The Story and the Myth of the Igor’ Tale

Since its discovery in the 1790s and the publication of the editio princeps in 1800, the Igor’ Tale has been defined and examined in many different ways. The aim of the present study is to focus on the beginnings of literary reception (1800–1850) for this masterpiece of Old Rus’ verbal art. This study commences with the assertion that the history of the work’s interpretation serves a double purpose. This dual interpretive vision (1) is grounded in the twofold nature of literary history (i.e., in the distinction between literary history proper and literary reception), (2) obliges us to view the Igor’ Tale against a variety of cultural backdrops (including both medieval Western literary traditions and contemporary European thought), and (3) requires us to reflect on the importance of an emerging nationalist orientation and, in particular, of Herder’s underlying ideas of “national individuality” and “spirit of the people.” The present study treats the following interpretive motifs and their relevance for the analysis of the Igor’ Tale in the first half of the nineteenth century: (1) The Igor’ Tale as a Popular Song and Native Artistic Masterpiece; (2) Publication of the Igor’ Tale and its Reception by the Cultural Elite; (3) Interpretive Legacies of the Editio Princeps and the Place of N.M. Karamzin; and (4) From the Invented Tradition of Ossian to the National Spirit and Veneration of the Igor’ Tale

Art · History of literature · Interpretation (philosophy) · Literary criticism · Literature · Mythology · Nationalism · Politics · Reception theory · Theology · Variety (cybernetics) · Veneration · Folklore, Mythology, and Literature Studies · History · Linguistics and language evolution · Philosophy · Soviet and Russian History