  shaposhnikova-vi-vestnik-2025-4.pdf |
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- The Orient as «The Other» in Victor Hugo’s poetry
- Shaposhnikova V.I. The Orient as “The Other” in Victor Hugo’s poetry. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2025, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 147–151. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-4-147-151
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2025-31-4-147-151
- УДК: 821(44).09”19”
- EDN: TLPTAB
- Publish date: 2025-09-03
- Annotation: This article deals with the interpretation of the Orient as The Other in Victor Hugo’s poetry, namely in his collection of poetry “Les Orientales”. The issue of alienation of the East is dissected through the lenses of orientalism’s influence on contemporary culture, as well as contemporary political climate. It shows how the Orient becomes not only “The Other” from the reader’s point of view, but also “Alien”. The article analyses figures of lyrical heroes, with some of them having to choose between the East and the West, and others being shown as oppressors. To support the analysis, the article relies on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of cultural dialogue and E. Said’s criticism of European orientalism. The article analyses the image of Oriental woman, which is used to show Oriental customs. The article concludes that the Orient’s otherness in Hugo’s poetry collection is due to the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, cultural differences between the East and the West, and stereotyped, under the influence of orientalism, image of the Orient.
- Keywords: 19th century French Literature, Victor Hugo’s poetry, Romanticism, Orientalism, “other one” in literature, “stranger” in literature, Dialogue of Cultures.
- Literature list: Bakhtin, M.M. Estetika slovesnogo tvorchestva [Aesthetics of verbal creativity]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1986, 445 p. (In Russ.) Said E. Ortientalizm [Orientalism], trans. by K. Lopatkina, ed. by A.R. Ikhsanov. Moscow, Sovremennaya kriticheskaya mysl’ Publ., 2021, 560 p. (In Russ.) Tolmachev M.V. Svidetel’ veka Viktor Gugo [Witness of the century Victor Hugo]. Moscow, Pravda Publ., 1988, 295 p. (In Russ.) Besson A. Victor Hugo: Vie d'un géant. Paris, France Empire, 2001, 456 p. (In French) Laporte A. Bibliographie contemporaine: histoire littéraire du dix-neuvième siècle en volumes. Paris, F. Vieweg, 1888, v. 8, 690 p. (In French)