Elements of the Familiar Letter in Pu&shachek;kin's Domik v Kolomne
Kerry
Sabbag
The influence of the familiar letter on the literature of
A. S. Pu&shachek;kin cannot be overstated. The genre of the familiar
letter was accompanied by a familiar tone
which is
reflected in many of Pu&shachek;kin's works as well as those of his
contemporaries. An awareness of and affinity with the familiar letter
would have enabled Pu&shachek;kin's contemporaries to read his works
in this context. Given the significance of this genre for
Pu&shachek;kin and the literary atmosphere of his time, an approach
which references the familiar letter as a genre has much to offer
later generations of readers as well.
This paper seeks to examine Pu&shachek;kin's Domik v
Kolomne within the frame of the familiar letter and
investigate the implications of such a reading. In his book The
Familiar Letter as a Literary Genre in the Age of
Pu&shachek;kin, William Mills Todd establishes a framework
which is relevant to any number of texts of the time. Perhaps the most
defining characteristic of the familiar letter is its inherent sense
of freedom, both stylistic and thematic. Pu&shachek;kin's desire for
creative freedom is echoed, for example, in his choice of meter the
ottava rima, which other, most notably Byron in Beppo,
used to combine metapoetical themes and ironic or even anecdotal
styles. The conversational style of the familiar letter is supported
by other features of the genre present in Domik v
Kolomne, such as a closeness to the events of the moment, an
awareness of the recipient's and future readers' interests, a sense of
intimacy with the reader, the inclusion of concrete detail, literary
self-consciousness, and self-irony. Identifying the implicit and
explicit signs of the influence of the familiar letter in Domik
v Kolomne serves several purposes. Firstly, it further
reinforces the importance of the familiar letter in the literature of
the age. Secondly, an understanding of this genre and its
characteristics offers the contemporary reader a new way to read the
poem as a whole, rather than focusing on the differences in theme and
tone between the opening eight stanzas and the remainder. Thus the
purpose of this paper is to identify elements of the familiar letter
in Domik v Kolomne and discuss how they reflect a sense
of unity in the poem which some readings have overlooked. Finally, a
reading of Domik v Kolomne through the prism of the
familiar letter underscores Pu&shachek;kin's interest in and the
Romantic preoccupation with new literary forms.