The Polish Uprising of 1863–1864 in Literary Reflection: I. S. Aksakov’s Unknown Response to Ya. P. Polonsky’s Drama “Discord” in the Context of Its Creative History

Abstract

Ya. P. Polonsky’s verse drama “Discord: Scenes from the Last Polish Uprising” (1864) had a paradoxical fate. It was highly praised by leading contemporary writers, but was unanimously dismissed by critics in leading journals as lacking aesthetic significance. This article provides the first comprehensive study of the work’s creative history, its literary and critical reception, and the author’s reflections, as reflected in his correspondence with friends. Polonsky’s letters to G. P. Danilevsky and A. N. Pypin, as well as a letter from I. S. Aksakov to Polonsky, are introduced into scholarly circulation. A hypothesis is advanced that the poet’s daughter, M. F. Tyutcheva, served as the prototype for the play’s heroine and that Polonsky’s unrequited love is reflected in its plot. The primary ideological source of the play’s concept is identified — the tenets of Slavophile historiosophy on the Polish question, which were reflected in the newspaper “Den’” (The Day), published by Aksakov. It is argued that the leading writers ignored the flaws in the artistic execution of the drama “Discord” because they recognized that Polonsky had succeeded in truthfully depicting the atmosphere of the troubled times and his new hero.