Baudelaire in Russia

Adrian Wanner

University Press of Florida, 1996 - Russia - 253 pages

The works of French poet Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867), a revolutionary figure in European literature and one of the most influential figures in the Symbolist movement, were translated into Russian earlier than any other language. Long before the decadents made him a champion of their cause, he had been appropriated in Russia by the revolutionary left.

This book analyzes Baudelaire's reception in Russia from 1852 (the date of the first Russian translation of his work) to the end of the Soviet era in 1991. It discusses his impact on Marxists, Russian populists, decadents, Symbolists, acmeists, and on the modernist avant-garde within a general European context, and it argues that Baudelaire became a many-faceted mythical presence in Russian literature.

About the author

Adrian Wanner is assistant professor of Russian at the University of Evansville. He is the author of Alexander Blok: Gedichte, a bilingual Russian-German edition of about 80 poems by Blok, with commentary, which he selected and translated into German verse. He is also the author of numerous articles on Russian poetry, literature, and culture, written in German, French, Russian, and English.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Baudelaire in Russia
• Author: Adrian Wanner
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: University Press of Florida, 1996
• ISBN: 0813014239, 9780813014234
• Length: 253 pages