Attachment from a distance: Russian sentimentalist usage of literary entries

This study examines works of Russian literature from the late eighteenth century in which the narrative relies exclusively on a succession of entries, such as fictional diaries, travelogues, and epistolary novels.; In Chapter One I show that the entry, regardless of what genre of work it appears in functions as an engine for the movement and development of narrative on the discursive level.; Chapter Two considers why the entry-style format was popular in the literature of the Sentimentalists. I first examine the movement itself and then consider how the entry-style format helped the Sentimentalists depict affection and attachment.; Chapters Three, Four and Five concentrate on two works: Aleksandr Radishchev's "Diary of One Week" (date unknown) and Nikolai Karamzin's Letters of a Russian Traveler (1792-1802). The "Diary" and the Letters reveal strikingly different ways in which the entry-style format can be used for purposes of narrative.; While on its surface Radishchev's "Diary" appears to be narrated by a single voice, I show there are actually several narrating voices---voices that all belong to the diarist, but that represent different aspects of his personality. I "unthread" the narrative of the "Diary" and identify the overlapping vocal strands.; The first letter of Karamzin's traveler-narrator resembles the "Diary" in both language and tone. However, during the course of the narrative he gradually changes into a very different sort of Sentimentalist. In Chapter Four I track these changes by following the way he addresses and speaks to his correspondent friends from letter to letter. I refer to this discursive thread as the "refrain" and show that through the refrain we recognize the transformation taking place in the traveler-narrator.; Chapter Five identifies further changes taking place in Karamzin's traveler-narrator as he concludes his journey. Foremost among the changes is the introduction of a patriotic theme. I show the narratological fashion in which Karamzin manages to intertwine patriotism with Sentimentalism.; I then conclude with some preliminary observations on the ways in which the Sentimentalists' usage of the entry-style format influenced nineteenth-century Russian literature.