The Faces (and Spaces) of Exile: A Parallel Case Study of the Late Works of Joseph Brodsky, Anna Akhmatova, and Karel Kryl

Nikolova, Miroslava Nikolaeva

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Year:: 2020
Contributor:: Nikolova, Miroslava Nikolaeva (creator); Golstein, Vladimir (Advisor); Fidler, Masako (Reader); Fenghi, Fabrizio (Reader); Brown University. Department of Slavic Studies (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: Russian poetry; Brodsky, Joseph, 1940-1996; Akhmatova, Anna Andreevna, 1889-1966; Kryl, Karel, 1944-1994; Spatial aesthetics; Exile (Punishment)
Extent:: vi, 275 p.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.26300/b2bz-1t85

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Abstract:: Exile, space, and place occupy a central locus not only in the sociohistoric fabric of Slavic nations but also within their literary traditions. The issue of exile, censorship, and navigating life under totalitarian regimes becomes especially pertinent in 20th century Europe. This dissertation explores the way in which the poetic voices of three exiled Slavic writers - Joseph Brodsky, Anna Akhmatova, and Karel Kryl - construct space on the poetic stage of their works. Each author experienced a different form of the exilic condition; while Akhmatova lived in a state of inner exile, Kryl, for instance, could be seen as an eternal exile due to his dissident views that persisted across various political landscapes. Moreover, the poetic voices of the writers approached the construction of space in their pieces differently. Authors like Brodsky show a pronounced centrifugal affinity for the creation of wide open and expansive topoi and a poetic gaze that moves upwards and outwards, escaping anything that might restrain him. Akhmatova, one of Brodsky’s earliest mentors, and her lyrical subjects prefer to withdraw into smaller and more circumscribing spaces, moving inwards and downwards (perhaps in a bid to find a safe haven). Yet others, like Karel Kryl, for instance, destabilize such notions by bringing together contrasting spatial aesthetics and swiftly interweaving them in the poetic fabric of his songs. This dissertation further explores the complementary spatial aesthetic between Brodsky and Akhmatova, using Harold Bloom’s modes of poetic influence. Overall, the 20th-century Slavic literary context highlights the complexity and relevance of themes of exile, space, and place not only on the poetic stage but also in the broader literary tradition of each culture.
Notes:: Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 2020

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Nikolova, Miroslava Nikolaeva, "The Faces (and Spaces) of Exile: A Parallel Case Study of the Late Works of Joseph Brodsky, Anna Akhmatova, and Karel Kryl" (2020). Slavic Studies Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://doi.org/10.26300/b2bz-1t85

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Slavic Studies Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Slavic Studies department.
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