A poet, critic and theoretician during the Silver Age of Russian poetry, at the turn of the 20th century, Viacheslav Ivanov was dubbed ""Viacheslav the Magnificent"" by his contemporaries for his erudition, sumptuous and elusive poetry and brilliant essays. He provided Russian Symbolism with theoretical underpinnings based on classical and biblical mythology, the aesthetics of music, philosophy ranging from Plato and Kant to Schopenhauer and Nietzsche, and a profound knowledge of classical and modern European poetry. In choosing material for this volume of essays, Robert Bird and Michael Wachtel have covered a broad range of Ivanov's interests: the aesthetics of Symbolism, theatre, culturalogical concerns and such influential figures of the period as Nietzsche, Solovyov, Tolstoy and Scriabin. Also included are extensive notes on the essays in which classical, biblical and poetic citations and allusions are identified, the aesthetic and theoretical contexts are clarified and certain translation problems are briefly discussed.
Part I Symbolism: The Symbolics of Aesthetic Principles; Two Elements in Contemporary Symbolism; The Testaments of Symbolism; Thoughts on Symbolism; Manner, Persona, Style; On the Limits of Art. Part II The Games of Melpomene: Presentiments and Portents: The New Organic Era and the Theatre of the Future. Part III On Cultural History: On the Joyful Craft and the Joy of the Spirit; On the Russian Idea; Ancient Terror - Leon Bakst's Painting ""Terror Antiquus""; On the Crisis of Humanism - Toward a Morphology of Modern Culture and the Psychology of Modernity. Part IV Pilot Stars: Nietzsche and Dionysus; The Religious Task of Vladimir Solovyov; Lev Tolstoy and Culture; Scriabin's View of Art.
