Dmitriy Sergeevich Merezhkovskiy

Russian poet, writer, and critic. Born into an aristocratic family serving the Russian court. After graduating from St. Petersburg University, he married the female poet Gippius, and together they began their literary careers. He initially wrote aesthetic poetry, but was influenced by Dostoevsky, Baudelaire, and Poe, which led to a literary turning point, and in 1892 he published his second collection of poems, Symbols, the first in Russian literary history to consciously use the word "symbol." The following year, in his essay On the Causes of the Decline of Modern Russian Literature and New Trends, which is considered the manifesto of Russian Symbolism, he rejected the Narodnik ideology and its realist literature of the 1970s and 1980s, and advocated a new art consisting of "an expansion of mystical content, symbols, and artistic impressionism," becoming a leader of the early Russian Symbolist movement. He later organized the Religious-Philosophical Society, published the magazine Novy Put (1903-04), and gathered a group of symbolists around it to challenge the Marxist literary movement centered around Gorky. During this time, he focused more on prose than poetry, and published Eternal Companions (1897), a critique of the best writers in world literature, and completed a lengthy historical trilogy, Christ and Antichrist, the first part of which was The Death of the Gods - Julian the Apostate (1896), the second part was The Resurrection of the Gods - Leonardo da Vinci (1901), and the third part was The Antichrist - Peter and Alexei (1905), which brought him worldwide fame for a time. The basis of this trilogy is a unique religious and philosophical idea that every period in European history is a history of dualistic conflicts between spirit and flesh, God and the Devil, Christianity and paganism, which will eventually be unified and harmonized in the coming apocalyptic world. He applied the same method to criticism. In other words, he argued that Tolstoy, the "insight into the flesh," strived to "spiritualize the flesh," while Dostoevsky, the "insight into the spirit," strived to "make the spirit flesh," and that the two should ultimately be united. In his works, including "Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: Their Lives and Works" (1901-02), "Gogol and the Devil" (1906) and "Prophets of the Russian Revolution" (1906), he created a stir both at home and abroad, and triggered a reevaluation of Dostoevsky and Gogol. He also wrote plays such as "Pavel I" (1908) and "Tsarevich Alexei" (1920), which were even praised by the Marxist critic Lunacharsky, but he viewed the Socialist Revolution of 1917 as a devil's kingdom ruled by servants of the Antichrist, and in 1920 he went into exile in France with his wife Gippius, where he engaged in anti-Soviet activities until his death. During his exile he wrote many works, including "Napoleon" (1926) and "The Unknown Jesus" (1932), but all of them were long-winded and lacked vitality.

[Tatsuji Minoura]

"Eternal Companions, 2 volumes" translated by Shozaburo Nakayama, "Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: Their Lives and Art, 2 volumes" translated by Shobo Nobori (Sougen Bunko)" ▽ "Julian the Heretic, Leonardo da Vinci, translated by Masao Yonekawa, "Peter the Great, 2 volumes" translated by Tetsuo Yonekawa (1986-87, Kawade Shobo Shinsha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

ロシアの詩人、作家、批評家。ロシア宮廷に仕える貴族の家に生まれる。ペテルブルグ大学卒業後、女流詩人ギッピウスと結婚し、ともに文学活動に入る。初め唯美主義的な詩を書いていたが、ドストエフスキー、ボードレール、ポーらの影響を受けて文学的転機を迎え、1892年、ロシア文学史上初めて「シンボル」なることばを意識的に用いた第二詩集『象徴(シンボルイ)』を出版。翌93年にはロシア・シンボリズムの宣言書(マニフエスト)と目される論文『現代ロシア文学の衰退の原因と新しい潮流について』で、70～80年代のナロードニキ的思想とそのリアリズム文学を否定し、「神秘的内容、シンボルおよび芸術的印象性の拡大」からなる新芸術を提唱、ロシア前期象徴派の指導者となった。その後「宗教・哲学会」を組織し、雑誌『新しい道(ノーブイ・プーチ)』（1903～04）を発行、その周りに象徴派グループを結集して、ゴーリキーを中心とするマルクス主義文学運動に挑戦する。その間、詩よりも散文に力を注ぎ、世界文学中の優れた作家についての評論『永遠の伴侶(はんりょ)』（1897）を上梓(じょうし)、さらに長大な歴史小説三部作『キリストと反キリスト』の第一部『神々の死――背教者ユリアヌス』（1896）、第二部『神々の復活――レオナルド・ダ・ビンチ』（1901）、第三部『反キリスト――ピョートルとアレクセイ』（1905）を完成して一時世界的名声を博した。この三部作の根底にあるのは、ヨーロッパ史のいずれの時代も、霊と肉、神と悪魔、キリスト教と異教との二元の対立葛藤(かっとう)の歴史であり、それはやがてきたるべき黙示録的世界において統一調和される、という独特な宗教的、哲学的思想である。彼はこれと同じ方法を批評にも適用する。すなわち、「肉の洞察者」トルストイは「肉の霊化」に努め、「霊の洞察者」ドストエフスキーは「霊の肉化」に努め、両者は究極的に合一さるべきものであると説いた『トルストイとドストエフスキー――その生活と創作』（1901～02）をはじめ、『ゴーゴリと悪魔』（1906）、『ロシア革命の予言者』（1906）などを書いて内外の反響をよび、ドストエフスキー、ゴーゴリ再評価のきっかけをつくった。そのほか戯曲『パーベル1世』（1908）、『皇子アレクセイ』（1920）も手がけ、マルクス主義批評家のルナチャルスキーからさえ評価されたが、1917年の社会主義革命を反キリストの下僕の支配する悪魔の王国とみなし、20年にギッピウス夫人とともにフランスへ亡命、死ぬまで反ソ活動を行った。亡命中も『ナポレオン』（1926）、『知られざるイエス』（1932）など数多くの作品を書いたが、いずれも冗長で生彩を欠く。

［箕浦達二］

『中山省三郎訳『永遠の伴侶　全二冊』、昇曙夢訳『トルストイとドストエーフスキイ――その生活と芸術　全二巻』（創元文庫）』▽『米川正夫訳『背教者ユリアヌス』『レオナルド・ダ・ヴィンチ』、米川哲夫訳『ピョートル大帝　全二巻』（1986～87・河出書房新社）』

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