Three Metaphors for Life

Ronald Meyer is Publications Editor at the Harriman Institute. He teaches the seminar in Russian literary translation at Columbia University.Tatiana Smoliarova is an associate professor in the Slavic Languages and Literatures Department at the University of Toronto.

“Much of eighteenth-century Russian literature is not easily accessible to an anglophone audience, partly because many of its concerns depend on specifically Russian historical and linguistic contexts and partly because its values were largely rejected by the discourse of romanticism which has dominated Russian criticism since the early nineteenth century. By focussing on Derzhavin’s connections to the west European Enlightenment, and on his affinity for visual metaphors, Smoliarova offers an accessible and stimulating introduction to a vital and strongly influential period in Russian literary history.” —David Wells, Curtin University, Australian Slavonic and East European Studies, Vol. 33

G. S. Smith:

“The Russian text on which this book is based was published in Moscow in 2011 by Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie under the title Zrimaia lirika. It was warmly received, saluted especially for its adventurous, deeply informed intellectual scope. This English version must be acclaimed first of all as a feat of translation; the particular contribution of each of the three individuals credited is not specified. The main difficulty arises, needless to say, in translating adequately the primary material concerned, which is exhaustively and bilingually cited here. … This poetry is rugged, pocked with archaisms, and seems to revel in syntax that is sometimes maddeningly convoluted. The task of translation has been accomplished with rare sensitivity and insight; chasteningly, it is hard to imagine anybody reading the result who cannot at least make at least a stab at the original Russian. … All in all, this book will be useful reading for anyone interested in how best to read Russian poetry before Pushkin; rather than driving home hard conclusions, though, it will stimulate and suggest.” — G. S. Smith, New College, University of Oxford, Slavonic and East European Review Vol. 79, No. 3

William Mills Todd III, Harvard University:
"Comparatist Tatiana Smoliarova’s 2011 book on Derzhavin’s late poetry was a memorably innovative study of Russia’s most accomplished eighteenth-century poet. This English version — elegantly written, translated, and edited — is in significant ways a new and even better book. It is more sharply focused on crucial metaphors in Derzhavin’s poetry and it adds new historical perspectives, taking its discussion into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Its deft, sophisticated illuminations from the history of science and from literary history are highly original and persuasive. The author accomplishes the most valuable of critical feats, compelling readers to see canonical texts with fresh and invigorated eyes."

Angela Brintlinger, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University:
Three Metaphors for Life is a fascinating, well-researched and well-written study of the late Derzhavin which brings new insight into his place in Russian literature, politics, philosophy and society. What’s more, it carefully connects Derzhavin to the intellectual, philosophical, poetic and scientific currents of his time, demonstrating that he is not merely an essential figure in the Russian enlightenment, but has significant contributions to make as a European intellectual. Smoliarova is a seasoned scholar, with bona fides in comparative European intellectual history and literature. Her bibliography is deep and current, and her voice is authoritative and truly erudite. With command of languages and specialized literature from Russia, England, France, and Germany, Smoliarova writes clearly and vividly, expressing and tracing coherent connections across European borders that shed light on the Russian empire and the experience of living in the years before the war with Napoleon. This translation lucidly introduces Smoliarova to an English-language audience. What's more, Ron Meyers ably handles the difficult task of rendering scholarly prose and classical Russian poetry in English."