Andrey Fedotov and Pavel Uspenskij: The Military Man in Poetry of Nikolai Nekrasov Two Case Studies

Join us for another 19v seminar This talk will focus on two important poems, both unusual for Nekrasovs oeuvre Внимая ужасам войны (Listening to the Horrors of War) and Так, служба, сам ты в той войне (Yes, Soldier You in That War ). Both texts grapple with the experiences of men confronting military events. We will show that Внимая ужасам войны constructs a civilian subject in the context of the era of the Crimean War and thus fills an important gap in the poetry of 18531856. While the poem Так, служба, сам ты в той войне appears at first glance to address the distant era of 1812, we argue that it, too, was probably a reaction to the Crimean War, particularly in its mode of problematizing the brutality of the folk in their armed opposition to the invaders.