O.P. Kozodavlev and the journal Sobesednik lyubiteley rossiyskogo slova

During the second half of the 18th century, in Russia as well as in Europe, a tendency toward sentimentalism became remarkable. Many Russian writers started to imitate Europian sentimental works. The article focuses on the three Russian sentimental works of 0.P. Kozodavlev which were published in the journal Sobesednik lyubiteley rossiyskogo slova [Interlocutor of Lovers of the Russian Word] (1783-1784). In the precedent studies, O.P. Kozodavlev (1754-1818) has been regarded above all as a government official. However, Kozodavlev made a significant contribution to the development of Russian literature, especially in the 1780s. In 1783 the publication of the monthly Sobesednik began under the patronage of Empress Catherine II. The editors' main aim was to publish a periodical which consisted only of original articles and literary works written in Russian. Kozodavlev himself, who edited this periodical along with Madam Dashkova, also wrote several important works for it. The analysis of his three sentimental works clarifies the role of aesthetics during the Enlightenment, in the early stages of the development of Russian sentimentalism. The first of his three works, the prose novel A Pleasant Trip was published in the first volume of the journal. The narrator-traveller "I" of this story, who was disappointed in love, became acquainted with a virtuous man. The virtuous man invited the narrator to his house and related his former experience of "virtue". The narrator was deeply impressed by the story about virtue and was able to overcome the sorrow of his lost love. In this novel, the main purpose of the author, Kozodavlev, was to show the narrator "I" overcoming his despair, and to emphasize the importance of "sentimentality" for moral development through comparison with "virtue". The second work titled "Clelia" is a poem about lost love at first sight. The author points out that the name "Clelia" reminded the contemporary intelligent readers of a French romance, "Clelia" by M. Scudery, in which morals of love in the 17th-century salon society were described. Kozodavlev's third work, "For my Friend", published in the seventh issue of the journal, was written in a form of a poem in response to Derzhavin's ode "Felica". In the poem, the narrator advises his "friend" to overcome his sorrow for his lost love. At the same time, the narrator accepts his "friend's" pains, because the "friend" is a poet of genius and it may be necessary for him to suffer deeply in order to create masterpieces. The analysis of the three works leads the author to a conclusion that Kozodavlev the author intended to show them as three scenes of a story with the same narrator-main character "I". In such a well-devised way, Kozodavlev succeeded in emphasizing the importance of the role of sentimentality in the process of human mental development.

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