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History on Stage in Imperial Russia by Irina

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History on Stage in Imperial Russia by Irina PERFORMING THE NATIONAL PAST: HISTORY ON STAGE IN IMPERIAL RUSSIA BY IRINA SERGEYEVNA AVKHIMOVICH DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Slavic Languages and Literatures in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2017 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Valeria Sobol, Chair Associate Professor David L. Cooper Professor Michael Finke Associate Professor Valleri Robinson ABSTRACT This dissertation closely examines 18th- and 19th-century Russian historical dramas set in the Time of Troubles, which was the era of dynastic crisis and the first civil war in Russian history during 1598- 1613. The project demonstrates that this subgenre was essential for the development of modern theatre in Russia and for articulating vital concerns about Russian national identity. Historical drama became the first type of plays developed by the earliest modern Russian playwrights and stimulated the emergence of original stage practices. I discuss several plays that contributed significantly to the national discourse and stage history, written by the following major and minor authors: Alexander Sumarokov, Alexander Pushkin, Matvei Kriukovskii, Nestor Kukol’nik, Aleksey Khomiakov, Mikhail Pogodin, Nikolai Chaev, Alexander Ostrovsky, and Aleksey K. Tolstoy. I demonstrate that, from its beginning, modern Russian theatre was not an imitative art form but, rather, an amalgamation of various foreign influences and older Russian folk performances. I discuss articles and dramas that display proto-nationalist ideas as early as in the 1790s and 1800s, a few decades before the commonly known Romantic debates on the nation, national literature, and “narodnost’.” I also explore how the historical theatre of the 1860s becomes the experimental grounds where the concept of “historical truth” (historical accuracy) is put into practice. I maintain that this less known and less studied work of playwrights and directors of the 1860s laid the foundation for a wide range of cultural phenomena in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including historical balls, the aesthetic of the Moscow Art Theatre, and the artistic rediscovery of the national heritage during the “Silver Age.” I offer close readings of the plays and utilize the inventory of performance studies in order to discuss stage productions. I also apply the theories of modern-era nation and nationalism and include elements of cultural history. Generally, my project makes a contribution to the underexplored scholarly area of the history of pre-20th-century Russian theatre and performance. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATIONS…………………………………………..iv INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1: THE TIME OF TROUBLES ENTERS RUSSIAN THEATRE: MONARCHY AND TYRANNY IN SUMAROKOV’S HISTORICAL TRAGEDY DIMITRII THE PRETENDER...............................................................................................................................................13 CHAPTER 2: SEEKING AND FORGING NATION AND “NARODNOST’” IN HISTORICAL DRAMA (1800S-1840S)...............................................................................................73 CHAPTER 3: THE TIME OF TROUBLES REVISITED IN THE 1860S: THE CONVERGENCE OF DRAMA, HISTORIOGRAPHY, AND NARRATIVES OF NATIONHOOD.........................................................................................................................................142 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................................227 APPENDIX: A LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS...........................................................................................236 BIBLIOGRAPHY......................................................................................................................................238 iii A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATIONS I use traditional spelling for the names of the major authors and cultural figures: Alexander Ostrovsky, Vissarion Belinsky, Aleksey K. Tolstoy, and Konstantin Stanislavsky. In all the other cases, I use the Library of Congress’s transliteration. All the translations are my own, except for Sumarokov’s Dimitrii the Pretender and Epistolas, Pushkin’s Boris Godunov and critical notes, and the quotes from Dostoevsky’s novels. iv INTRODUCTION The “Time of Troubles” was an era of dynastic crisis, social unrest, and the first civil war in Russian history that lasted from 1598 to 1613.1 This turbulent epoch is featured prominently in modern Russian works of historical fiction, as well as in the visual and performance arts. Mikhail Glinka’s opera Ivan Susanin (1836) and Modest Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov (1874) still hold their place in the repertoires. Mussorgsky’s original source, Alexander Pushkin’s drama Boris Godunov (1825), has been internationally regarded as a classic and extensively studied by scholars. The Monument to Minin and Pozharskii, the leaders of the people’s militia that ended the unrest, has stood on Red Square since 1818 as a national landmark.2 Starting from the late 18th century and until the early 20th century, the Time of Troubles was the setting for a great number of historical plays, penned by major and minor authors, and for many very successful stage adaptations.3 This dissertation closely examines plays about the Time of Troubles and demonstrates that this genre was essential for the development of modern theatre in Russia during this extended time period and for articulating vital concerns about Russian national identity. Historical drama became the first genre developed by the first Russian playwrights. Russian historical tragedy stimulated the emergence of the earliest original stage practices. 1 All the historical facts about the Time of Troubles are based on Chester Dunning’s A Short History of Russia’s First Civil War (University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2004). It is also important to note that the original Russian name for the era is Смутное время. The phrase does not have a precise analog in English and literally means “the time of chaos, disorder, unrest.” Смута is a now obsolete Russian word for civil unrest and riots. 2 Among the most recent examples, a historical film titled 1612: Хроники Смутного времени (1612: The Chronicles of the Time of Troubles) was released in Russia in 2007. It alters the historical events to the point where its genre can be defined as “historical fantasy.” The film focuses on the picaresque adventures of the fictitious protagonist. Boris Akunin’s fantasy novel Детская книга (Children’s Book), released in 2005, features a protagonist who travels from the 20th century back in time to year 1606 and becomes Dmitrii the Pretender. 3 During the 18th and 19th centuries, “theatre” could refer to spoken drama, ballet, opera, and other musical genres. In this project, I focus on spoken drama only and use the term “theatre” to denote this specific form of stage art. 1 Firstly, I offer a more nuanced look at the mechanisms of cultural borrowing in early modern Russia. I demonstrate that, from its beginning, modern Russian theatre was more complex than an imitation of Western theatre. Rather, Russian theatre emerged as an amalgamation of various foreign influences and older Russian folk performances. Secondly, I highlight the importance of the performance arts for shaping modern national discourse and ideas of Russian identity. I have discovered and systematized writings that display proto-nationalist ideas as early as in the 1790s and 1800s, a few decades before the commonly known Romantic debates on the nation, national literature, and “narodnost’.” Some articles from the era of the French Revolution and Terror, as well as the patriotic dramas of 1800s-1810s about the Time of Troubles, express the characteristic concern about Russian uniqueness and construct a discourse on national pride, national “character,” sovereignty, and heroism, before a specific vocabulary was even found for these ideas. Thirdly, I explore the artistic and ideological implications of the reemerging historical genre during the 1860s. Theatre becomes the experimental grounds where the concept of “historical truth” is put into practice. For the first time, theatre wants to present everyday life and the material culture of a past epoch in accordance with academic discoveries in history, archaeology, and ethnography. I demonstrate how this less known and less studied work of the playwrights and the directors of the 1860s laid the foundation for a wide range of cultural phenomena in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including historical balls, the “naturalist” aesthetic of the Moscow Art Theatre, and the artistic rediscovery of the national heritage during the “Silver Age.” This wide chronological scope allows us to understand the continuity of the early modern theatre Russia and see the evolution of acting styles and scenography. For in-depth analysis, I have chosen several plays that contributed significantly to the national discourse and the stage history, written by the following authors: Alexander Sumarokov, Alexander Pushkin, Matvei Kriukovskii, Nestor Kukol’nik, Aleksey Khomiakov, Mikhail Pogodin, Nikolai Chaev, Alexander Ostrovsky, and Aleksey K. Tolstoy. Importantly, I study not only the textual sources, but also the stage
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