Karamzin's "Paris in the Eighteenth Century as Seen by Russians" Overview and Impressions - What was the impact of the Russian humanist's vision of Paris, the city he longed to visit?
Paris, March 27, 1790
We were approaching Paris, and constantly I would ask my road companion, "Is Paris there yet? Finally, a wide open plain opened up and we could see Paris in the distance! ...... We gazed hungrily at this endless architectural behemoth - and our eyes were glued to the dark shadows of the buildings. Our hearts throbbed. Look, it's Paris. This is the city that for centuries has been the model for all of Europe, the source of taste and fashion. In Europe, Asia, America, and Africa, learned and unlearned, philosophers and pundits, artists and the uneducated, all speak its name with coyness. I knew the name of Paris almost as well as I knew my own name. I read a lot about Paris in novels, I heard about it from travelers, I dreamed about it, I thought about it! ...... See, there it is, Paris! ...... I can see it, I am about to enter it!" -Oh, my friends! This moment was one of the most enjoyable moments of my trip! Never before had I approached a city with such liveliness and curiosity, with such longing!
Sairyusha Publishing, translated by Makoto Fukuzumi, Nikolai Karamzin, Paris in the Eighteenth Century as Seen by the Russians, p. 11.
Paris, the city of flowers.
I was moved and amazed when I saw that Paris for the first time.
It is hard to find a better word to describe it than this sentence.
The author of this text is the Russian literary scholar Karamzin (1765-1826).
He is one of Russia's most famous literary figures and historians, and was a great figure who led the heyday of 19th century Russian literature. He naturally had a great influence on Dostoevsky.
Today we present this Nikolai Karamzin, "Eighteenth-Century Paris as Seen by the Russians.
The opening sentence describes the moment when young Karamzin left Russia for Europe and finally arrived in Paris, the city of his dreams. One can imagine how much Paris was an object of longing for the Russian people from this sentence alone.
The prologue describes the situation in France and Russia at the time.
The 18th century was a time when French culture reigned over all of Europe. Monarchs and aristocrats, as represented by Frederick the Great of Prussia and Empress Ekaterina of Russia, spoke French and strove to acquire French manners and culture. French was replacing Latin as the lingua franca of the cultured. Reading the works of French thinkers and writers was a sign of a cultured person.
Paris, the center of French culture and the capital of Europe at the time, was a city that everyone wanted to visit at least once. Young Karamudin, who had traveled all the way from Russia, located far away on the European frontier, in a horse-drawn carriage, was also excited to visit Paris for the first time.
Sairyusha Publishing, translated by Makoto Fukuzumi, Nikolai Karamzin, Paris in the Eighteenth Century as Seen by the Russians, p. 5-6.
Previous ArticleDostoevsky and France: The Deep Relationship Between Russia and France."As I mentioned in my previous article, French culture dominated the Russian upper class, and speaking French was even a status symbol.
I am in Paris! This thought evokes in my mind a certain special, quick, unexplainable, pleasant movement. ...... I am in Paris! I say to myself and run from street to street, from the Tuileries to the Champs-Elysées. Suddenly I stop and look at everything with extraordinary curiosity. I look at the buildings, the boxcars, the people. What I knew from books, I now see with my own eyes - enjoying and delighting in the vibrancy of the greatest, most glorious city on earth, a unique and wonderful place to see all kinds of phenomena.
Five days passed like five hours for me. In the noise, in the hustle and bustle, in the theater, in the enchanting palace of the Palais Royal. My mind is filled with powerful impressions.
Sairyusha Publishing, translated by Makoto Fukuzumi, Nikolai Karamzin, Paris in the Eighteenth Century as Seen by the Russians, p. 16-17.
With its massive architecture, splendid cityscape, lively hustle and bustle, and enchanting opera, Calamudine is immediately enchanted by Paris.
But he would also see things he never imagined.
Climb up on the big terrace. Look to the right, to the left, around you. Everywhere you look there are huge buildings, palaces, churches, the beautiful banks of the Seine, granite bridges, where thousands of people throng and many boxcars make noise. (omission) Further on, one sees narrow streets, an insulting mixture of poverty and affluence ...... right next to the luxurious stores of jewelers, piles of rotten apples and herring. Everywhere there is garbage, and blood is dribbling from the meat on the shelves. -Pinch your nose and close your eyes. The glamour of the city will fade, and it will seem as if all the filth and filth of Paris is pouring in through underground pipes from every city in the world. Take one more step. Suddenly, the scent of good Arabia, or at least the fragrance of the blooming fields of Provence, will waft toward you. You have arrived at one of the many small stores selling perfumes and pomades. In short, with each step the atmosphere changes, and with each new luxury or most repulsive filth, you should call Paris the most wonderful and the most repulsive, the most fragrant and the most foul-smelling city.
Sairyusha Publishing, translated by Makoto Fukuzumi, Nikolai Karamzin, Paris in the Eighteenth Century as Seen by the Russians, p. 18-19.
It is another version of the glamorous and beautiful city of Paris, a stench and filth-ridden Paris.
Paris was the most prosperous city of its time, but at the same time, the negative aspects of that prosperity were not uncommon.
This is a surprising fact.
Behind the overwhelming prosperity, there was also overwhelming misery hidden. No, it was so overflowing on the surface that it could not be hidden. That was the reality of Paris.
But even so, Paris still exudes an irresistible charm that attracts people.
In this book by Karamzin, he candidly describes the overwhelming charms and negative aspects of Paris, the city he admired from a Russian perspective, and his impressions of the Parisian people as he saw them.
In my future articles I will discuss this overwhelming prosperity of Paris and the French culture that was created from it, as well as the negative aspects.
The above is "Karamzin, "Eighteenth-Century Paris as Seen by the Russians," What was the shock of the Russian humanist scholar who saw Paris, the city he longed to visit?
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