To the symbolism of the Gypsy myth in Russian
and European literature of the 19th century
The paper puts forward the problem of “Gypsy myth” in Russian and foreign literary criticism.
The focus is on the symbolism of fire, expressing passion and aesthetic experience, especially
ecstasy and inspiration. In literary works, this symbolism is manifested through the set
of fire metaphors, the lighting of Gypsy campfire, smoking, burning coal, in some details of the
Gypsy woman portrait such as “fiery eyes.” In Russian literature, the first fire symbols became
relevant at the beginning of the 19th century as an attempt to show the expression of Gypsy dances
and singing. It was associated with Bacchus cult, influenced by two factors: the interest of Russian
poets in the mythology of Bacchus during that period and the popularity of the Gypsy choirs
in the noble class. By the early 1840s, the type of Gypsy woman character as passionate mistress
with fiery eyes and heartbreaking manner of singing became a verbal pattern to follow. Her love
was free, but fatal. By the beginning of the second half of the 19th century this motif complex
was embodied in Russian realistic prose in two stories of I. Turgenev and N. Leskov’s tale “Enchanted
wanderer.” They used the same romantic stereotypes. Burning Gypsy campfire in the
darkness or light of a big fire and its symbolic effects were significant for the German, British,
and French literature. In French poetry, Baudelaire and Gautier were attracted by fiery eyes of
Gypsy woman. The image was complemented by the “smoking effect” of Gypsy woman in
“Carmen” by Mérimée.
Apukhtin A. N. Poln. sobr. stikhotvoreniy [Complete poems]. Leningrad, Sov. pisatel’, 1991,
448 p.
Baldensperger F. L’entrée pathétique des tziganes dans les lettres occidentales. Revue de
littérature compare. 1938, vol. 18, рp. 587–603.
Baudelaire Ch. Les fleurs du mal. Boston, David R. Godine Publ., 1982, 365 p.
Belinski V. G. Belinskiy V. G. Poln. sobr. soch.: V 13 t. Vol. 7: Stat’i i retsenzii 1843 goda.
Sochineniya Aleksandra Pushkina. Stat’i 1–11 [Complete works in 13 vols. Papers and reviews
of 1843. Works of Alexander Pushkin. Papers 1–11]. Moscow, AN SSSR Publ., 1955, 739 p.
Bunin I. A. Sobr. soch.: V 6 t. T. 1: Stikhotvoreniya, 1888–1952. Perevody [Selected works
in 6 vols. Vol. 1. Poems, 1888–1952; Translations]. Moscow, Khudozh. lit., 1987, 687 p.
Clare J. Poems. London, Paul Farley Faber, 2007, 127 p.
Courthiade M., Djuric R. Les Roms dans les belles-lettres européennes. Paris, L’Harmattan,
2004, 192 p.
Derzhavin G. R. Stikhotvoreniya [Poems]. Leningrad, Sov. pisatel’, 1957, 468 p.
Dmitriyev I. I. Poln. sobr. stikhotvoreniy [Complete poems]. Leningrad, Sov. pisatel’, 1967,
501 p.
Fucikova M. Les images des Tsiganes dans la littérature française du 19ème siècle. Les
origines d’un mythe. Etudes Tsiganes. 2006, no. 25, pp. 10–36.
Garrett J. The Unaccountable “Knot” of Wordsworth’s “Gipsies”. Studies in English Literature.
1500–1900., vol. 40, no. 4: The nineteenth century. Autumn, 2000, pp. 603–620.
Gautier Th. Voyage en Russie. Paris, Nouvelle édition. Bibliothèque Charpentier, 1912, 418 p.
Goethes J. W. Werke. “Hamburger Ausgabe”: In 14 Bänden. München, C. H. Beck, 2005,
Bd. 4, Dramatische Dichtungen, 686 p.
Golitsyna V. N. Tsyganskaya tema v tvorchestve M. Tsvetayevoy i nekotoryye voprosy
pushkinskoy traditsii [Gypsy theme in the works of M. Tsvetaeva and some questions of Pushkin
tradition]. In: Problemy sovremennogo pushkinovedeniya. Mezhvuz. sb. nauch. tr. [Problems of
modern Pushkin studies. Interuniv. coll. of sci. art.]. Leningrad, LSPI, 1986, pp. 90–99.
Gor’kiy M. Poln. sobr. soch.: V 25 t. T. 1: Rasskazy, ocherki, nabroski, stikhi (1885–1894)
[Complete works in 25 vols. Vol. 1. Stories, essays, sketches, poems. (1885–1894)]. Moscow,
Nauka, 1968, 595 p.
Got’ye T. Emali i kamei: Sbornik [Enamels and cameos]. Moscow, Raduga, 1989, 368 p.
(In French with parallel text in Russian).
Grellmann H. M. G. Histoire des Bohemiens, ou tableau des moeurs, usages et coutumes de
ce people nomade; suivie de recherches historiques sur leur origine, leur langage et leur
premiere apparition en Europe. Pаris, Chaumerot, 1810, 366 p.
Houghton-Walker S. Representations of the Gypsy in the Romantic period. Oxford, Oxford
University Press, 2014, 304 p.
Hugo V. OEuvres complètes de Victor Hugo en 45 vols. Paris, Librairie Ollendorf, 1904,
vol. 1. Notre-Dame de Paris, 1904, 493 p.
Leblon B. Le regard ambigu de la littérature espagnole. Etudes Tsiganes. 1997, no. 9, pp. 95–
106.
Le Mythe des Bohémiens dans la littérature et les arts en Europe. S. Moussa (Ed.). Paris,
l’Harmattan, 2008, 388 p.
Leskov N. S. Sobr. soch.: V 12 t. T. 2: Pravedniki [Selected works: In 12 vols. Vol. 2. Saints].
Moscow, Pravda, 1989, 416 p.
Lotman Yu. M., Mints Z. G. “Chelovek prirody” v russkoy literature 19 veka i “tsyganskaya
tema” u Bloka [“Man of nature” in the Russian literature of the 19th century and “gypsy theme”
by Blok]. In: Blokovskiy sbornik: Tr. nauch. konf., posvyashch. izucheniyu zhizni i tvorchestva
A. A. Bloka, may 1962 g. [Blok’s collection: Tr. scientific. conf. devoted to the study of life and
work of A. A. Blok, May 1962]. Tartu, TSU, 1964, pp. 98–156.
L’vov N. A. Sobraniye narodnykh russkikh pesen s ikh golosami na muzyku polozhil Ivan
Prach [Collection of folk Russian songs with their voices on the music put by Ivan Prach].
V. M. Belyaev (Ed., intr.). Moscow, Muzgiz, 1955.
L’vov N. A. Pesnya dlya tsyganskoy plyaski [А song for Gypsy dancing]. In: L’vov N. A.
Izbr. Soch. [Selected works]. Cologne, Weimar; Vienna, Belau-Ferlag; St. Petersburg, Pushkin
House, Russian Christian Humanitarian Institute; “Akropol’” Publ., 1994 pp. 58–60.
Makhotina I. Yu. Tsygane i russkaya kul’tura: literatura i fol’klor [Gypsies and Russian culture
literature and culture]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Tver’, 2012, 20 p.
Mérimée P. Carmen. Revue des Deux Mondes. Paris, Beaux-arts, 1845, vol. 12, pp. 5–48.
Mur’yanov M. F. Pushkin i tsygane [Pushkin and gypsies]. In: Mur’yanov M. F. Pushkin
i Germaniya [Pushkin and Germany]. Moscow, Naslediye, 1999, pp. 399–415.
Nikitin I. S. Poln. sobr. stikhotvoreniy [Complete poems]. Moscow, Leningrad, Sov. pisatel’,
1965, 614 p.
Nora E. D. Gypsies and the British imagination, 1807–1930. Princeton, Columbia University
Press, 2008, 240 p.
Pal’m A. I. Tsyganke [To a gypsy woman]. In: Poety-petrashevtsy [Pоеts of Petrashevskiy].
Leningrad, Sov. pisatel’, 1957, pp. 109–110.
Polezhayev A. I. Kal’yan: Stikhotvoreniya A. Polezhayeva [Kalyan: Poems of A. Polezhaev].
Moscow, Tip. Lazarevykh Instituta Vostochnykh yazykov, 1833, 144 p.
Polonskiy Ya. P. Poln. sobr. stikhotvoreniy [Complete poems]. St. Petersburg, A. F. Marks
Publ., 1896, vol. 1, 480 p.
Prikhod’ko I. S. Pushkinskaya dikaya krasa u Aleksandra Bloka (“Priskakala dikoy
step’yu…”) [Pushkin’s wild beauty in Alexander Blok’s works (“Rode the wild steppe…”)].
Philologica. 1994, vol. 1, no. 1/2, pp. 170–179.
Proskurin O. Russkiy poet, nemetskiy uchenyy i bessarabskiye brodyagi (Chto Pushkin znal
o tsyganakh i pochemu skryl ot chitateley svoi poznaniya) [Russian poet, German scientist and
Bessarabian tramps (What Pushkin knew about the Gypsies and why he hid his knowledge from
his readers)]. New Literary Observer. 2013, no. 123, pp. 165–183.
Pushkin A. S. Sobr. soch.: V 10 t. [Selected works in 10 vols]. Moscow, 1959, vols 1, 2; 1960,
vols 3, 4.
Rostopchina E. P. Talisman: Izbrannaya lirika. Nelyudimka (drama) [Talisman: Selected lyrics.
Loner (drama)]. Moscow, Mosk. rabochiy, 1987, 319 c.
Rouart M. F. Image du Tsigane à travers la littérature romantique. Etudes Tsiganes. 1982,
no. 3, pp. 19–38.
Stepanov A. G. Tsyganskoye kak russkoye v knige “Versty” (stikhotvoreniya 1917–1920
godov) [Gypsy as a Russian in the book “Versty” (Poems of 1917–1920)]. In: Dobro i zlo v mire
Mariny Tsvetayevoy: Sb. dokl. 14 Mezhdunar. nauch.-tem. konf. [Good and evil in the world by
Marina Tsvetaeva: Collection of reports of 14th International scientific conf.]. Moscow, Marina
Tsvetaeva House Museum, 2007, pp. 304–321.
Shevyrev S. P. Stikhotvoreniya [Poems]. Leningrad, Sov. pisatel’, 1939, 239 p.
Shcherbakova T. A. Tsyganskoye muzykal’noye ispolnitel’stvo i tvorchestvo v Rossii [Gypsy
musical performance and creative work in Russia]. Moscow, Muzyka, 1984, 175 p.
Shchukin V. Tsyganka i gusar: o “vengerskom” kul’turno-mificheskom fone v russkoy
klassicheskoy literature [Gypsy and hussar: about the “Hungarian” cultural and mythical background
in Russian classical literature]. Studia Slavica Hungarica. 1999, no. 44 (1–2), pp. 55–70.
Turgenev I. S. Poln. sobr. soch. i pisem: V 30 t. [Complete works and letters in 30 vols].
Moscow, Nauka, 1979, vol. 3, 526 p.
Wilder J. Dark Wanderers: Gypsies in nineteenth-century British Poetry. A dissertation submitted
to the graduate faculty of the University of Georgia in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree Doctor of Philosophy. Athens, Georgia, 2004, 222 p.
Wordsworth W. The poetical works of William Wordsworth. London, Moxon, 1849, 496 p.
Yakovlev N. V. K voprosu ob angliyskikh istochnikakh stikhotvoreniya Pushkina “Tsygany”
(“Nad lesistymi bregami...”) [English sources of Pushkin’s poem “Gypsies” (“Over the wooded
banks...”)]. In: Pushkin i ego sovremenniki: Materialy i issledovaniya [Pushkin and his contemporaries:
Materials and studies]. Commission for the publication of the works of Pushkin at the Department
of Russian language and literature of the Imperial Academy of Sciences. Petrograd,
1923, iss. 36, pp. 63–70.
Yazykov N. M. Stikhotvoreniya N. M. Yazykova [Poems of N. M. Yazykov]. St. Petersburg,
Tip. Imp. Akad. nauk, 1858, vol. 2, 303 p.
To the symbolism of the Gypsy myth in Russian
and European literature of the 19th century // Сибирский филологический журнал. 2019. № 3. Pp. 53–66. DOI: 10.17223/18137083/68/5.