Fiodor Tiutczew i jego dzieło. Człowiek − przyroda − historiozofia − estetyka

Abstract

This dissertation is an attempt at monographic treatment of Fedor Tjutčev’s literary legacy. The main aim of the work is to present the most important assumptions of the poet’s world view included in his poetry and journalism, showing Tjutčev’s artistic work as an important link in the process of development of Russian literature, proving that the world view of the author of 'Urania' was a significant element of the nineteenth century Russian thought called the “Russian idea”. The first chapter is devoted to the analysis of Tjutčev’s poetry in the context of Romantic anthropology. The centre of the artist’s poetic world view is a human trying to guess and comprehend the mysteries of existence, nature and their own being. This pursuit was connected with human's growing self-awareness and specific liberation. Dialectic perception of the world was clearly noticeable in the poet’s thought. Hence the metaphors of day and night, harmony and chaos, death and love, East and West, North and South, are so characteristic of his poetry. The second chapter is devoted to Tjutčev’s philosophy of history. A human existing in the socio-political sphere is also the subject to this dialectic. For the poet, learning the meaning of history equaled understanding the mysteries of existence of an individual and the society. In his pursuit of the mechanisms governing mankind, the poet creates the concept of empire, based on the principles of Christian ethics. That thought, expressed in his poetry, essays and letters, is based on antinomies such as Russia – the West, the Orthodox Church – the Catholic Church, the Empire – Revolution. Tjutčev’s idea of empire based on Christian ethical principles was presented here, as well as the function of Slavs and Poland in that empire and the destructive role of revolution in the historical process. The principle of unity is the superior one, organizing the structure of the world in the spheres of ideas and of the society. The third chapter presents Tjutčev’s aesthetic assumptions against the background of the Russian literary life in the 19th century (mostly against the background of the Decembrists’ and the Lovers of Wisdom (liubomudry’s) poetry, poetry of “art for the art’s sake” and democratic poetry). The output of the author of 'Twins' is a synthesis of Russian poetry after Pushkin. Scholars divide his poetic biography into two periods. In the first, German one, his output is akin to the philosophy of the lubomudry. In the second, Russian one, the hierarchy of values changes. While the topics connected with philosophy, the secrets of human existence and nature prevailed in the initial phase, in the second one he concentrated on humans presented in the whole complexity against the historical, social and psychological background.