Mikhail Yu. Osokin, PhD in Philology, Independent Researcher, Thailand. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3054-280X E-mail: mike.osokin@gmail.com
Chamberlain Ivan Shuvalov was not only the instigator of the Elaginomachia and the provocateur of other Elizabethan-era literary po-lemics; he also attempted to compose a verse epistle to Ivan Elagin – begin-ning “Lover of the sweet Muse, imitator of Sumarokov…” – offering advice regarding his Satire on the Fop (1753). In the epistle, Shuvalov appears as a prudent arbiter, overseeing justice in the literary field – he advises Elagin to “prosper” in writing songs, which suit him better than satires; he attempts to shield Lomonosov’s poetry from the “severity” of critics; and he refutes Sumarokov’s title as the founder of Russian lyric love poetry, possibly advo-cating for Trediakovsky’s priority in this genre. In his epigram Khorev climbs Parnassus… Shuvalov ridicules the quarrelsomeness, vanity, and pretensions of Sumarokov the playwright to be a “northern Racine”. Both texts – un-finished, unpublished, and revealing the inner workings of the polemic – serve to put Sumarokov in his place and to reveal how he, with his disciple’s help, was trying to undermine the power hierarchy on the Russian Parnassus. The article also clarifies the status of the text, long considered the only surviving letter from Shuvalov to Lomonosov. It is more likely, however, to be a preface to the collection of polemical writings, serving as its introduction.
Ivan Elagin; Ivan Shuvalov; Alexander Sumarokov; elaginomachia; satire; literary polemics.
08.10.2025
10.12.2025
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