Aleksandr Pushkin, Poltava

Polina Rikoun (University of Denver)
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Alexander Pushkin’s long narrative poem Poltava, composed in 1828, centers on a historical figure, the Ukrainian hetman Mazepa [or ‘Mazeppa’], telling the story of his disastrous love affair with his god-daughter Maria [or ‘Mariia’] and unsuccessful aspiration to rule Ukraine independently from Russia. A highly complex work, Poltava weaves together diverse narrative and stylistic strands: its plot combines romance with political intrigue, its exposition dovetails third-person narrative into dramatic dialogues, its hybrid genre synthesizes neo-classical, romantic, realist, and folkloric elements. Pushkin considered Poltava his most mature and original work up to that date. However, the poem was …

2678 words

Citation: Rikoun, Polina. "Poltava". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 December 2007 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11203, accessed 29 March 2024.]

11203 Poltava 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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