Sentimental Traditions in M. N. Makarov’s “Letters of a Russian Traveler” (1805 and 1824)
The article analyzes little-known journal publications of the early 19th century, namely M. N. Makarov’s “Several Letters of a Russian Traveler from England to Russia” (1805) and “August Adolf Friederike Desalvert” (1824), through the prism of continuity of traditions of sentimentalism characteristic of N. M. Karamzin’s prosaic works. Being underinvestigated and honoring N. M. Karamzin’s narrative legacy, M. N. Makarov’s novellas are research-worthy. A comparative analysis of these texts, whose authorship has been attributed to M. N. Makarov by V. E. Vatsuro, enables us to trace parallel story lines in M. N. Makarov’s novellas and in N. M. Karamzin’s “Poor Lisa” and “Bornholm Island”. M. N. Makarov’s “Several Letters of a Russian Traveler from England to Russia” and “August Adolf Friederike Desalvert” reek of sentimentalism and are characterized by genre-imposed confines (autobiographical essay, travel essay, diary entries), cliché motifs (chance meeting, falling in love, the threat of separation, joint walks, hostile nature, illness, sleep, seduction, etc.), the use of chivalric and sentimental imagery. The research shows that N. M. Karamzin’s sentimental legacy played a major role in shaping literary traditions of the centuries to come.