| Germaine de Stael's book "Ten Years in Exile" can now be read in Russian Almost two hundred years ago, the name of the glorious Madame de Staël was known to any enlightened European. Now the author of the novels “Delphine” and “Corinna”, treatises “On Germany”, “On Literature”, “Reflections on the French Revolution”, a brilliant interlocutor and correspondent of the rulers of thought and key politicians of the early 19th century, Germaine de Stael-Holstein, née Necker ( 1766--1817) is remembered mainly by historians and philologists. It's sad. And not because it evokes melancholic thoughts about the transience of worldly fame. The situation is simpler. Madame de Staël's writings are not only stylistically elegant, but also relevant. The problems that de Staël and her interlocutors, like-minded people, and opponents experienced are pressing to this day. History has not blessed us with revolutions comparable to the crisis of the Enlightenment and the Great Revolution in the last two centuries. The horrors and victories of these centuries are the consequences of a tragedy of which Germaine de Stael was an expressive character and passionate interpreter.
The book “Ten Years in Exile,” now fully translated into Russian for the first time (M., “O.G.I.”), is listed in the category “foreigners about Russia.” This was the case in the early 1820s, when fragments of the posthumously published work began to appear in our magazines (the book was banned in Russia, which, however, did not interfere with its existence in an enlightened environment), and this was also the case later. Meanwhile, de Stael was in Russia for less than two months (July - early September 1812), she looked at Kyiv, Moscow and St. Petersburg fluently, verified her observations with ready-made concepts, and with all her sympathy for the country opposing Napoleon, she thought mainly about how quickly get to the coveted Albion. “Arriving in St. Petersburg, the first thing I did was thank Heaven for finally getting to the sea. Seeing the English flag, a symbol of freedom, over the Neva, I felt that, having entrusted myself to the sea elements, I could betray myself directly into the hands of Providence.” The roundabout route to the land of freedom (through Austria, Russia and Sweden) was not chosen for the sake of new impressions. Having condemned de Staël to seclusion on the family estate (Coppe, Switzerland), the last thing Napoleon wanted was for her to find herself in the camp of her main enemy. De Staël called her stay outside her beloved Paris “exile”; she set out on her journey in 1812 of her own free will, violating the ban of the ruler of half the world. Although de Staël entered the history of literature as a pioneer (in fact, as an effective popularizer) of the ideas of national identity, this topic does not dominate in her travel notes. “Ten Years in Exile” is a book not about travel, but about politics, about the opposition of a private person to the state system, Germaine de Stael - to Napoleon Bonaparte.
This antithesis organizes the narrative. De Stael, once, like almost all of France, captivated by General Bonaparte, sees in him a sworn enemy of freedom, a cynic who despises everything human, a strange hybrid of a demon and a machine. Unlike the tyrant, who deliberately questions any good intention, the exiled heroine cultivates enthusiasm and faith in good principles. Napoleon turns the press into an instrument of the state, and representative institutions into decoration, his opponent glorifies freedom of speech (equally important for a newspaper and a salon), mourns the death of public opinion, and defends the sacred right of the elected representatives of the people to challenge taxes. De Stael insists on the special rights of women - Napoleon finds the very idea of a woman trying to dominate minds funny. De Stael is drawn to national identity - Napoleon methodically strives for the unification of civil and cultural institutions. For de Staël, beloved France is one of the European countries, which was initially distinguished by a spirit of openness and tolerance; for the emperor, it is a model under which the whole world should be brought up.
Of course, Madame de Stael is often unfair to Napoleon. (The writer steadily idealizes his opponents, be it General Bernadotte, who later became the king of Sweden, or Emperor Alexander I, whose Byzantine despotism actually cost the pragmatic tyranny of Bonaparte.) Of course, de Staël’s pen is often driven by the resentment of a rejected woman who dreamed of becoming an intellectual leader. husband of destiny." Of course, Corsican origin did not negate the deep French essence of Napoleon, who, not without reason, especially revered Corneille and was offended by August Schlegel when he ranked Euripides’ Phaedra above Rasinova. (Schlegel, who was involved in raising de Stael’s children, was ordered to leave her castle and go home. Of course, the emperor once again wanted to humiliate de Stael, and besides, he believed that the famous German had a bad influence on her. But “patriotic” ambition - - contrary to de Staël's opinion - this was not an act.) Of course, in the character of Germaine herself one can find many annoying (and/or comic) traits - immense ambition mixed with playful irresponsibility and childish faith in her charm. All this does not negate the main thing: de Stael defends the rights of a free person (woman, writer) - Napoleon fears freedom. And therefore he is afraid of the talkative Madame de Stael. Through the “personal litigation” the stable conflict of the New Age shines through, through the petty mutual injustices - the painful (always costly to both sides) conflict between people in power and people of thought.
The book about the duel between Madame de Stael and Napoleon was translated into Russian by Vera Milchina. “Ten Years in Exile” is preceded by a chronological outline and two succinct articles (“Germaine de Stael and her “philosophical geography” and “The history of the text and its translations into Russian”). What makes the book truly understandable is a huge commentary, where historical realities are carefully discussed, all the politicians, diplomats, thinkers, writers mentioned by De Stael are characterized, the sources of information obtained by the author second-hand are indicated, allusions are deciphered, the author’s judgments are corrected... And most importantly - Madame de Staël’s cherished book (along with the not yet translated, but repeatedly cited “Reflections on the French Revolution”) book is introduced into the context of her work (which helps to hear the author’s intonation, to connect together religious, ethical, aesthetic, political and personal , very feminine, motives), and in the context of European thought of the early 19th century. Commentary is generally a difficult matter. Commentary on a text so rich in texture and so complex in terms of genre (pamphlet, confession, memoir, travel impressions, philosophical treatise) is an extremely difficult task, worthy of surprise and admiration. But let’s not be surprised - thanks to Vera Milchina’s diligence, the Russian reader has already received the volume “Aesthetics of Early French Romanticism” (1982), “On Literature...” by the same Madame de Staël (1989), “Grave Notes” by Chateaubriand (1995).. I name only those works by Milchina that are closest to her new feat.
A keen mind and deep interest in metaphysical and political problems did not prevent Madame de Staël from writing easily and gracefully, resurrecting on paper the elegant and free spirit of the ancient salon. In the same way, the scientific thoroughness of Vera Milchina’s comments and articles is subordinated to the flexible intonation of a fascinating story. Sometimes pathetic, sometimes funny, but always lively, meaningful and addressed to the modern reader. Milchina knows: her “ancient” heroes can be interesting here and now. She is right, and Germaine de Staël would have understood her translator, interpreter, interlocutor well. Andrey NEMZER |
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