A Lecture by Dr. Konstantin Starikov
What is the significance of the poetic riddle in eighteenth-century Russia? The first Russian poetic riddle appeared in 1755. In this lecture, Prof. Starikov will present a short history of the evolution of the Russian riddling tradition in the literary and cultural contexts of the late 17th-early 19th centuries. Characterized by the complex interactions of oral folklore, Russian-Orthodox book-learning culture, the Greco-Latin rhetorical tradition, and the blending of the Baroque and neo-classical trends, the riddle genre in 18th century Russia offers an opportunity to investigate the process of Russia’s westernization using the notion of cultural marginality. Length: 50 minutes + Q/A. In English. Knowledge of Russian not required.
