Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok

Emily Lygo (University of Exeter)

Ed. by Neil Cornwell, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.1.00: Slavic and Russian Writing and Culture: Old, Medieval and Tsarist, 700-1917.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Dates

Born 28 Nov 1880
Died 7 Aug 1921
Activity 1897-1921

Places

Born in Russia
Active in Russia

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist
Poet

Resources

Aleksandr Blok is a major Russian poet of the Silver Age who lived through the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 and responded to his times both as a poet and essayist. He is generally associated with the second generation of Symbolists, but after 1917 he also worked with the Bolshevik regime until his death in 1921. Blok’s character tended towards extreme moods that ranged from a religious yearning for the divine to an embracing of demonic and destructive forces, and these poles characterise the sharp contrasts found in his work. Although he is known primarily as a lyric poet, he also wrote essays, reviews, and lyric dramas; the latter were performed in the experimental theatres of the Silver Age and early Revolutionary period.

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2847 words

Citation: Lygo, Emily. "Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 December 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=449, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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