Silence and the Rest: Verbal Skepticism in Russian Poetry PDF
Preview Silence and the Rest: Verbal Skepticism in Russian Poetry
Silence and the Rest Northwestern University Press Studies in Russian Literature and Theory Series Editors Robert Belknap Caryl Emerson Gary Saul Morson William Mills Todd III Andrew Wachtel Silence and the Rest VERBAL SKEPTICISM IN RUSSIAN POETRY Sofya Khagi northwestern university press / evanston, illinois Northwestern University Press www .nupress.northwestern .edu This book has been published with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Copyright © 2013 by Northwestern University Press. Published 2013. 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 Khagi, Sofya. Silence and the rest : verbal skepticism in Russian poetry / Sofya Khagi. p. cm. — (Northwestern University Press studies in Russian literature and theory) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8101-2920-7 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Russian poetry—History and criticism. 2. Language and languages— Philosophy. I. Title. II. Series: Studies in Russian literature and theory. PG3041.K43 2013 891.7109—dc23 2013004711 o The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction Silence and the Rest 3 Chapter One Initiating the Paradigm: The Inexpressible in Russian Romanticism 40 Chapter Two Osip Mandelstam’s Many- Voiced Silentiums 75 Chapter Three A Figure That Leaves You Speechless: Joseph Brodsky on Death and Language 117 Chapter Four “A Poet Is Less Than a Poet”: Timur Kibirov’s Merry Logophobia 163 Conclusion Logophobia in the Land of Logos 190 Notes 211 Bibliography 263 Index 295 Acknowledgments This book took many years of work, and many people contributed to it along the way. I would like to thank my dissertation advisor, Svetlana Evdokimova of Brown University, and the members of my dissertation committee, Alex- ander Levitsky of Brown University and Stephanie Sandler of Harvard Uni- versity, for their expertise and help with the project in its initial stages. I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Stephanie Sandler. Throughout all these years and all the stages of the project’s development, Stephanie has tirelessly and generously guided me—reading multiple drafts of the manu- script, providing thorough and stimulating commentary on them, encourag- ing me to push on with my work and develop it in novel and enriching ways, and always being by my side with astute advice and staunch support. I would like to express my warm appreciation to all my colleagues at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for their endorsement of this project. I am especially grateful to my mentor Herbert Eagle for his great advice on later chapter drafts; to Michael Makin for his numerous valuable insights on the manu- script; to Mikhail Krutikov for his recommendations on the book’s comple- tion; and to Olga Maiorova and Jindrich Toman for their helpful comments at various stages. The book benefi tted much from the manuscript workshop that took place at the University of Michigan in October 2010. I am indebted to Mi- chael Makin for his thorough, insightful, and encouraging comments at the workshop; to Michael Wachtel of Princeton University for his advice and encouragement; to Sarah Pratt of the University of Southern California for her insightful critique; and to Herbert Eagle for organizing this very helpful event. I owe much to Michael Wachtel for his attentive reading and astute comments on the manuscript, not only at the workshop stage but earlier as well. His suggestions were instrumental in shaping my work as it evolved from a doctoral thesis into a book project, and his enthusiasm for the project vii Acknowledgments was heartening. Irene Masing-D elic of Ohio State University and Gerald Janecek of the University of Kentucky gave helpful feedback on the sections of early chapter versions published in The Russian Review and The SEEJ, respectively; Irene also contributed to this study in the course of our many friendly conversations and through e-mail exchange. Kathleen Parthé of the University of Rochester and Barry Scherr of Dartmouth College both took time to read the manuscript and share their thoughts on it; Kathleen, my undergraduate teacher of Russian literature and a source of inspiration, pro- vided many helpful editing suggestions. At Northwestern University Press, I am indebted to Gary Saul Morson for his endorsement of the project, to Mike Levine for guiding me through the intricacies of the publication process, and to my anonymous reviewers for suggesting ways of enriching my work. This book is dedicated to my parents, Khaya and Kasriyel Khagi. I ad- mire their decency and strength—they did what only they could do under circumstances only they know. viii Silence and the Rest
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