A Voltaire for Russia Northwestern University Press Studies in Russian Literature and Theory Series Editors Robert Belknap Caryl Emerson Gary Saul Morson William Mills Todd III Andrew Wachtel A Voltaire for Russia A. P. SUMAROKOV’S JOURNEY FROM POET- CRITIC TO RUSSIAN PHILOSOPHE Amanda Ewington northwestern university press / evanston, illinois Northwestern University Press www .nupress.northwestern .edu Copyright © 2010 by Northwestern University Press. Published 2010. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Ewington, Amanda. A Voltaire for Russia : A. P. Sumarokov’s journey from poet-critic to Russian philosophe / Amanda Ewington. p. cm. — (Northwestern University Press studies in Russian literature and theory) Revision of the author’s thesis (Ph.D.)—University of Chicago, Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures, 2001. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-8101-2696-1 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Sumarokov, Aleksandr Petrovich, 1717–1777—Criticism and interpretation. 2. Voltaire, 1694–1778—Infl uence. 3. Russian literature—18th century—History and criticism. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in Russian literature and theory. PG3318.Z9E95 2010 891.78209—dc22 2010008962 o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the Amer ican National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. To Craig Contents Acknowledgments ix Author’s Note xi List of Abbreviations xiii Introduction: Northern Racine or Russian Voltaire? Reconsidering Sumarokov’s Literary Models 3 Chapter One The Poet as Critic: Sumarokov and Voltairean Taste 28 Chapter Two The Poet as Philosophe 74 Chapter Three The Poet as Playwright- Philosophe 119 Conclusion 154 Appendix A: Voltaire’s Letter to Sumarokov 157 Appendix B: Preface to the Tragedy Dimitry the Pretender 159 Notes 163 Selected Bibliography 227 Index 249 Acknowledgments I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Anna Lisa Crone, who passed away as this book was going to press. It was her course on the history of Russian literary style at the University of Chicago that initially sparked my interest in the eighteenth century. She served as my adviser and continued to encourage and mentor me long after it was her job to do so. I am greatly indebted to Marcus Levitt of the University of South- ern California. Without his meticulous and prolifi c work on Sumarokov, this book simply would not have been possible. A generous scholar, he offered invaluable comments on this manuscript in its early stages and continued to support my efforts to see it published. I am also grateful to Joachim Klein for taking the time to read an earlier draft of this work and for his candid feedback. Looking back to the genesis of this project, I would like to thank Robert Morrissey of the University of Chicago for introducing me to the French side of this story through three graduate seminars—Voltaire, Rous- seau, and the Encyclopédie. Also during my graduate school days, David Powelstock helped me consider Sumarokov’s poetic aspirations—on and off the page—in a new light. A Fulbright- Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship allowed me to spend twelve months conducting research in St. Petersburg in 1998 and 1999. A Whiting Fellowship in the Humanities at the University of Chicago subsequently funded me for an academic year of full- time writing. Many libraries graciously opened their doors to me over the course of my research: the University of Chicago’s Regenstein Library; Widener and Houghton Libraries at Harvard; the Slavic collection at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign during two sessions at the Summer Research Laboratory; the Russian National State Library and the Library of the Acad- emy of Sciences, both in St. Petersburg; and the public library in Burnie, Tasmania. At my home institution, Davidson College, Joe Gutekanst worked miracles to provide speedy access to materials beyond our collection. During my Fulbright year, Natalia Dmitrievna Kochetkova of RAN (Pushkinskii dom) kindly invited me to give a paper to the Sector on ix