Dimbleby, Liza Lucasta; (1997) Rozanov and the word. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

The thesis is an attempt to relate aspects of Rozanov's writing to the Russian tradition of the word, as exemplified in the work of writers and thinkers, contemporary and near-contemporary to Rozanov. The first part establishes key features of this tradition through the work of writers such as Ern, Losev, Mandelshtam and Averintsev. The relevance of Bakhtin for a reading of Rozanov, and of Rozanov for reading Bakhtin, is argued through an extended comparison of the two writers in the context of the Russian tradition of the word. Aspects of Rozanov's thought and formal expression, such as silence, intonation and the resisting of definition are discussed in relation to this tradition. The role of intimate genres and the reader is discussed with reference to Dostoevskii, Rozanov and Bakhtin. Rozanov's use of letters, footnotes and the idea of manuscripts is examined as a part of his battle with received literary forms. The second part looks at these various aspects of Rozanov's work in relation to his contemporary context; to the writing of the obscure 'literary exiles' and that of Solov'ev and Merezhkovskii. Rozanov's particular sense of the word is argued to be crucial in his attitude towards these writers. Rozanov's involvement with the decadents is discussed, and his exemplification of themes of sectarianism and apocalypse in his writing. The thesis ends with a look at the paradoxes of Rozanov's own role as a writer supposedly in battle with literature, and the relation between his need for words and his need for belief.

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