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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Mirrors In Russian Decadent And Symbolist Prose: Valery Briusov And Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Kirsten Lodge
Mirrors In Russian Decadent And Symbolist Prose: Valery Briusov And Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Kirsten Lodge
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
Examining mirror imagery in the prose works “In the Mirror” by Valery Briusov and The Resurrected Gods: Leonardo da Vinci by Dmitry Merezhkovsky, both published in 1902, this article situates the Russian Decadent and Symbolist associations of the mirror in the pan-European literary and philosophical context. The mirror constitutes the threshold of manifold oppositions, including life and art, life and death, and reality and dream or imagination. It is a realm of alternative reality, magical and seductive, as in Briusov’s story, or potentially both demonic and divine, as in Merezhkovsky’s novel. In accordance with the Romantic tradition as well as …
No Mere Reflection: Mirrors As Windows On Russian Culture, Julia Chadaga
No Mere Reflection: Mirrors As Windows On Russian Culture, Julia Chadaga
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
This essay traces the development of mirror use in Russia from the medieval period to the modern day with particular attention to the dynamic interplay between the utilitarian and symbolic functions of this object. I examine how the discourse around mirrors in Russia was shaped by a preoccupation with border-crossing and identity that is distinctive to Russian culture as well as by mirror lore from other world traditions; and I demonstrate that the presence of mirrors shaped the production of imaginative literature in profound ways. The essay focuses on several key functions of the Russian mirror: as a site of …
The Mirror In Art: Vanitas, Veritas, And Vision, Helena Goscilo
The Mirror In Art: Vanitas, Veritas, And Vision, Helena Goscilo
Studies in 20th & 21st Century Literature
Humankind’s venerable obsession with the mirror, traceable to the ancient myths of Medusa and Narcissus, is copiously attested in Western art, which historically relied on the mirror as both practical tool and polysemous trope. While the mirror’s reflective capacities encouraged its identification with the vaunted mimetic function of literature and film, its refractive quality enabled artists to explore and comment on perspective, in the process challenging the concept of art’s faithful representation of phenomena. My radically compressed and selective overview of the mirror’s significance in Western iconography focuses primarily on visibility, gaze, and gender, dwelling on key moments and genres …