Dmitriev

[J.M. Andrew]

Dear Professor Schmid

I don't know enough about the situation to comment directly on the
perceptions/legality of homosexuality in this period.  I thought, however,
you might care to look at a recent book, namely, Wendy Rosslyn's 'Anna
Bunina (1774-1829) & the Origins of Women's Poetry in Russia' (Edwin
Mellen, 1997) in which she discusses the relationship between Bunina &
Dmitriev.  See especially pp. 63-67 where Rosslyn discusses the rumours in
St P c. 1804 that Bunina & Dmitriev might marry.

Stephanie Sandler's 'Distant Pleasures' also has interesting things to say
about male friendships in roughly this period, as, of course, does Simon
Karlinsky in his book on Gogol, with which I'm sure you're already
familiar.

All good wishes


Joe Andrew

>
> One chapter of my book on Russian Autobiographies deals with I.I.
> Dmitriev's "Vzglyad na moyu zhizn'" from the late 1820ies. It is a
> rather typical description of Dmitrievs political carreer, written in
> a very dry tone.
> Dmitriev does not tell a word about his private life - which
> completely fits into the context of the 18th century but not into the
> context of Russian Romanticism: Zhukovsky and Vyazemskij complained
> about the "officiality" of Dmitrievs autobiography.
> I found a possible explanation for Dmitrievs reluctance to describe
> his private life: Simon Karlinsky gives in several articles the
> information, that Dmitriev was homosexual.
> The problem now is to find out whether Dmitriev's "official"
> autobiography is in fact a camouflage of his problematic private life.
> The ambivalence goes even further: Is homosexuality in the context of
> the early 19th century a scandal or is it just a non-event, a kind of
> don't ask-don't tell taboo?
> Does anybody know any biographical facts from Dmitriev's life which
> could explain his situation? How was the legal situation? How was
> homosexuality perceived in society - if at all?
>
> Ulrich Schmid
> University of Basel (Switzerland)
> Slavic Department
>


--
Professor Joe Andrew
Department of Modern Languages (Russian)
Keele University
Keele
Staffs ST5 5BG
UK

tel. 44 + (0)1782 583291
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