Veselovskiana 2016. The Contribution of “Rossijskie Propilei”

Abstract

In the last few decades both in Russia and abroad the interest in Aleksandr Veselovskij, the ‘father of historical poetics’, has been increasing. In 2016 alone the Russian editorial series “Rossijskie Propilei” dedicated four publications to this important 19^th century Russian scholar, one monograph and three collections of works, articles and book excerpts. The four books deal with, respectively: Vasilij Žukovskij, the most important Russian poet before Puškin, discussing his role between Sentimentalism and Romanticism; the Renaissance, focusing especially on the peculiarity of the Italian context; methodology of the humanities, on the basis of carefully selected reviews; and the Holy Grail, proposing many interesting and still useful theories on the origins and development of this legend. Despite some flaws (inaccurate form and questionable statements), “Rossijskie Propilei” has provided new tools to better understand the legacy of one of the most important figures in literary studies.