The exotic prisoner in Russian romanticism
By: Paul M. Austin.
Series: Middlebury studies in Russian language and literature ;; v. 9
Publisher: Peter Lang; Lang AG International Academic Publishers, Peter
Published: 1997
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 214
Subjects: Russian literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; Romanticism -- Russia.; Prisoners in literature.
Description: Besides new themes of alienation and desires for self-fulfillment, European Romanticism brought to Russian literature the congenial themes of captivity and exotic worlds. Between 1820 and 1840 there developed an enormous literature with hosts of prisoners in exotic locales in the Caucasus.

Loneliness and desire for freedom competed with elaborate descriptions of unknown peoples - Chechens, Georgians, Tatars and Circassians - to produce a literature of unparalleled brilliance, brought to a dazzling culmination by Lermontov's "Bela" in 1839. The exotic prisoner theme with its exotic trappings then disappears, leaving as its heritage the powerful themes of loneliness and introspection which other writers were subsequently to give their own unique treatment.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.