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Epilogue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2019

Jeffrey Brooks
Affiliation:
The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
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Summary

The century of Russian genius presented in the pages above opened with the soldier who saved Peter the Great from death and closed with Daniil Kharms’s travelers spreading kindness and tolerance. In between, a panorama of extraordinary cultural richness unfolded, with layer upon layer of innovation in the arts. Throughout, the creativity of high culture drew on rich folk traditions, and the burgeoning popular culture took inspiration from above. Three themes – freedom and order; the boundaries of self and society; and the societal obligations of art and artists – played out in an enormous body of literature, music, and the visual arts. The firebird, caged or free, captured or in flight, is central, as is the fox, who (usually) succeeds in securing her objectives through wile and guile. The works of this age of genius were created over decades under conditions of recurrent social disruption and trauma. Despite formidable obstacles, brave and talented writers, artists, musicians and others remained committed to expression of naïve goodness to counter evil. That this message prevailed, even if restricted to a subset of works and a segment of audiences, is a dimension of moral genius comparable to the lauded artistic brilliance of the age.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Firebird and the Fox
Russian Culture under Tsars and Bolsheviks
, pp. 263 - 266
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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  • Epilogue
  • Jeffrey Brooks, The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
  • Book: The Firebird and the Fox
  • Online publication: 05 October 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108695893.014
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  • Epilogue
  • Jeffrey Brooks, The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
  • Book: The Firebird and the Fox
  • Online publication: 05 October 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108695893.014
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Epilogue
  • Jeffrey Brooks, The Johns Hopkins University, Maryland
  • Book: The Firebird and the Fox
  • Online publication: 05 October 2019
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108695893.014
Available formats
×