Ideological context of "Collection of Poems Relating to the Unforgettable 1812". Article II

The article in two parts is a description of the ideological context of "Collection of Poems Relating to the Unforgettable 1812", which Prince N.M. Kugushev published in 1814. In the anthology there are intertext and content links of texts and official ideological documents of the Patriotic War (Royal manifestos, decrees, addresses), turning the edition into the poetic chronicle of an ideological movement of the epoch. The main stages of poetic and ideological interpretation of military events can be allocated from declaration of a special role of the nation in protection of the Homeland to transferring the merits of success onto the Emperor and the state, and the final recognition of the Divine providence as the leading force of the victory over the French. The social movement powerfully declared itself in literature of the beginning of war made militia the symbol of the Patriotic War, the evident representation of the common destiny and united will of all the people. In the "Collection" it is possible to allocate a whole block of poems devoted both to the governmental manifesto on militia, and their participation in war. From the collective image of the army individual portraits soon started to separate into a new national pantheon of heroes. They were not the exclusive projections of the state mission, a reflection of monarchical glory, they embodied common destiny and the national character. These heroes are M.I. Kutuzov who earned a significant name of "the savior of the Homeland", M.A. Miloradovich, P.I. Bagration, P.H. Vitgenstein, A.I. Kutaysov, Ya.P. Kulnev, N.N. Rayevsky. The emphasis on monarchic legitimation of the nation's movement led to a metonymy merge, which automatically transferred the merits of liberation of the Homeland from citizens to the Tsar. This tendency became quite obvious by October, 1812 when military successes reduced the need in the all-nation defence of Russia, the need, which later disappeared. The indicator of the ideological change here is not only the change of official rhetoric, but also the change of genre structure of verses. By the end of 1812 - beginning of 1813 the war turned from national and defensive to "professional" and offensive. The centre of attention was the image of the Emperor-Soldier. M.I. Kutuzov, "the savior of the Homeland", died on April 16, 1813. His death promoted the concentration of soteriology discourse on Alexander I, who in the course of foreign campaigns became not only the head of the nation, but also the liberator of the European peoples, the new beacon of the Christian world. The poetic indicator of this change is the transformation of the motive layer connected with the Bible semantics. It actively modelled the representation of the events of the Patriotic War. Having passed many governmental reports, the formula of Divine rescue, for which the people, the army, and the Emperor were only tools, was soon fixed canonically. Literature with the image of the Divine Shield, rescue of the elite, from the first days of the war got a new context, too. In foreign campaigns it became the dominating character, merging with the image of Alexander the Messiah, as in "The Ode on destruction of enemies and their exile from the dear Homeland" by P.V. Golenishchev-Kutuzov. That was the end of the first cycle of introduction of the idea of the nation into domestic ideology and literature, which first powerfully declared itself in the patriotic movement and strong nationalist aspirations, but later was compelled to concede to the conservative tradition of the imperial discourse enriched with Christian universalism symbolics during the post-war years.

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