Pushkin and the Genres of Madness: The Masterpieces of 1833

In 1833 Alexander Pushkin began to explore the topic of madness, a subject little explored in Russian literature before his time. The works he produced on the theme are three of his greatest masterpieces: the prose novella The Queen of Spades, the narrative poem The Bronze Horseman, and the lyric God Grant That I Not Lose My Mind. Gary Rosenshield presents a new interpretation of Pushkin's genius through an examination of his various representations of madness.
Pushkin brilliantly explored both the destructive and creative sides of madness, a strange fusion of violence and insight. In this study, Rosenshield illustrates the surprising valorization of madness in The Queen of Spades and God Grant That I Not Lose My Mind and analyzes The Bronze Horseman's confrontation with the legacy of Peter the Great, a cornerstone figure of Russian history. Drawing on themes of madness in western literature, Rosenshield situates Pushkin in a greater framework with such luminaries as Shakespeare, Sophocles, Cervantes, and Dostoevsky providing an insightful and absorbing study of Russia's greatest writer.

Author: Gary Rosenshield
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 04/25/2002
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.82lbs
Size: 9.32h x 6.04w x 0.63d
ISBN: 9780299182045

Review Citation(s):
Choice 07/01/2004 pg. 2051

About the Author
Gary Rosenshield is professor of Slavic languages and literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of Crime and Punishment: The Techniques of the Omniscient Author and numerous scholarly articles on Slavic studies.