War and Revolution in St. Petersburg : Modernist Links in the Poetry of Edith Södergran and Anna Andreevna Akhmatova

Important modernists in their own countries, Anna Akhmatova and Edith Södergran are compared in this dissertation as poets whose poetry reflects the climactic events of the early twentieth century in Finland and Russia. A comparatist, biographical and historical approach is used to uncover the circumstances surrounding these events. First the poets’ early works are reviewed and their contemporaries are mentioned to provide a poetic context. Then a brief review of Finnish and Russian history situates them historically. Next, the rich literary diversity of St. Petersburg’s Silver Age is presented and the work of the poets is viewed in context before their poetry is compared, as the First World War, October Revolution and subsequent Finnish Civil War impact their writing. While biography is not the primary focus, it becomes important as inevitably the writers’ lives are changed by cataclysmic events and the textual analysis of the poems in Swedish, Russian and English shows the impact of war on their poetry. These two poets have not been compared before in a critical review in English and this work contributes to needed work in English. They share certain common modernist traits: attention to the word, an intimate, unconventional voice, and a concern with audience. In addition, they both reject formal traditions while they adopt new forms and use modern, outside influences such as art, architecture and philosophy as subject matter and a lens through which to focus their poetry. While it may seem that Anna Akhmatova was the most socially aware poet, because of the censorship she endured under Stalin, my research has revealed that actually Edith Södergran showed the most social consciousness. Thus, a contrast of the poets’ themes reveals these differences in their approaches. Both poets articulated a vibrant response to war and revolution becoming modernists in the process. In their final works created in the years before their deaths, they reveal the solace they found in nature as well as final mentions of the violent events of their youth. Keywords: St. Petersburg, Modernism, Symbolism, Acmeism, Silver Age, Finland-Swedish literature

Unidentified nurses and injured World War I soldiers celebrating with champagne and flowers Portraits Groups

Handwritten correspondence on verso covered over with pasted black paper

Reproduction of portrait of field chaplain Rabbi Dr. Sali Levi Military; World War I; Portraits

Feldrabbiner Dr. Sali Lewi, Breslau

Model of Strangriede Cemetery during World War II when it was a holding area for Jews to be deported; Hannover Cemeteries

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Portrait of Leopold Meyerhof in his World War I officer's uniform Military; World War I; Portraits

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Portrait of Leo Baeck as military chaplain Military; World War I; Portraits

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Leo Baeck with unidentified soldiers Military; World War I; Portraits Groups

Center May 2000

Broadside; For the German mothers of the 12000 Jewish soldiers who fell in combat during World War I Posters and Signs

An die deutschen Muetter! 12000 juedische Soldaten sind fuer das Vaterland auf dem Felde der Ehre gefallen. Christliche und juedische Helden haben gemeinsam gekaempft und ruhen gemeinsam in fremder Erde. 12000 Juden fielen im Kampf! Blindwuetiger Parteihass macht vor den Graebern der Toten nicht halt. Deutsche Frauen, duldet nicht, dass die juedische Muetter in ihrem Schmerz verhoehnt wird. Reichsbund juedischer Frontsoldaten e.V.

Jacob Judey-Barosin with his wife Sonia nee Finkel after the end of World War II; Paris Portraits Couples

Early in 1943 the Barosins were arrested and sent to the deportation camp in Gurs. They were freed by French authorities and went into hiding until their liberation in 1944 in Paris. In 1947 they emigrated to the United States.

Herman Sommerfeld, German Jewish World War I pilot, seated in an airplane Portraits Men

Signed by photographer bottom left

War damage; Kunstgewerbe, Berlin.

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