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ndrei Bely is best known for the modernist masterwork Petersburg, a paradigmatic
example of how modern writers strove
“Intermodal art was central to Russian Symbolism, but Bely’s four Symphonies resist easy definition. Rhythmic, motivic, visionary, commingling mundane matter with elevated spirit and shot through with satire, they relay Bely’s sense of symphonic music as a linkage of levels and moods. Jonathan Stone’s exquisite translation suspends the reader between the real and the more real.” Andrei Bely, the pseudonym of Boris
—Caryl E mers on, author
Nikolaevich Bugaev (1880–1934), was a
of The Cambridge Introduction
central figure of Russian Symbolism
to Russian Literature
and modernism as a poet, novelist, and theorist. He was a proponent of innovation literature and to find a philosophical
“The richly saturated prose of Bely’s innovative Symphonies demands an effective translation. Jonathan
framework for modernist techniques.
Stone has made a scrupulous, powerful version that
His books include The Silver Dove,
conveys the work’s mythological complexity and the
Petersburg, and Kotik Letaev.
hypnotic effect of its verbal and musical texture. An essential book for study of the Symbolists.”
of Russian at Franklin & Marshall
— S ibelan Forrester, translator of
College. His books include The Institutions
The Russian Folktale
of Russian Modernism: Conceptualizing, Publishing, and Reading Symbolism (2017) and Decadence and Modernism in European and Russian Literature and the 1890s (2019). Portrait of Andrei Bely by Leon Bakst, 1905 Jacket design: Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich
with care will come away with an understanding that will enable them to appreciate what Bely is under-
University Press New York cup.columbia.edu Printed in the U.S.A.
taking in the Symphonies, even as they work through
on his life as an artist with texts he called “symphonies”—works experimenting with genre and sound, written in a style that shifts among prosaic, poetic, and musical. This book presents Bely’s four Symphonies—“Dramatic Symphony,” “Northern Symphony,” “The Return,”
HT E
AN
DR
and “Goblet of Blizzards”—fantastically strange stories that capture the banality
B I E
Y L E
of life, the intimacy of love, and the enchantment of art. The Symphonies are quintessential works of modernist innovation in which Bely developed an evocative mythology and distinctive aesthetics. Influenced by Russian Symbolism, Bely believed that the role of modern artists was to imbue seemingly small details with cosmic significance. The Symphonies depict the drabness of daily life with distinct irony and satire—and then soar out of turnof-the-century Moscow into the realm of the infinite and eternal. They conjure worlds that resemble our own but reveal elements of artifice and magic, hinting at mystical truths and the complete transfiguration of life. Showcasing the protean quality of Bely’s language and
the profusion of imagery and the fragmentary structure of these writings.”
early twentieth century, Bely embarked
S
Culture: Aesthetics and Anxiety in
“Those who read Stone’s introduction and translation
Columbia
narrative, and consciousness. In the
HONIE
Jonathan Stone is associate professor
by d e e t sla Ston n T ra than a Jon
SYMP
who aimed both to revolutionize Russian
BELY THE SYMPHONIES
PRAISE FOR THE SYMPHONIES
to evoke the fragmentation of language,
storytelling, Jonathan Stone’s translation
ISBN: 978-0-231-19908-7
of the Symphonies features some of the
—B arry S cherr, Dartmouth College
COLUMBIA
most captivating and beguiling writing of Russia’s Silver Age.