Сильфида

by Vladimir Odoyevsky, Владимир Фёдорович Одоевский

O príncipe Vladímir Fiódorovitch Odóievski (1803-1869) participou de diversos grupos literários importantes da primeira metade do século XIX na Rússia, como a Sociedade Livre dos Amantes das Letras Russas, a sociedade dos Amantes da Sabedoria (os Liubomúdri), o periódico Mnemozina, o círculo de leituras capitaneado por Semiôn Ráitch. Posteriormente, tangenciou o movimento eslavófilo. Odóievski foi um dos principais difusores da filosofia idealista e da literatura alemã na Rússia (Novalis, Hoffmann, entre outros), tendo inclusive contatos pessoais com Schelling. Relativamente pouco conhecido fora da Rússia, ele foi contudo autor de obras importantes, como a ficção científica O ano 4338 (1840-1926) e Noites russas (1844), híbrido de conversação filosófica, ensaio e ficção. O conto “A sílfide”, publicado em 1837, é um ótimo exemplar das fortes vertentes fantásticas existentes na Rússia dos anos 1830-40, e, nesse sentido, pode estabelecer um diálogo frutífero com cultores do gênero mais conhecidos, como Gógol. (Nota de Bruno Barretto Gomide)

Genres: Russia

382 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1837

About the author

Prince Vladimir Fyodorovich Odoyevsky (Russian: Владимир Федорович Одоевский) was a prominent Russian philosopher, writer, music critic, philanthropist and pedagogue. He became known as the "Russian Hoffmann" on account of his keen interest in phantasmagoric tales and musical criticism.

Aspiring to imitate Ludwig Tieck and Novalis, Odoyevsky published a number of tales for children (e.g., "The Snuff-Box Town") and fantastical stories for adults (e.g., "Cosmorama" and "Salamandra") imbued with the vague mysticism in the vein of Jakob Boehme and Louis-Claude de Saint-Martin.

Following the success of Pushkin's The Queen of Spades, Odoyevsky wrote a number of similar stories on the dissipated life of the Russian aristocracy (e.g., Princess Mimi and Princess Zizi). On account of his many short stories from the 1820s and 1830s, Odyoevsky should be listed among the pioneers of the impressionistic short story in Europe.

His most mature book was the collection of essays and novellas entitled The Russian Nights (1844). Loosely patterned after the Noctes Atticae, the book took two decades to complete. It contains some of Odoyevsky's best known fiction, including the dystopian novellas The Last Suicide and The Town with No Name. The stories are interlaced with philosophic conversations redolent of the French Encyclopedists.

As a music critic, Odoyevsky set out to propagate the national style of Mikhail Glinka and his followers. Among his many articles on musical subjects, a treatise about old Russian church singing deserves particular attention. Johann Sebastian Bach and Beethoven appear as characters in some of his novellas. Odoevsky was active in the foundation of the Russian Musical Society, Moscow Conservatory, and St. Petersburg Conservatory.

Reviews

[Maurício Pereira · Rating 4 out of 5]

ah que conto incrível, eu adoro essa fantasia russa. A frase final do conto da um certo aperto.