Caught between Art and Crisis: Identity in Mandelstam’s “Art of Parting”

Abstract

Osip Mandelstam (1891-1938) will always be one of the most eminent as well as controversial names of Russian literature till date. Being the advocate of Acmeist poetry, Mandelstam’s poetry mostly emphasized his individual urges, and concerns rather than the politically infused voices. While his contemporary authors like T.S. Eliot and James Joyce were engaged in their contribution to modern literature, Mandelstam was struggling to determine his identity as an independent poet and political spokesperson for the ruling regime at that period. In fact, his struggle to define his identity was entirely streaming during his poetic career, from a wider perspective. The approach towards ‘art of parting’, not only restricted in the case of “Tristia” but also that of his own life, had left an unforgettable trace on his poetic career emphasized with mythological reverberation. His attachment with his own Jewish origins as well as his Russian upbringing had also caused further anxiety and trouble for Mandelstam. Such attachments have always been questioned and criticized not only by the Russian regime but also by his peers, incidentally. In this paper, Mandelstam’s uncontrollable suffering from identity will be discussed with special reference to his first title poem from the 1922 collection Tristia.