Ryleev, Pushkin, and the Poeticization of Russian History

The historical poetry of Kondratii Ryleev--in particular, the lyrics he called dumy, or meditations--reveals how central emotion was to the Decembrist worldview. In particular, these poems promote an attitude towards political feeling that I call “civic sentimentalism.” Influenced by thinkers like Rousseau and organizations like the Freemasons, the Decembrists divided emotion into positive sentiments and negative passions: the former fostered [0]virtue and, eventually, improved society, while the latter did just the opposite. Ryleev strove to improve Russian society by using a poeticized version of the nation’s history to inspire patriotic feelings in his readers. In addition, this piece examines how Alexander Pushkin--a writer whose worldview has historically been elided with that of the Decembrists--actually critiqued Ryleev’s historical poetry for the way its civic sentimentalism simplified complex historical issues. © 2019 The Russian Review.