INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy subrnitted. Thus, sorne thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type ofcomputer printer. Tbe quality oftbis reproduction is dependent upon tbe quality ofthe copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright materiaJ had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, chans) are reproduced by seetioning the original, beginning at the upper left...band corner and continuing from left to right in equal sections with smaU overlaps. Eaeh original is aise photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back ofthe book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in tbis copy. Higher quality 6" x 9" black and white photographie prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in tbis copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. UMI A Bell & HoweU Information Company 300 North Zeeb Road., ADn AJbor MI 48106-1346 USA 3131761-4700 8OOIS21~ • PUSHKIN THE HISTORIAN: THE EVOLUTION OF PUSHKIN'S VIEWS ON REBELLION, POLITICAL LEGITIMACY AND THE WRITlNG OF HISTORy Anthony W. Retardo, B.A. Departrnent of History Faculty ofArts MeGili University, Montreal July 1997 A thesis submitted to the Faculty ofGraduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilment ofthe requ;rements ofthe degree of Master's ofArts in History. "Anthony W. Belardo, 1997 • National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1+1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 canada canada The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence aIlowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library ofCanada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies ofthis thesis in microfonn, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fonne de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur fonnat électronique. The author retains ownership ofthe L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis Dor substantial extracts from it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son penmSSlOD. autorisation. 0-612-37188-3 Canadi • ii ABSTRACT Alexander Pushkin devoted the last five years of his life to research in the imperial archives in St. Petersburg, publishing a number ofworks dealing with such historical figures as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Boris Godunov, and the rebelleaders Mazepa and Pugachev. This thesis examines Pushkin's historiographical methodology and conclusions and eonsiders Pushkin's writings from the viewpoint of the historian rather than the literary eritic. It offers a chronological study ofthe four fictional and non-fictional works in which Pushkin analysed major figures and events in Russian history and traces the importance he attributed to them for the development ofthe Russian national consciousness. The themes ofrehellion against the state and politicallegitimacy predominate in this investigation and shed light on how Pushkin's study ofhistory reinforced and, in sorne instances altere~ his own fundamental political and social beliefs. • iii • RÉSUMÉ Alexandre Pouchkine a consacré les cinq dernières années de sa vie à faire des recherches dans les archives impériales de Saint-Pétersbourg et à publier plusieurs ouvrages consacrés à des personnages historiques comme Pierre le Gran<L Catherine Il la Grande, Boris Godounov et les chefs rebelles Mazeppa et Pougatchev. Cette thèse est centrée sur la méthodologie historiogaphique et les conclusions de Pouchkine et examine son oeuvre du point de vue de l'historien plutôt que de celui du critique littéraire. Elle propose une étude chronologique des quatre oeuvres fictives et non fictives dans lesquelles Pouchkine analyse les personnages et événements principaux de l1tistoire russe et pennet de dégager l'importance qu'il leur attribue dans l'épanouissement de la conscience nationale russe. Les thèmes de la rébellion contre l'État et de la légitimité politique prédominent dans cette enquête et illustrent comment l'étude que Pouchkine a faite de l'histoire a conforté et parfois altéré ses convictions politiques et sociales les plus fondamentales. • iv • Table ofContents Abstract ii Résumé III Table ofContents IV Chronology V Chapter 1: Introduction 8 Chapter 2: Boris Godunov 45 Chapter 3: Poltava 66 Chapter 4: A History ofPugachev and The Captain 's J)aughler 96 Conclusion 128 Bibliography 133 • v • CHRONOLOGY OF THE LIFE OF ALEXANDER PUSHKIN 1799 Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin born in Moscow. 1802 Suicide ofRadishchev) author ofJourney/rom Petersburg 10 Moscow. Murder ofTsar Paul J. Accession ofAlexander J. 1812 French invasion ofRussia. Burning ofMoscow. 1814 Pushkin enters Imperial Lycée al Tsarskoe Selo. Abdication ofNapoleon. Restoration ofthe Bourbons. Byron publishes Lara and The Corsair. Scott publishes Waver/y. 1815 Battle ofWaterloo. Congress ofVienna. Alexander 1initiates Holy Alliance with Austria and Prussia. 1816 Death ofGavrila Derzhavin, court poet to Catherine the Great. Kararnzin publishes first volume ofHistory ofthe Russian Siaie. 1811 Pushkin graduates from the Lycée, moves to St. Petersburg, meets future philosopher Peter Chaadaev. 1818 Joins the society ofthe Green Lamp, a literary club WÎth liberal politicalleanings. 8irth ofTurgenev. 1819 Publishes "Ode to Fredom". Exiled to southem Russia. André Chénier's Poésies published posthumously. 1820 Publishes Rus/an andLudmila. • vi 1821 Birth ofDostoevsky. • Scott publishes Keni/worlh. 1822 Writes The Captive ofthe Caucasus, The Fountain ofBakhchisarai and the Gavriliada. 1823 Begins Eugene Onegin. 1824 Second exile at family estate Mikhailovskoe. Death ofByron at Missolonghi. 1825 Publishes tirst chapter ofElIgene Onegill. Writes Boris Godllnov. Death ofAlexander 1. Accession ofNicholas 1. Decembrist insurrection. 1826 Execution ofDecembrist leaders. Death ofKaramzin. 1827 Nicholas 1agrees to aet as Pushkin's personal censor. 1828 Writes Poltava. Works on The B/ackamoor ofPeter the Greai. Russo~Turkish War (untilI829). Birth ofTolstoy. 1829 Treaty ofAdrianople ends Russo~Turkish War. Lermontov writes The Demon. Zagoskin's historical novel Yur; M;los/avsky published. 1830 Writes the Tales ofBelkin, '·Mozart and Salieri", "History ofthe Village of Gorjukhino", 'The Covetous Knight", "The Stone Ouest", "Feast During the lime ofPlague". July Revolution in France. Charles X overthrown. Louis Philippe elected king. • 1831 Marries Natalya Goncharova. Publishes Boris Godunov. vii Polish uprising against Russia fails. • Death ofSir Walter Scott. 1832 Begins The Captai" 's Daughter. Death ofGoethe. 1833 Travels to Vrais to research Pugachev uprising. Minister ofEducation Uvarov proclaims doctrine ofUOfficial Nationality". 1834 Publishes "The Queen ofSpades". Completes Hislory ofPlIgachev. 1835 Founds journal The Conlemporary. Pogodin becomes tirst professor ofRussian History at the University ofMoscow. 1836 Pushkin completes The Captain 's Daughter. Chaadaev's "Philosophica1 Letter". 1837 Pushkin killed in a duel by d'Anthès. Lermontov writes "The Death ofa Poet". • • 8 Chapter 1: Introduction • 9 • A significant number ofdetractors, inc1uding both contemporaries of Pushkin and modern scholars, have deplored the poet's reactionary conservatism in the latter part ofhis life. They have posited a number ofalternative scenarios to account for the alleged reversai in Pushkin's thought in the late 1820's and 1830's. Without a doubt, censorship affected the content of Pushkin's literary efforts and public utterances; moreover, Tsar Nicholas l's 1826 decision to act as Pushkin's personal censor served to impose more rather than fewer restrictions on the poet's freedom to criticize government and society. 1 Shortly thereafter, Pushkin embarked on the serious study ofRussian history~ by the early 1830's, the ideas he derived from this research began to coalesce with his earlier thoughts into a well- integrated political stance.2 Pushkin's historiographical methodology, throughout his writings, was marked sjgnificantly by the influence ofthe authors he had read at the lycée. Voltaire and Karamzin remained important sources ofinspiration even though Pushkin had, at one point, accused the latter oftoadying and showing his readers l William Mills Todd, "Institutions ofLiterature in Early-Nineteenth Century Russia: Boundaries and Transgressions," in Gary Saul Morson, ed., Literature and History; Theoretical Problems and Russian Case Studies, (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1986), 82. 2 Sam Driver, "Pushkin and Politics: The Later Works," Slavic and East • European Journal, 25.3 (1981), 2. 10 • "the necessity ofdespotism and the pleasures ofthe knout."3 After 1825, however, this youthful hyperbolism tended to diminish.