The Paris Note as an Intercultural Dialogue: Russian White Émigré Poets Between Two Worlds

• In Event: Writing and Reimagining the Silver Age

Abstract

In the first quarter of the 20th century, the world experienced a series of upheavals spanning all
continents and leading to mass emigration and the formation of intercultural spaces. The
emigration from Russia in 1917-1920, known as the White Emigration, became the largest in the
country’s history. During this time, Paris emerged as a major center of Russian émigré culture,
becoming home to several movements of Russian diasporic literature. In the 1920s, the literary
movement “Paris Note”, an heir to the Silver Age aesthetic, was born in the French capital under
the informal leadership of the poet Georgy Adamovich. However, this movement was never
formalised and has been neglected by literary scholars. This paper focuses on works of Lidia
Chervinskaya, a member of the Paris Note, and their interaction with French literary culture.
Despite the fact that Chervinskaya published three collections of poems that were clearly
influenced by the French literary tradition, her poetry remains inadequately studied in the context
of Russian émigré literature. Through comparative analysis, historical analysis, and close
reading, this paper reveals how French literary traditions influenced the formation of Russian
diasporic literature through Chervinskaya’ work, revealing similarities in Chervinskaya’s and
French poetry on the level of aesthetics, themes, and poetic devices.

Author

• Tatiana Ulanova, U of Arizona