Project

An Indwelling Voice: Sincerities and Authenticities in Russian Poetry, 1782-2001

Program

ACLS Fellowship Program

Department

Russian

Abstract

This project explores the vicissitudes of the sincere voice as it is generated anew in each new generation of Russian poets, and, in fact, in each audibly sincere poem or passage. Historically contextualized close readings uncover the poetic devices and pragmatic framings which have allowed poets to inscribe a sincere voice despite the inevitable barriers. Taken together, the readings, spanning approximately 220 years of poetry, demonstrate shifting conceptualizations of sincerity and authenticity and provide new perspective on the evolution of the lyric.