from Russia (1812), and the programmatic poem “Wa-terfall” (early 1790s) and “Snigir” (1800). Author concluded that it is “Northern” motive of Derzhavin which was developed later in the works of K.N. Batyush-kov, P.A. Vyazemsky, A.A. Delvig and A.S. Pushkin.