Peter Viazemsky: Liberation as Ethic and Aesthetic Praxis

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel focuses on Prince Peter Viazemsky (Petr Viazemskii)—Karamzin’s brother-in-law and foster son, Pushkin’s close friend and correspondent, and, overall, one of the most fascinating Russian literati of the 19th century. In the letter of 1826 to his wife, Viazemsky calls himself “a claimed liberal and a bogeyman for the government,” thus emphasizing his political position and, more broadly, his freethinking spirit. This spirit was, indeed, all-embracing and concerned Viazemsky’s stance on the development of the Russian language, role of education, censorship restrains, freedom of speech and press, personal liberty as well as the necessity for Russia to acquire its Constitution. Even in his later years, disproving of the new literary tendencies introduced by the democratic intelligentsia, Viazemsky kept advocating for an open debate in lieu of restrictions.
The three presentations suggested for this panel will talk about Viazemsky’s ethic and aesthetic views in their relationship to the question of liberation. Using an unpublished archival source, Joseph Peschio will discuss Viazemsky’s confrontation with the censorship policies of the early 1820s. Elena Petrova-Libgober will talk about Viazemsky’s take on the Jewish question and the connection between the Jewish civil liberation and democratization of society. Daria Solodkaia will look at Viazemsky as an “influencer” and reveal how Viazemsky’s letters of 1824–1830 turned the epistolary narrative of the female members of his family toward more liberal style and contents.

Sub Unit

• Literature: 19th Century

Chair

• Emily Wang, U of Notre Dame

Papers

• Young Viazemsky Takes on the Censorship Apparatus, 1821–1824 - Joseph Peschio, U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

• Petr Viazemskii and the 'Jewish Question' in the Russian Empire - Elena Petrova-Libgober, U of Southern California

• Peter Viazemsky’s Correspondence of 1824–1830 and Its Influence on the Female Members of the Viazemsky Family - Daria Solodkaia, Independent Scholar

Discussant

• Sarah Sally Pratt, U of Southern California