About Artistic Integration in the Poetics of Russian Realism: Pushkin — Turgenev

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The research was supported by an internal grant of the Herzen State University of Russia (project no. 54-VG).
For citation:
Shvedova, S. O. “About Artistic Integration in the Poetics of Russian Realism: Pushkin — Turgenev — Tchaikovsky.” Dva veka russkoi klassiki, vol. 8, no. 2, 2026, pp. 342–369. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2026-8-2-342-369
Abstract:
This article examines the specifics of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s creative “rereading” of A. S. Pushkin’s novel in verse “Eugene Onegin,” as expressed in the innovative poetics of “lyrical scenes.” The analysis focuses not on the methods of translation from one art form to another, but on the phenomenon of literature- centricity, characteristic of 19th-century aesthetic thinking. This phenomenon is linked to the composer’s particular perception of Pushkin’s work and the aesthetic forms in which it is reinterpreted in the musical composition. The study draws on music criticism, literary studies, and musicological research that document and explore the connections between Tchaikovsky’s opera and Pushkin’s novel, as well as literary phenomena of the second half of the 19th century that developed the Pushkin tradition. The fact that the opera was a success on stage among his contemporaries, unexpected for the composer himself, can be explained by the special nature of Tchaikovsky’s creative perception of Pushkin’s novel through the “optics” of contemporary realistic literature.
Keywords: Russian realism, opera “Eugene Onegin,” A. S. Pushkin, I. S. Turgenev, P. I. Tchaikovsky
Author: Svetlana O. Shvedova
Information about the author:
Svetlana O. Shvedova, PhD in Philology, Herzen State Pedagogical University, 48 Moika River Emb., 191186 St. Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6453-2327

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: September 09, 2025
Approved after reviewing: February 16, 2026
Published: June 25, 2026
Issue: 2026 Volume 8 No. 2
Department: Russian Literature of the 18th–19th Centuries
Pages: 342-369
DOI: Visit Website
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/XGNAPU
UDK: 821.161.1.09"19"
Publication Type: Research Article

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