The Russians and Russia in the Correspondеnce between Valentin Jamerai-Duval and Anastasia Sokolova (1762–1774)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2018.4.349Keywords:
private correspondence; 18th-century Russia; Valentin Jamerai-Duval; Anastasia Sokolova (de Ribas); Catherine II; image of RussiaAbstract
This article considers the images of Russian people in the correspondence (1762–1774) between Valentin Jamеrai-Duval, a French self-taught philosopher in Austrian service, and Anastasia Sokolova (De Ribas), a maid of the bedchamber at Catherine II’s court. The publication of 126 letters, carried out in 1784 by the well-known Russian diplomat F. A. Koch, was an important political project aimed at popularising Russia’s achievements during the first period of Catherine II’s reign among a Western European audience. The letters contain detailed factual information on the history, culture, geography, and domestic and foreign policy of the Russian Empire, as well as its economy and religious life. The correspondents focus on the reform activities of Catherine II and the events of the Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774. Images of numerous highly educated Russians favourably complement the positive image of the country, overcoming the usual stereotypes. Thus, the publication of Duval and Sokolova’s correspondence fits into the new trend for understanding the image of Russia in Western Europe that developed in an academic context between the 1770s and 1780s. At the same time, the publication of letters from both correspondents, resembling in their content the correspondence between Catherine II and Voltaire, was meant to prepare readers for the forthcoming publication of the latter correspondence and prevent the negative consequences for the empress.
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Vacheva, A. (2018a). Russia v dve frensko–ruski korespondentsii ot 60-te – 70-te godini na XVIII vek [Russia in Two Franco–Russian Correspondences from the 1760s to the 1770s]. In Interpretirame ruskata literatura. Sbornik v chest na 75–godishninata na professor dfn Petko Troev. Sofia, Fakultet po slavyanski philologii, pp. 9–23.
Vacheva, A. (2018b). Chai, pusheni elenski ezitsi i haiver. Vkusnite ruski izkusheniya v pismata na Valentin Jamerai Duval i Anastasia Sokolova [Tea, Smoked Deer Tongues and Caviar. Delicious Russian Temptations in the Letters of Valentin Jamerai-Duval and Anastasia Sokolova]. In D”lgiyat XVIII vek 2. Nasladi i zabrani. Sofia, B”lgarsko obshchestvo za prouchvane na XVIII vek, pp. 113–121.
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Berelowitch, W. (2005). Modèles éducatifs des Lumières dans la noblesse russe : le cas des Golitsyne. In Dix–huitième siècle. No. 37. Politiques et cultures des Lumières, pp. 179–194.
Berelowitch, W. (2011). Guvernery v sem’e Golitsynykh [Tutors in the Golitzyn Family. 1760–1780]. In Tchoudinov, A., Rjeoutsky, V. (Eds.). Frantsuzskii ezhegodnik. Frankoyazychnye guvernery v Evrope XVII–XIX vv. Moscow, Institut vseobshchei istorii RAN, pp. 190–199.
Berelowitch, W. (2013). Les gouverneurs des Golitsyne à l’étranger : les exigences d’une famille (années 1760–1780). In Rjéoutski, V., Tchoudinov, A. (Eds.). Le précepteur francophone en Europe (XVIIe–XIXe siècles). Paris, Harmattan, pp. 139–150.
Berelowitch, W. (2018). Postface. Koch et l’historiographie européenne des Lumières sur la Russie. In Baudin, R., Berelowitch, W. (Eds.). Histoire de Russie avec sa partie politique par Mr. Koch, professeur à Strasbourg suivie de Constitution de l’empire de Russie. Strasbourg, Presses univ. de Strasbourg, pp. 205–240.
Bobrinsky, A. G. (1877). Dnevnik grafa Bobrinskogo, vedennyi v kadetskom corpuse i vo vremya puteshestviya po Rossii i za granitseyu : [Izvlechenie] [Diary of Count Bobrinsky, Kept in the Cadet Corps and while Travelling around Russia and Abroad [Extract]]. In Russkii arkhiv. Book 3. Iss. 10, pp. 116–165.
Catherine II. (1867). Pis’ma imperatritsy Ekateriny II k gospozhe Geoffrin [Letters of Empress Catherine II to Mme Geoffrin]. In SIRIO. Vol. 1, pp. 253–291.
Corberon, M.-D. (1901). Un diplomate français à la cour de Catherine II (1775–1780). Journal intime du chevalier de Corberon, Chargé d’affaires de France en Russie : en 2 t. / publié d’après le manuscrit original, avec une introduction et des notes par L.–Il. Labande. Paris, Librairie Plon. T. 1. 366 p.
Courbet, A. (2011). Correspondance de Valentin Jamerey-Duval. T. 1. 4 novembre 1722 – 21 décembre 1745 [Texte imprimé]: bibliothécaire des Ducs de Lorraine / éd. critique établie par A. Courbet. Paris, Honore Champion. 652 p.
Duval, V. J. (1784). OEuvres de Valentin Jamerai Duval, précédées des mémoires sur sa vie : en 2 t. St Pétersbourg, Strasbourg, Chez J. G. Treuttel. 320 + 336 р.
Harris, J. 1st Earl of Malmesbury. (1874). Lord Malmesbury o Rossii v tsarstvovanie Ekateriny II (perepiska angliiskogo poslannika pri dvore Ekateriny II, 1778–1783) [Lord Malmesbury on Russia in the Reign of Catherine II (Correspondence of the English Envoy to the Court of Catherine II, 1778–1783)]. In Russkii arkhiv. Vol. 2. Book 11, stb. 737–822.
Helbig, G. von. (1999). Russkie izbranniki [Russian Elects]. Moscow, Voennaya kniga. 310 p.
Kaznakov, S. (1916). Doch’ Betskogo I “filosof” Duval [Betzkoï’s Daughter and the “Philosophe” Duval]. In Starye gody. October, pp. 3–78.
Klein, J. (2017). Das triumphierende Russland. Kriegslyrik im 18. Jahrhundert. In Zeitschrift für Slavische Philologie. Jahrgang 73. Ausgabe 2, S. 441–475.
Klein, J. (2018). Torzhestvuyushchaya Russia: Voennya lirika XVIII veka [Triumphant Russia: War Poetry in the 18th Century]. In Slověne. International Journal of Slavic Studies. No. 1, pp. 174–210.
Kostyashov, Yu. V. (1994). Neizvestnye stranitsy zhizni serbskogo prosvetitelya XVIII veka Pavla Yulintsa [Unknown Pages of the Life of Pavel Julinaz, a Serbian Educator of the 18th Century]. In Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seria 8. Istoria. No. 3, pp. 40-49.
Lavrinovich, M. (2017). Za fasadom rossiiskogo Prosveshcheniya. Pitomtsy moskovskogo Vospitatel’nogo doma o svoei zhizni [Behind the Facade of the Russian Enlightenment. Students of the Moscow Educational House about their Lives]. In Otechestvennye zapiski. No. 4, pp. 265–283.
Lüsebrink, H.–J. (2015). OEuvres de Valentin Jamerey-Duval: une édition strasbourgeoise à la croisée des cultures. In Histoire et civilisation du Livre. Vol 15, pp. 147–160.
Masson, Ch. (1996). Sekretnye zapiski o Rossii vremeni tsarstvovaniya Ekateriny II i Pavla I [Secret Notes on Russia during the Reigns of Catherine II and Paul I]. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie. 207 p.
Miranda, F. de. (2001). Puteshestvie po Rossiiskoi imperii [A Journey around the Russian Empire]. Moscow, MAIK “Nauka-Interperiodika”. 380 p.
Rzhevskaya, G. (2005). Pamyatnye zapiski [Memoirs]. In Institutki: Vospominaniya vospitannits institutov blagorodnykh devits [Institute Girls. Recollections of the Students of the Institute for Noble Maidens. Moscow, Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, pp. 33–66.
Stroev, A. (2017). La Russie et la France des Lumières. Monarques et philosophes, écrivains et espions. Paris, Institut des Etudes Slaves. 508 p.
Stroev, A. (Ed.). (2006). Voltaire – Catherine II. Correspondance 1763–1778. Paris, Non lieu. 372 p.
Vacheva, A. (2013). The Russo–Turkish War from 1768–1774 in Eighteenth-Century Russian Poetry and the Creation of the Mythology of Power in Russia. In Power and Influence in South–Eastern Europe. 16th–19th Century. Münster, LIT Verlag, pp. 319–328.
Vacheva, A. (2017). Illyuzii “derevenskogo filosofa” o Rossii. Politika Ekateriny II 1760–kh gg. Glazami Valentina Jamerai Duvalya (1695–1775) [The Illusions of the “Rustic Philosopher” about Russia. The Policy of Catherine II of the 1760s through the Eyes of Valentin Jamerai-Duval (1695–1775)]. In Limes Slavicus 2. Kulturni kontsepti na slavyanstvoto. Shumen, Universitetsko izdatelstvo “Sv. Konstantin Preslavski”, pp. 323–339.
Vacheva, A. (2018a). Russia v dve frensko–ruski korespondentsii ot 60-te – 70-te godini na XVIII vek [Russia in Two Franco–Russian Correspondences from the 1760s to the 1770s]. In Interpretirame ruskata literatura. Sbornik v chest na 75–godishninata na professor dfn Petko Troev. Sofia, Fakultet po slavyanski philologii, pp. 9–23.
Vacheva, A. (2018b). Chai, pusheni elenski ezitsi i haiver. Vkusnite ruski izkusheniya v pismata na Valentin Jamerai Duval i Anastasia Sokolova [Tea, Smoked Deer Tongues and Caviar. Delicious Russian Temptations in the Letters of Valentin Jamerai-Duval and Anastasia Sokolova]. In D”lgiyat XVIII vek 2. Nasladi i zabrani. Sofia, B”lgarsko obshchestvo za prouchvane na XVIII vek, pp. 113–121.
Vorontsov, A. R. (1883). Zapiski grafa Aleksandra Romanovicha Vorontsova [Notes by Count Alexander Romanovich Vorontsov]. In Russkii arkhiv. Book 1, pp. 223–290.
Waliscewsky, K. (2004). Vokrug trona: Ekaterina II, imperatritsa vserossiyskaya [Around the Throne: Catherine II, Empress of Russia]. Moscow, Terra – Knizhnyi klub. 200 p.
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Published
2018-12-25
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Vacheva, A. (2018). The Russians and Russia in the Correspondеnce between Valentin Jamerai-Duval and Anastasia Sokolova (1762–1774). Quaestio Rossica, 6(4), 1110–1128. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2018.4.349
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