Andrieja Murawjowa „czytanie” Wenecji

Abstract

The present study, using semiotic method, is an attempt to present the image of Venice in Pribavleniya k “Rimskim pis’mam” (1847) by Andrey Muravyov as a space experienced, felt, and also written down and thus preserved. The author seeks to demonstrate that, in his refl ections, the Russian writer adopted the Orthodox perspective, pointing to the presence of the Byzantine heritage in Venice and emphasizing that Venice in a way exploited Constantinople. Although Muravyov thoroughly described the most characteristic places of the “pearl of the Adriatic,” as Venice was then called, simultaneously studying its peculiarities, he looked at them with the eye of a pilgrim rather than that of a tourist. The presentation of Muravyov’s image of Venice incorporates a specifi c ‘dictionary’ which can be reconstructed based on his works. The analyses are based on the semiotic theory put forward by Vladimir Toporov and on the concept of the city’s signature symbols, as proposed by Tat’yana Tsiv’yan. Muravyov’s descriptions of the characteristics of Venice are considered in relation to, respectively, the city’s landscape, its culture and symbols, and the stylistic devices he used.