| This thesis explores the use of dance and related motive imagery in the prose, poetry, and dramas of Fedor Kuzmich Sologub (1863–1927). It approaches the topic from the perspective of Sologub's idealist vision, which is deeply grounded in the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche. Referring throughout to three texts that had an obvious influence on Sologub's literary Weltanschauung (Schopenhauer's T he World as Will and Idea; Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy and Thus Spake Zarathustra) and Sologub's own critical articles and aesthetic statements, the analysis considers how four major aspects of Sologub's philosophical scheme become stylized in fictional images of the dance. In accordance with the author's binary vision, two modes of dance (the choral dithyramb and the free dance) are associated with a sacred condition in Sologubian texts, while two (the Dance of the Dead and the demonic pirouette) convey the existential horror of the profane state. In separate chapters, the study addresses how the formal features of each dance support its meaning as a dynamic symbol within a greater myth of creative transcendence at the heart of Sologub's literary oeuvre. Using Tvorimaia legenda as its point of departure, the final chapter discusses how dance images play in tandem with one other in Sologub's work to generate allegorical narratives in a spirit strikingly reminiscent of theatrical choreography. Throughout the thesis, Sologub's dance imagery is compared to similar treatments in works by Leonid Andreev, Aleksandr Blok, Andrei Belyi, Valerii Briusov, Viacheslav Ivanov, and others, in order to emphasize what is unique about Sologub's idiosyncratic renditions of the dance within a broad Symbolist context. Additionally, each chapter refers to contemporary trends within the theatrical world of dance performance. The study not only takes note of Sologub's deep esteem for Isadora Duncan, but also considers other figures who may have been prototypes for some of Sologub's fictional depictions of dancers. Attention is also given to contemporary ballet stagings that coincide remarkably well with Sologub's literary renditions of dance themes. |
