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99-740: The Syzran Bridge across the Volga River near Syzran was designed by Nikolai Belelubsky and Konstantin Mikhailovsky . This remarkable engineering project was the first rail bridge ever built across the lower part of the Volga River. It was officially opened by Konstantin Posyet in 1880 as an integral component of the Samara-Zlatoust Railway . The bridge's diagonal system consisted of 13 spans, each measuring 107 meters (351 ft) in length. It held

198-711: A connection with the hydronym Irtesh . The Turkic peoples associated the Itil's origin with the Kama . Thus, a left tributary to the Kama was named the Aq Itil 'White Itil' which unites with the Kara Itil 'Black Itil' at the modern city of Ufa . The name Indyl ( Indɨl ) is used in the Cherkess language. In Asia the river was known by its other Turkic name Sarı-su 'yellow water', but

297-632: A court theatre in 1672. Its director and playwright was Johann Gottfried Gregorii, a German-Russian pastor, who wrote, in particular, the 10-hour play The Action of Artaxerxes . The poetry and dramaturgy of Symeon of Polotsk and Demetrius of Rostov contributed to the development of the Russian version of the Baroque. In the 17th century, when bookmen from the Kiev Academy arrived in Moscow, they brought with them

396-530: A culture heavily influenced by the educational system of the Polish Jesuits . Mentioned Symeon of Polotsk created a new style which fused elements of ancient and contemporary Western European literature with traditional Russian rhetoric and the imperial ideology, which marked a key step in the Westernization of Russian literature. Syllabic poetry was also brought to Russia, and the work of Simeon of Polotsk

495-591: A growing respect for, or at least ambivalence toward, a female ruler in Catherine the Great. This concept heralded an era of regarding female characteristics in writing as an abstract concept linked with attributes of frivolity, vanity and pathos. Some writers, on the other hand, were more direct in their praise for Catherine II. Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin , famous for his odes, often dedicated his poems to Empress Catherine II. In contrast to most of his contemporaries, Derzhavin

594-474: A leading international dramatist. Other important 19th-century developments included Sergey Aksakov 's semi-autobiographical writings; the father of Russian social realism poetry school, known for the sharp epic poem Who Can Be Happy and Free in Russia? Nikolay Nekrasov ; the fabulist Ivan Krylov ; the precursor to Naturalism Aleksey Pisemsky ; non-fiction writers such as the critic Vissarion Belinsky and

693-482: A length of about 160 kilometres (99 miles) and includes as many as 500 channels and smaller rivers. The largest estuary in Europe, it is the only place in Russia where pelicans , flamingos , and lotuses may be found. The Volga freezes for most of its length for three months each year. The Volga drains most of Western Russia . Its many large reservoirs provide irrigation and hydroelectric power. The Moscow Canal ,

792-460: A novel mix of narration, autobiography, and aesthetic as well as social commentary, and Yury Tynyanov (1893–1943), who used his knowledge of Russia's literary history to produce a set of historical novels mainly set in the Pushkin era (e.g., Lieutenant Kijé , Pushkin in three parts, 1935–43, and others). Following the establishment of Bolshevik rule, Vladimir Mayakovsky worked on interpreting

891-792: A pilgrimage is The Pilgrimage of the Abbot Daniel , which records the journey of Daniel the Traveller to the Holy Land . Complex epic works such as The Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan recall the havoc caused by the Mongol invasions. Other notable Russian literary works include Zadonschina , Physiologist , Synopsis and A Journey Beyond the Three Seas . Medieval Russian literature had an overwhelmingly religious character and used an adapted form of

990-456: A precedent for the remainder of the 18th century as Russian writers began to form clear ideas about the proper use and progression of the Russian language. Through their debates regarding versification of the Russian language and tone of Russian literature, the writers in the first half of the 18th century were able to lay foundation for the more poignant, topical work of the late 18th century. Satirist Antiokh Dmitrievich Kantemir , 1708–1744,

1089-465: A turning point in Old Russian literature as both the church and state lost control over the written word, which are reflected in the texts of writers such as Avraamy Palitsyn who developed a literary technique for representing complex characters. In the second half of the 17th century, the literature of Baroque took shape, primarily due to the initiative of tsar Alexis of Russia , who wanted to open

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1188-427: Is Russian philosophy , which reached its peak at this time (see works of Nikolai Berdyaev , Pavel Florensky , Semyon Frank , Nikolay Lossky , Vasily Rozanov , and others). Tramp squares with rebellious treading! Up heads! As proud peaks be seen! In the second flood we are spreading Every city on earth will be clean. Vladimir Mayakovsky , Our March (1917), translation The first years of

1287-462: Is a pre-realistic novel in verse, Eugene Onegin (1833). Other poets important to the movement include Konstantin Batyushkov , Pyotr Vyazemsky , Yevgeny Baratynsky , Fyodor Tyutchev and Dmitry Venevitinov , along with the novelists Antony Pogorelsky , Alexander Bestuzhev and "Russian Hoffmann" Vladimir Odoyevsky . Tyutchev is best known for the following verse: Who would grasp Russia with

1386-458: Is fundamentally the Russian vernacular." Old Russian "bookish" literature traces its beginnings to the introduction of Old Church Slavonic in Kievan Rus' as a liturgical language in the late 10th century following Christianization . The East Slavs soon developed their own literature, and the oldest dated manuscript of Early Russian as well all-Slavic literature that has survived to this day

1485-423: Is known for his satirical chronicle The History of a Town (1870) and the family saga The Golovlyov Family (1880), which are considered his masterpieces. Nikolai Leskov is best remembered for his shorter fiction and for his (together with Pavel Melnikov ) unique skaz techniques, namely oral form of narrative stylization. Late in the century Anton Chekhov emerged as a master of the short story as well as

1584-441: Is mine, and that is also mine." And the princes began to pronounce of a paltry thing, 'this is great'; and themselves amongst them to forge feuds; and the heathens from all sides advanced with victories against the Russian land. — The Tale of Igor's Campaign , 2.1 ( c.  1185 ), translated by Leonard A. Magnus The main type of Old Russian historical literature were chronicles , most of them anonymous. The oldest one

1683-475: Is preserved in many Slavic languages, vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Bulgarian vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Czech vláha 'dampness', Serbo-Croatian : vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', Slovene vlaga 'moisture', Polish wilgoć 'moisture' and Macedonian vlaga ( влага ) 'moisture', among others. The Scythian name for the Volga was Rahā , literally meaning 'wetness'. This

1782-528: Is rare sample of the Rococo style, erotic light poetry in Russia. Alexander Nikolayevich Radishchev , for example, shocked the Russian public with his depictions of the socio-economic condition of the serfs . Empress Catherine II condemned this portrayal, forcing Radishchev into exile in Siberia . Others, however, picked topics less offensive to the autocrat . the historian and writer Nikolay Karamzin , 1766–1826,

1881-456: Is related to the Avestan name for a mythical stream, Raŋhā ( 𐬭𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬁 ), which means "wet" or "moisture", and was derived from Proto-Indo-European *h₁res- or *h₁ers- ). This name can be compared to several Indo-Iranic terms, such as: The Scythian name survives in modern Moksha as Rav ( Рав ). The Greek author Herodotus recorded two more ancient Iranic names of

1980-727: Is the Primary Chronicle or Tale of Nestor the Chronicler (c. 1115). The oldest surviving manuscripts include the Laurentian Codex of 1377 and the Hypatian Codex dating to the 1420s. Anonymous works include The Tale of Igor's Campaign (a 12th century prose poem masterpiece) and Praying of Daniel the Immured . Hagiographies ( Russian : жития святых , romanized :  zhitiya svyatykh , lit.   'lives of

2079-678: Is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia , it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea . The Volga has a length of 3,531 km (2,194 mi), and a catchment area of 1,360,000 km (530,000 sq mi). It is also Europe's largest river in terms of average discharge at delta – between 8,000 m /s (280,000 cu ft/s) and 8,500 m /s (300,000 cu ft/s) – and of drainage basin . It

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2178-583: Is the Novgorod Codex or Novgorod Psalter written c. 1000, unearthed in 2000 at Veliky Novgorod , containing four wooden tablet pages filled with wax. Another earliest Russian book is the Ostromir Gospels written in 1056–1057, which belongs to the set of liturgical texts that were translated from other languages. The discord of the princes ruined them against the Pagans. For, brother spake to brother;—"This

2277-774: Is the Ob – Irtysh river system. It belongs to the closed basin of the Caspian Sea , being the longest river to flow into a closed basin. The source of the Volga lies in the village of Volgoverkhov'e in Tver Oblast . Rising in the Valdai Hills 225 meters (738 ft) above sea level northwest of Moscow and about 320 kilometers (200 mi) southeast of Saint Petersburg , the Volga heads east past Lake Sterzh , Tver , Dubna , Rybinsk , Yaroslavl , Nizhny Novgorod , and Kazan . From there it turns south, flows past Ulyanovsk , Tolyatti , Samara , Saratov and Volgograd , and discharges into

2376-399: Is traditionally referred to as the "Golden Era" of Russian literature. The period of Romantic literature saw the flowering of poetic talent, in particular; the names of Vasily Zhukovsky and his protégé Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Pushkin is credited with crystallizing the literary Russian language and introducing a new level of artistry to Russian literature. His best-known work

2475-485: Is widely regarded as the national river of Russia . The hypothetical old Russian state, the Rus' Khaganate , arose along the Volga c.  830 AD . Historically, the river served as an important meeting place of various Eurasian civilizations. The river flows in Russia through forests , forest steppes and steppes . Five of the ten largest cities of Russia , including the nation's capital, Moscow , are located in

2574-694: The Age of Enlightenment , literature had grown in importance, and from the early 1830s, Russian literature underwent an astounding "Golden Age" in poetry, prose and drama. The Romantic movement contributed to a flowering of literary talent: poet Vasily Zhukovsky and later his protégé Alexander Pushkin came to the fore. Mikhail Lermontov was one of the most important poets and novelists. Nikolai Gogol and Ivan Turgenev wrote masterful short stories and novels. Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy became internationally renowned. Other important figures were Ivan Goncharov , Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin and Nikolai Leskov . In

2673-633: The Arab world . Khazars were replaced by Kipchaks , Kimeks and Mongols , who founded the Golden Horde in the lower reaches of the Volga. Later their empire divided into the Khanate of Kazan and Khanate of Astrakhan , both of which were conquered by the Russians in the course of the 16th century Russo-Kazan Wars . The Russian people's deep feeling for the Volga echoes in national culture and literature, starting from

2772-764: The Battle of Stalingrad , possibly the bloodiest battle in human history, in which the Soviet Union and the German forces were deadlocked in a stalemate battle for access to the river. The Volga was (and still is) a vital transport route between central Russia and the Caspian Sea, which provides access to the oil fields of the Absheron Peninsula . Hitler planned to use access to the oil fields of Azerbaijan to fuel future German conquests. Apart from that, whoever held both sides of

2871-615: The Buzan river in the Astrakhan Oblast . Buzhan ( Persian : بوژان‎ , romanized :  Būzhān ; also known as Būzān ) is also a village in Nishapur , Iran . In late 8th century the Russian state Russkiy Kaganate is recorded in different Northern and Oriental sources. The Volga was one of the main rivers of the Rus' Khaganates culture. Subsequently, the river basin played an important role in

2970-687: The Cubo-Futurism with practice of zaum , the experimental visual and sound poetry ( David Burliuk , Velimir Khlebnikov , Aleksei Kruchenykh , Nikolai Aseyev , Vladimir Mayakovsky ); the Ego-Futurism based on a personality cult ( Igor Severyanin and Vasilisk Gnedov ); and the Acmeist poetry , a Russian modernist school, which emerged ca. 1911 and to symbols preferred direct expression through exact images ( Anna Akhmatova , Nikolay Gumilev , Georgiy Ivanov , Mikhail Kuzmin , Osip Mandelstam ). Though

3069-551: The Oirats also used their own name, Ijil mörön or 'adaptation river'. Presently the Mari , another Uralic group, call the river Jul ( Юл ), meaning 'way' in Tatar . Formerly, they called the river Volgydo , a borrowing from Old East Slavic . The Volga is the longest river in Europe , and its catchment area is almost entirely inside Russia , though the longest river in Russia

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3168-523: The Russian Academy of Sciences and his groundbreaking translations of French and classical works to the Russian language. A turning point in the course of Russian literature, his translation of Paul Tallemant's work Voyage to the Isle of Love , was the first to use the Russian vernacular as opposed the formal and outdated Church-Slavonic . This introduction set a precedent for secular works to be composed in

3267-460: The Russian Revolution of 1917, literature split into Soviet and white émigré parts. While the Soviet Union assured universal literacy and a highly developed book printing industry, it also established ideological censorship . In the 1930s Socialist realism became the predominant trend in Russia. Its leading figures were Nikolay Ostrovsky , Alexander Fadeyev and other writers, who laid

3366-477: The Russian nobility with an angle of critique. Fonvizin felt the nobility should be held to the standards they were under the reign of Peter the Great, during which the quality of devotion to the state was rewarded. His works criticized the current system for rewarding the nobility without holding them responsible for the duties they once performed. Using satire and comedy, Fonvizin supported a system of nobility in which

3465-774: The Volga–Don Canal , and the Volga–Baltic Waterway form navigable waterways connecting Moscow to the White Sea , the Baltic Sea , the Caspian Sea, the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea . High levels of chemical pollution have adversely affected the river and its habitats. The fertile river valley provides large quantities of wheat and other agricultural produce, and also has many mineral riches. A substantial petroleum industry centers on

3564-600: The "Silver Age" are Anna Akhmatova , Marina Tsvetaeva , Osip Mandelstam , and Boris Pasternak . The Russian symbolism was the first Silver Age development in the 1890s. It arose enough separately from West European symbolism, emphasizing mysticism of Sophiology and defamiliarization . Its most significant figures included philosopher and poet Vladimir Solovyov (1853–1900), poets and writers Valery Bryusov (1873–1924), Fyodor Sologub (1863–1927), Vyacheslav Ivanov (1866–1949), Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), and figures of

3663-459: The 12th century Lay of Igor's Campaign . The Volga Boatman's Song is one of many songs devoted to the national river of Russia. Construction of Soviet Union -era dams often involved enforced resettlement of huge numbers of people, as well as destruction of their historical heritage. For instance, the town of Mologa was flooded for the purpose of constructing the Rybinsk Reservoir (then

3762-665: The 8th centuries, the Alans settled in the Middle Volga region and in the steppes of Russia's southern region in the Pontic–Caspian steppe . The area around the Volga was inhabited by the Slavic tribes of Vyatichs and Buzhans , by Finno-Ugric , Scandinavian , Baltic , Hunnic and Turkic peoples ( Tatars , Kipchaks ) in the first millennium AD, replacing the Scythians . Furthermore,

3861-540: The Caspian Sea below Astrakhan at 28 meters (92 ft) below sea level. The Volga has many tributaries , most importantly the Kama , the Oka , the Vetluga , and the Sura . The Volga and its tributaries form the Volga river system, which flows through an area of about 1,350,000 square kilometres (521,238 square miles) in the most heavily populated part of Russia. The Volga Delta has

3960-631: The Church Slavonic language with many South Slavic elements. In the 16th century, reflecting the political centralization and unification of the country under the tsar , chronicles were updated and codified, the Russian Orthodox Church began issuing its decrees in the Stoglav , and a large compilation called the Great Menaion Reader collected both the more modern polemical texts and

4059-788: The East Slavs. The Russian ethnicity in Western Russia and around the Volga river evolved to a very large extent, next to other tribes, out of the East Slavic tribe of the Buzhans and Vyatichis . The Vyatichis were originally concentrated on the Oka river. Furthermore, several localities in Russia are connected to the Slavic Buzhan tribe, like for example Sredniy Buzhan in the Orenburg Oblast , Buzan and

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4158-509: The Great , Lomonosov's works often focused on themes of the awe-inspiring, grandeur nature, and was therefore drawn to Peter because of the magnitude of his military, architectural and cultural feats. In contrast to Sumarokov's devotion to simplicity, Lomonosov favored a belief in a hierarchy of literary styles divided into high, middle and low. This style facilitated Lomonosov's grandiose, high minded writing and use of both vernacular and Church-Slavonic. The influence of Peter I and debates over

4257-420: The Middle East met the Varangian people of the Nordic countries through trading. In the 8th and 9th centuries colonization also began from Kievan Rus' . Slavs from Kievan Rus' brought Christianity to the upper Volga, and a portion of non-Slavic local people adopted Christianity and gradually became East Slavs . The remainder of the Mari people migrated to the east far inland. In the course of several centuries

4356-466: The Silver Age is famous mostly for its poetry, it produced some first-rate novelists and short-story writers, such as naturalist Aleksandr Kuprin , realists Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin and Vikenty Veresaev , pioneer of Russian expressionism Leonid Andreyev , symbolists Fedor Sologub , Aleksey Remizov , Dmitry Merezhkovsky , Andrei Bely , Alexander Belyaev , and Yevgeny Zamyatin , though most of them wrote poetry as well as prose. In 1915/16,

4455-456: The Slavs assimilated the indigenous Finnic populations, such as the Merya and Meshchera peoples. The surviving peoples of Volga Finnic ethnicity include the Maris , Erzyas and Mokshas of the middle Volga. Also Khazar and Bulgar peoples inhabited the upper, middle and lower of the Volga River basin. Apart from the Huns , the earliest Turkic tribes arrived in the 7th century and assimilated some Finno-Ugric and Indo-European population on

4554-459: The Soviet regime after the October Revolution of 1917, featured a proliferation of Russian avant-garde literary groups, and proletarian literature receive official support. The Imaginists were post-Revolution poetic movement, similar to English-language Imagists , that created poetry based on sequences of arresting and uncommon images. The major figures include Sergei Yesenin , Anatoly Marienhof , and Rurik Ivnev . Another important movement

4653-402: The Volga formed the boundary between the territories of the Cimmerians in the Caucasian Steppe and the Scythians in the Caspian Steppe. After the Scythians migrated to the west and displaced the Cimmerians, the Volga became the boundary between the territories of the Scythians in the Pontic and Caspian Steppes and the Massagetae in the Caspian and Transcaspian steppes. Between the 6th and

4752-534: The Volga valley. Other resources include natural gas , salt , and potash . The Volga Delta and the Caspian Sea are fishing grounds . A number of large hydroelectric reservoirs were constructed on the Volga during the Soviet era . They are: The Volga– Oka region has been occupied for at least 9,000 years and supported a bone and antler industry for producing bone arrowheads, spearheads, lanceheads, daggers, hunters knives, and awls. The makers also used local quartz and imported flints. During classical antiquity ,

4851-537: The Volga's drainage basin. Because the Volga drains into the Caspian Sea , which is an endorheic body of water, the Volga does not naturally connect to any of the world's oceans. Some of the largest reservoirs in the world are located along the Volga River. The river has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture – Russian literature and folklore often refer to it as Волга-матушка Volga-Matushka (Mother Volga). The Russian hydronym Volga ( Волга ) derives from Proto-Slavic * vòlga 'wetness, moisture', which

4950-417: The Volga, slightly smaller on some of the other rivers and canals) and it spans many thousands of kilometers. A number of formerly state-run, now mostly privatized, companies operate passenger and cargo vessels on the river; Volgotanker , with over 200 petroleum tankers , is one of them. In the later Soviet era , up to the modern times, grain and oil have been among the largest cargo exports transported on

5049-409: The Volga. Until recently access to the Russian waterways was granted to foreign vessels on a very limited scale. The increasing contacts between the European Union and Russia have led to new policies with regard to the access to the Russian inland waterways. It is expected that vessels of other nations will be allowed on Russian rivers soon. Russian literature Russian literature refers to

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5148-450: The Volga: The Turkic peoples living along the river formerly referred to it as Itil or Atil . In modern Turkic languages , the Volga is known as İdel ( Идел ) in Tatar , Atăl ( Атӑл ) in Chuvash , Iźel in Bashkir , Edıl in Kazakh , and İdil in Turkish . The Turkic names go back to the ancient Turkic form " Etil / Ertil ", the origin and meaning of which are not clear. Perhaps this form has

5247-403: The Whites eastward, from the Middle Volga at Kazan to the Kama and eventually to Ufa on the Belaya . During the Civil War, Joseph Stalin ordered the imprisonment of several military specialists on a barge in the Volga and the sinking of a floating prison in which the officers perished. During World War II, the city on the big bend of the Volga, currently known as Volgograd , witnessed

5346-450: The backwardness Peter attempted to correct through his reforms. Kantemir honored this tradition of reform not only through his support for Peter, but by initiating a decade-long debate on the proper syllabic versification using the Russian language. Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky , a poet, playwright, essayist, translator and contemporary to Antiokh Kantemir, also found himself deeply entrenched in Enlightenment conventions in his work with

5445-671: The bridge is now recognized by two names, namely Alexandrovsky and Syzransky. In 2004, a comprehensive renovation of the bridge was successfully carried out, which involved replacing the original spans with brand-new ones. On August 27, 2010, a commemorative stele was erected to mark the 130th anniversary of the bridge's opening. Volga River 8,103.078 m /s (286,157.5 cu ft/s) 2,806.467 m /s (99,109.4 cu ft/s) Yaroslavl (Basin size: 153,657.8 km (59,327.6 sq mi): 1,008.277 m /s (35,607.0 cu ft/s) The Volga ( Russian : Волга , pronounced [ˈvoɫɡə] )

5544-581: The canal's rippled icy surface, The drug store, the street, and streetlight. Alexander Blok , Night, street and streetlight, drug store... (1912), translated by Alex Cigale The 1890s and the beginning of the 20th century ranks as the Silver Age of Russian poetry. Well-known poets of the period include: Alexander Blok , Sergei Yesenin , Valery Bryusov , Konstantin Balmont , Mikhail Kuzmin , Igor Severyanin , Sasha Chorny , Nikolay Gumilyov , Maximilian Voloshin , Innokenty Annensky , Zinaida Gippius . The poets most often associated with

5643-411: The decision to create a second track on the bridge was approved, and its construction was successfully finalized in 1957. In 1980, there was an incident involving the tanker Volgoneft 268 colliding with the bridge, fortunately resulting in minimal damage. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the bridge was given back its original name, however, the additional name still persists. Consequently,

5742-462: The development of modern Russians. Among the first recorded people along the upper Volga were also the Finnic Mari (Мари) and Merya (Мäрӹ) people. Where the Volga flows through the steppes the area was also inhabited by the Iranian people of the Sarmatians from 200 BC. Since ancient times, even before Rus' states developed, the Volga river was an important trade route where not only Slavic, Turkic and Finnic peoples lived, but also Arab world of

5841-492: The elite were rewarded based upon personal merit rather than the hierarchal favoritism that was rampant during Catherine the Great's reign. I lay, and heard the voice of God: "Arise, oh prophet, watch and hearken, And with my Will thy soul engird, Through lands that dim and seas that darken, Burn thou men's hearts with this, my Word." Alexander Pushkin , The Prophet (1826), translated by Babette Deutsch and Avrahm Yarmolinsky The 19th century

5940-415: The facts of the new reality. His works, such as "Ode to the Revolution" and "Left March" (both 1918), brought innovations to poetry. In "Left March", Mayakovsky calls for a struggle against the enemies of the Russian Revolution. The poem 150 000 000 (1921) discusses the leading role played by the masses in the revolution. In the poem Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1924), Mayakovsky looks at the life and work at

6039-524: The first Russian psychological novel . Aleksey K. Tolstoy and Afanasy Fet were also significant. As Romanticism came to command the stage, realistic began to flourish as well. The first great Russian novel was Dead Souls (1842) by Nikolai Gogol . The realistic natural school of fiction is said to have begun with the works of Ivan Goncharov , mainly remembered for his novel Oblomov (1859), as well as Ivan Turgenev . Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Leo Tolstoy soon became internationally renowned, to

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6138-670: The foundations of this style. Ostrovsky's novel How the Steel Was Tempered has been among the most popular works of Russian Socrealist literature. Some writers, such as Mikhail Bulgakov , Andrei Platonov and Daniil Kharms were criticized and wrote with little or no hope of being published. Various émigré writers, such as poets Vladislav Khodasevich , Georgy Ivanov and Vyacheslav Ivanov ; novelists such as Ivan Shmelyov , Gaito Gazdanov , Vladimir Nabokov and Bunin, continued to write in exile. Some writers dared to oppose Soviet ideology, like Nobel Prize-winning novelist Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Varlam Shalamov , who wrote about life in

6237-409: The function and form of literature as it related to the Russian language in the first half of the 18th century set a stylistic precedent for the writers during the reign of Catherine the Great in the second half of the century. However, the themes and scopes of the works these writers produced were often more poignant, political and controversial. Ippolit Bogdanovich 's narrative poem Dushenka (1778)

6336-400: The gulag camps. The Khrushchev Thaw brought some fresh wind to literature and poetry became a mass cultural phenomenon. This "thaw" did not last long; in the 1970s, some of the most prominent authors were banned from publishing and prosecuted for their anti-Soviet sentiments. The post-Soviet end of the 20th century was a difficult period for Russian literature, with few distinct voices. Among

6435-481: The hagiographical and patristic legacy of Old Russia. The Book of Royal Degrees codified the cult of the tsar, the Domostroy laid down the rules for family life, and other texts such as the History of Kazan were used to justify the actions of the tsar. The Tale of Peter and Fevronia were among the original tales of this period, and Russian tsar Ivan IV wrote some of most original works of 16th-century Russian literature. The Time of Troubles marked

6534-577: The key figure of literary sentimentalism in Russia, for example, is known for his advocacy of Russian writers adopting traits in the poetry and prose like a heightened sense of emotion and physical vanity, considered to be feminine at the time as well as supporting the cause of female Russian writers. Karamzin's call for male writers to write with femininity was not in accordance with the Enlightenment ideals of reason and theory, considered masculine attributes. His works were thus not universally well received; however, they did reflect in some areas of society

6633-405: The lakes of the North ( Lake Ladoga , Lake Onega ), Saint Petersburg and the Baltic Sea are possible through the Volga–Baltic Waterway ; and commerce with Moscow has been realised by the Moscow Canal connecting the Volga and the Moskva River . This infrastructure has been designed for vessels of a relatively large scale (lock dimensions of 290 by 30 metres (951 ft × 98 ft) on

6732-410: The largest artificial lake in the world). The construction of the Uglich Reservoir caused the flooding of several monasteries with buildings dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. In such cases the ecological and cultural damage often outbalanced any economic advantage. During the Russian Civil War , both sides fielded warships on the Volga. In 1918, the Red Volga Flotilla participated in driving

6831-578: The leader of Russia's revolution and depicts them against a broad historical background. In the poem All Right! (1927), Mayakovsky writes about socialist society as the "springtime of humanity". Mayakovsky was instrumental in producing a new type of poetry in which politics played a major part. One of the most popular Soviet poets during the 1920s was Nikolai Tikhonov (1896–1979), a future important figure of Stalinist era, well-known for his Ballad About Nails , as follows: Could nails from such people be fashioned, you’d see That no tougher nails in

6930-456: The legacy of Peter I, writing in his manifesto Epistle on Poetry , "The great Peter hurls his thunder from the Baltic shores, the Russian sword glitters in all corners of the universe". Peter the Great's policies of westernization and displays of military prowess naturally attracted Sumarokov and his contemporaries. Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov , in particular, expressed his gratitude for and dedication to Peter's legacy in his unfinished Peter

7029-419: The literature of Russia , its émigrés , and to Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different ethnic origins, including bilingual writers, such as Kyrgyz novelist Chinghiz Aitmatov . At the same time, Russian-language literature does not include works by authors from the Russian Federation who write exclusively or primarily in

7128-509: The middle and lower Volga. The Turkic Christian Chuvash and Muslim Volga Tatars are descendants of the population of medieval Volga Bulgaria . Another Turkic group, the Nogais , formerly inhabited the lower Volga steppes. The Volga region is home to a German minority group, the Volga Germans . Catherine the Great had issued a manifesto in 1763 inviting all foreigners to come and populate

7227-409: The mind? For her no yardstick was created: Her soul is of a special kind, By faith alone appreciated. An entire new generation of Romantic poets and novelists followed in Pushkin's steps. Mikhail Lermontov wrote the narrative poem Demon in 1829–39, which chronicled the love of a Byronic Demon for a mortal woman, as well as A Hero of Our Time (1841), which is often considered to be

7326-477: The most discussed authors of this period were novelists Victor Pelevin and Vladimir Sorokin , and the poet Dmitri Prigov . In the 21st century, a new generation of Russian authors appeared, differing greatly from the postmodernist Russian prose of the late 20th century, which led critics to speak about "new realism". Russian authors have significantly contributed to numerous literary genres. Russia has five Nobel Prize in literature laureates. As of 2011, Russia

7425-578: The movements of peoples from Asia to Europe . A powerful polity of Volga Bulgaria once flourished where the Kama joins the Volga, while Khazaria controlled the lower stretches of the river. Such Volga cities as Atil , Saqsin , or Sarai were among the largest in the medieval world. The river served as an important trade route connecting Scandinavia , Finnic areas with the various Slavic tribes and Turkic, Germanic , Finnic and other people in Old Rus' , and Volga Bulgaria with Khazaria , Persia and

7524-545: The native languages of the indigenous non-Russian ethnic groups in Russia , thus the famous Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov is omitted. The roots of Russian literature can be traced to the Early Middle Ages when Old Church Slavonic was introduced as a liturgical language and became used as a literary language. The native Russian vernacular remained the use within oral literature as well as written for decrees, laws, messages, chronicles , military tales, and so on. By

7623-562: The new wave generation Alexander Blok (1880–1921) with Andrei Bely (1880–1934). New peasant poets was the conditional collective name of a group of peasant origin and country poetry trend ( Nikolai Klyuev , Pyotr Oreshin, Alexander Shiryaevets, Sergei Klychkov , Sergei Yesenin ). While the Silver Age is considered to be the development of the 19th-century Russian Golden Age literature tradition, some modernist and avant-garde poets tried to overturn it. Most prominent their movements:

7722-515: The other side from the banks of the river. In these battles, the Soviet Union was the main offensive side, while the German troops used a more defensive stance, though much of the fighting was close quarters combat , with no clear offensive or defensive side. Many different ethnicities lived on the Volga river. Numerous were the Eastern Slavic Vyatchi tribes which took a decisive role in

7821-586: The point that scholars, such as F. R. Leavis , have frequently described them as among the greatest novelists of all time. Tolstoy's Christian anarchism can be seen in the following quote: Plants, birds, insects and children were equally joyful. Only men—grown-up men—continued cheating and tormenting themselves and each other. People saw nothing holy in this spring morning, in this beauty of God's world—a gift to all living creatures—inclining to peace, good-will and love, but worshiped their own inventions for imposing their will on each other. Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin

7920-488: The political reformer Alexander Herzen ; playwrights such as Aleksandr Griboyedov , Aleksandr Ostrovsky , Alexander Sukhovo-Kobylin and the satirist Kozma Prutkov (a collective pen name). Night, street and streetlight, drug store, The purposeless, half-dim, drab light. For all the use live on a quarter century — Nothing will change. There's no way out. You'll die — and start all over, live twice, Everything repeats itself, just as it was: Night,

8019-413: The reforms of Peter the Great , tying literary development to historical periodization. The term is generally used to refer to all forms of literary activity in what is often called Old Russia from the 11th to 17th centuries. Literary works from this period were often written in the Russian recension of Church Slavonic with varying amounts of the Russian or more broadly East Slavic vernacular. At

8118-610: The region, offering them numerous incentives to do so. This was partly to develop the region but also to provide a buffer zone between the Russians and the Mongols to the east. Because of conditions in German territories, Germans responded in the largest numbers. Under the Soviet Union a slice of the region was turned into the Volga German Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic . The Volga, widened for navigation purposes with construction of huge dams during

8217-553: The river could move forces across the river, to defeat the enemy's fortifications beyond the river. By taking the river, Hitler's Germany would have been able to move supplies , guns , and men into the northern part of Russia. At the same time, Germany could permanently deny this transport route by the Soviet Union, hampering its access to oil and to supplies via the Persian Corridor . For this reason, many amphibious military assaults were brought about in an attempt to remove

8316-868: The river played a vital role in the commerce of the Byzantine people . The ancient scholar Ptolemy of Alexandria mentions the lower Volga in his Geography (Book 5, Chapter 8, 2nd Map of Asia). He calls it the Rha , which was the Scythian name for the river. Ptolemy believed the Don and the Volga shared the same upper branch, which flowed from the Hyperborean Mountains. Between 2nd and 5th centuries Baltic people were very widespread in today's European Russia. Baltic people were widespread from Sozh River till today's Moscow and covered much of today's Central Russia and intermingled with

8415-464: The saints') formed a popular literary genre in Old Russian literature. The first notable hagiographer was Nestor the Chronicler, who wrote about the lives of Boris and Gleb , the first saints of Kievan Rus', and the abbot Theodosius . The Life of Alexander Nevsky is a well-known example, which combines political realism and hagiographical ideals, and concentrates on the key events of Alexander Nevsky 's political career. The earliest account of

8514-607: The same time, the native Old Russian vernacular was not only language of oral literature , such as epic poems ( bylina ) or folksongs, but it was also perfectly legitimate as written for practical purposes, such as decrees, laws (the Russkaya Pravda , the 11th–12th century, and other codes), letters (for example, the unique pre-paper birch bark manuscripts , the 11th–15th centuries, in Old Novgorod dialect ), ambassadorial messages, "in chronicles or military tales whose language

8613-454: The school of Russian Formalism , wary of the futurists and highly influential for the global theory of literary criticism and poetics , appeared; its programmatic article The Resurrection of the Word by the scholar and writer Viktor Shklovsky (1893–1984) was published in 1914, and the peak of activity occurred in the post-revolutionary '20s. An integral part of the literature of the Silver Age

8712-730: The second half of the century Anton Chekhov excelled in short stories and became a leading dramatist. The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century is sometimes called the Silver Age of Russian poetry . The poets most often associated with the "Silver Age" are Konstantin Balmont , Valery Bryusov , Alexander Blok , Anna Akhmatova , Nikolay Gumilyov , Sergei Yesenin , Vladimir Mayakovsky , and Marina Tsvetaeva . This era produced novelists and short-story writers, such as Aleksandr Kuprin , Nobel Prize winner Ivan Bunin , Leonid Andreyev , Fyodor Sologub , Yevgeny Zamyatin , Alexander Belyaev , Andrei Bely and Maxim Gorky . After

8811-446: The short-story writers Isaak Babel (1894–1940) and Mikhail Zoshchenko (1894–1958). The OPOJAZ group of literary critics, a part of Russian formalism school, was founded in 1916 in close connection with Russian Futurism . Two of its members also produced influential literary works, namely Viktor Shklovsky , whose numerous books ( A Sentimental Journey and Zoo, or Letters Not About Love , both 1923) defy genre in that they present

8910-436: The styles of French classicism . Sumarokov's interest in the form of the 17th-century French literature mirrored his devotion to the westernizing spirit of Peter the Great's age. Although he often disagreed with Trediakovsky, Sumarokov also advocated the use of simple, natural language in order to diversify the audience and make more efficient use of the Russian language. Like his colleagues and counterparts, Sumarokov extolled

9009-459: The throne at the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great's influence on the Russian culture would extend far into the 18th century . Peter's reign during the beginning of the 18th century initiated a series of modernizing changes in Russian literature. The reforms he implemented encouraged Russian artists and scientists to make innovations in their crafts and fields with the intention of creating an economy and culture comparable. Peter's example set

9108-644: The title of being the longest in Europe for a considerable amount of time, with a total length of 1,483 meters (4,865 ft). Initially, the bridge was named Alexandrovsky , in honor of the 25th anniversary of Emperor Alexander II 's reign. However, following the October Revolution , it was decided to rename the bridge as Syzransky . During the Russian Civil War in 1918, two spans of the bridge were intentionally destroyed by retreating troops of Komuch supporters, but they were promptly restored. In 1949,

9207-463: The vernacular, while sacred texts would remain in Church-Slavonic. However, his work was often incredibly theoretical and scholarly, focused on promoting the versification of the language with which he spoke. While Trediakovsky's approach to writing is often described as highly erudite, the young writer and scholarly rival to Trediakovsky, Alexander Petrovich Sumarokov , 1717–1777, was dedicated to

9306-480: The years of Joseph Stalin 's industrialization , is of great importance to inland shipping and transport in Russia: all the dams in the river have been equipped with large (double) ship locks , so that vessels of considerable dimensions can travel from the Caspian Sea almost to the upstream end of the river. Connections with the river Don and the Black Sea are possible through the Volga–Don Canal . Connections with

9405-480: Was continued by Sylvester Medvedev and Karion Istomin . The Life of the Archpriest Avvakum —an outstanding novelty autobiography written by the one of leaders of the 17th-century religious dissidents Old Believers Avvakum —is considered masterpiece of pre-Petrian literature, which blends high Old Church Slavonic with low Russian vernacular and profanity without following literary canons. After taking

9504-517: Was highly devoted to his state; he served in the military, before rising to various roles in Catherine II's government, including secretary to the Empress and Minister of Justice. Unlike those who took after the grand style of Mikhail Lomonosov and Alexander Sumarokov, Derzhavin was concerned with the minute details of his subjects. Denis Fonvizin , an author primarily of comedy, approached the subject of

9603-467: Was one of the earliest Russian writers not only to praise the ideals of Peter I's reforms but the ideals of the growing Enlightenment movement in Europe. Kantemir's works regularly expressed his admiration for Peter, most notably in his epic dedicated to the emperor entitled Petrida . More often, however, Kantemir indirectly praised Peter's influence through his satiric criticism of Russia's "superficiality and obscurantism", which he saw as manifestations of

9702-506: Was the Oberiu (1927–1930s), which included the most famous Russian absurdist Daniil Kharms (1905–1942), Konstantin Vaginov (1899–1934), Alexander Vvedensky (1904–1941) and Nikolay Zabolotsky (1903–1958). Other famous authors experimenting with language included the novelists Boris Pilnyak (1894–1938), Yuri Olesha (1899–1960), Andrei Platonov (1899–1951) and Artyom Vesyoly (1899–1938),

9801-532: Was the fourth largest book producer in the world in terms of published titles. A popular folk saying claims Russians are "the world's most reading nation". As the American scholar Gary Saul Morson notes, "No country has ever valued literature more than Russia." Scholars typically use the term Old Russian , in addition to the terms medieval Russian literature and early modern Russian literature , or pre-Petrian literature , to refer to Russian literature until

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