Pushkin speech

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The Pushkin speech is a speech given by Fyodor Michailowitsch Dostoyevsky to an invited audience on the occasion of the opening ceremony for a Pushkin monument in Moscow . The organizing committee of the Friends of Russian Poetry Association invited Dostoyevsky to give this speech . Only a reference to the occasion was desired. On June 8, 1880, the second day of the celebrations, Dostoevsky delivered his speech in the Kazakov Columned Hall in Moscow in the House of the Nobility Assembly . It represented the social climax in Dostoyevsky's work, who died a few months later.

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Dostoyevsky believed that he was using Pushkin to prove that Pushkin was the true representative of Russianism. In turn, he sees this Russian nature as the necessary basis for achieving universal humanity. Only the Russians are able to penetrate and fully understand the thoughts and feelings of all peoples in the world. No other people have this property. He sees precisely this ability in the person of Pushkin for the first time in the form of a perfect human type. Dostoevsky glorified Pushkin as the strongest Russian national force. Despite this nationalist orientation, the conservative Slavophiles were ultimately disappointed with this speech. The references to the Westerners in the form of the myth of a Dostoyevsky common humanity did not correspond to their traditional image.

Course of the speech

During Dostoyevsky's cautious and ecstatic lecture, there was absolute silence among the guests. The serenity of the audience quickly changed into interested tension, which was only released towards the end of the lecture. The speech was greeted with euphoria by the attendees of the inauguration ceremony. Storms of enthusiasm set in at the end of the speech. Women screeched hysterically or passed out. The ovations never stopped. Many of the audience rushed to Dostoevsky enthusiastically, shook hands and hugged him. It was only with great effort that Dostoyevsky was able to be escorted out of the room. The president of the assembly tried in vain to calm the enthusiasts. All speakers who were supposed to speak after Dostoevsky declined on the grounds that after this speech any further word would be superfluous.

The letter to his wife, which he wrote on the night of June 8th to 9th, 1880, contains the description of the morning ceremony. It is confirmed by countless memories from participants and witnesses.

Background of the speech

As a child or adolescent, Dostoyevsky was an ardent admirer of Pushkin . Several biographers mention that Dostoevsky wanted to wear black when the news of Pushkin's death arrived , but could not do so because his mother had recently passed away.

The Pushkin speech was not an improvisation . He had already published her basic ideas in 1861.

The Pushkin speech is often classified as the point at which Dostoevsky and Turgenev put an end to their enmity. This does not correspond to the facts, as u. a. these quotes prove:

“At a banquet the following day, Grigorowitsch had the task of making sure that the two fighting cocks did not clash. When Dostoevsky entered the room with Turgenev, Dostoevsky demonstratively turned and looked out the window. 'There's an interesting statue to see here,' said Grigorovich nervously. Turgenev pointed to Dostoyevsky: 'If she looks like him, I can do without it.' "
“Turgenev was one of many who got carried away. He even hugged his rival with tears in his eyes. But as soon as he was back in Paris, disgust and anger seized him at this 'idiotic rubbish' about the 'Russian common man'. Lies and falsehood from beginning to end - Dostoyevsky had simply seduced the Russian intelligentsia. "

Despite the euphoric reception in various political camps, there were also critical voices:

“The conservative thinker Konstantin Leontjew, on the other hand, was outraged that the speaker had misused the Christian message of love to proclaim a general fraternization of peoples. That was clearly heresy! "

literature

  • FM Dostojewski: Speech about Pushkin on June 8, 1880 at the meeting of the "Friends of Russian Poetry" association with an essay by Volker Braun . Hamburg, Europäische Verl.-Anst., 1992, ISBN 3-434-50106-1 .
  • Stepun, Fedor: Dostojewski - Weltschau und Weltanschauung , Carl Pfeffer Verlag 1950
  • Dostojewskaja, Anna G .: Memories , Rütten and Loening Berlin 1976
  • Dostojewskaja, Aimée : Dostojewski Described by his daughter , Ernst Reinhardt Verlag 1920
  • Elsässer-Feist, Ulrike: Fjodor M. Dostojewski , Brockhaus 1991
  • Kjetsaa, Geir: The mightiest among the Russian giants , Heyne Verlag Munich; 1986
  • Lavrin, Janko: Dostojevskij , rororo Rowohlt's Monographs 1998
  • Maurina, Zenta: Dostojewskij - Human Shaper and Seeker of God , Maximilian Dietrich Verlag 1952
  • Meier Graefe, Julius: Dostojewski Der Dichter , Insel Verlag 1988
  • Nötzel, Karl: Dostojewski , H. Haessel Verlag 1925

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Kjetsaa, Geir: The most powerful among the Russian giants , Heyne Verlag Munich; 1986
  2. ↑ Stepun, Fedor: Dostojewski Weltschau und Weltanschauung , Carl Pfeffer Verlag 1950
  3. ↑ Kjetsaa, Geir: The mightiest among the Russian giants , Heyne Verlag Munich; 1986, p. 433
  4. ↑ Kjetsaa, Geir: The mightiest among the Russian giants , Heyne Verlag Munich; 1986, p. 438
  5. ↑ Kjetsaa, Geir: The mightiest among the Russian giants , Heyne Verlag Munich; 1986, p. 438