The personal mythology of Peter III Feodorovich as deployed in Russian panegyrics of 1742, 1743, and 1762.

摘要

This dissertation examines the process of creation and evolution of the personal mythology of the 7th Russian Emperor Peter III. It explores the phenomenon of personal mythology as a system of representation of the monarch's identity, which was, on the one hand, clearly displayed and, on the other hand, actively developed in XVIII century literary texts. The main aim of the thesis is to reconstruct the metaphorical and narrative core of Peter's III personal mythology as it was both expressed and created in Russian panegyrics of the 1740-1760.;The first chapter consists of 3 sections and provides a survey of two solemn odes by M. Lomonosov (an ode on Peter's arrival to Sankt-Petersburg, 1742, and an ode on his name day, 1743), and a sermon of Simon Todorskiy dedicated to Peter's 15th birthday. Analysis of these panegyrics forms the basis for understanding key elements in Peter's personal mythology as it was formed and elaborated during the first years of his life in Russia. The second chapter consists of 4 sections and includes analysis of the solemn odes by M. Lomonosov, A. Sumarokov, M. Kheraskov and I. Bogdanovich written in 1762, soon after the new monarch's accession to the throne. Findings derived from the close reading of these panegyrics indicate that the main discourse models used to organize Peter's personal mythology in 1762, in many respects, coincided with, but in some key elements varied significantly from, the corresponding rhetorical tools implemented in the first stage of its evolution.;The thesis concludes with a discussion of the question why the process of the creation of an effective personal mythology for Peter III failed. I argue that the key elements of the personal mythology proposed to Peter III by Russian authors in 1742, 1743 and 1762 were borrowed from the personal mythology of his grandfather Peter I (also known as Peter the Great). I suggest that the deep inconsistency of these rhetorical models with the biographical circumstances and hybrid identity of Peter III led to a systematic failure in the process of legitimization and popularization of the image of the monarch.