“...by myself”: Poliksena Solovyova and “solovyevism”

Author: korolevaNV / Date: 02-07-2025 /
Publication Title: 
“...by myself”: Poliksena Solovyova and “solovyevism”
Publication author(s): 
N.Ju. Gryakalova
Abstract: 

The article is devoted to the poetess and writer Poliksena Solovyova (Allegro) (1867–1924), the younger sister of the famous philosopher. Her literary portrait is presented in the context of the reception of V.S. Solovyov’s legacy by the “younger” generation of symbolists and the circle of figures of the “neo-christian” movement. Special attention is paid to Solovyova’s story “Unprecedented” (1912), which is, as shown in the article, a late polemical response to Solovyov’s sophiology and his religious and erotic utopia from the standpoint of modernist life-creation and self-reflection. It is emphasized that interest in the writer’s work was actualized at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries on the wave of popularity of gender theory and feminist concepts, when an important place was occupied by studies of the phenomena of female authorship and women’s writing. The article examines the circumstances surrounding Solovyova’s speeches at the St. Petersburg Religious and Philosophical Society, dedicated to the memory of the philosopher: the reaction of her immediate circle, media coverage. For the first time, the full text of the report “A Few Words about My Brother Vl. Solovyov”, which she delivered at a meeting of the Religious and Philosophical Society on January 19, 1913, is published. The author of the article also introduces other archival materials into scientific circulation, which fills the existing gaps in the writer’s creative and personal biography.

References: 

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Key words: 
“younger” symbolists, modernist life-creation, reception of V.S. Solovyov’s creative heritage, religious and erotic utopia, Religious and Philosophical Society in Saint-Petersburg
2025. Issue 2 (86)
The DOI index: 
10.17588/2076-9210.2025.2.043-056
Publication file: