St. Petersburg Myth

Categories / Capital/Heraldry, Symbols of St. Petersburg, State Awards
ST. PETERSBURG MYTH, a cultural term used for to designate the totality of legends and tales connected with the origin of St. Petersburg and the city's image in people's consciousness and art. The St. Petersburg myth is associated with the history of St. Petersburg and its role in the history of Russia. Real events surrounding the beginnings of St. Petersburg started to accumulate various mythological representations even among the very contemporaries of the city's founding. The unmatched scope of building fed myths claiming St. Petersburg was being built on a completely uninhabited site. The St. Petersburg myth also comprised legends (both official ones and folk tales) of the miraculous foundation of St. Petersburg, and a prophecy concerning its fall, the idea of it being an artificial city, and thus doomed. The effects of the elemental forces, along with floods, gave birth to numerous legends of the downfall of St. Petersburg (the idea of a Deluge, typical of ancient myths, is evident). The main character of the St. Petersburg myth is not only the city, but also its founder, Tsar Peter the Great. An essential part of the St. Petersburg myth consists of images in art (literature, music, architecture and sculpture). As Y.M. Lotman put it, Alexander Pushkin, N.V. Gogol and F.M. Dostoevsky turned the mythology into a phenomenon of national culture. The St. Petersburg myth can be characterized by a certain duality, with binary oppositions, such as the real vs. unreal city, the city set at the end of the world vs. the notion of St. Petersburg as the Fourth Rome.

References: Анциферов Н. П. Быль и миф Петербурга. Пг., 1924; Лотман Ю. М. Избранные статьи: В 3 т. Таллинн, 1993; Синдаловский Н. А. Легенды и мифы Санкт-Петербурга. СПб., 1994; Феномен Петербурга: Тр. междунар. конф. СПб., 2000; То же: Тр. 2-й междунар. конф. СПб., 2001; Волков С. М. История культуры Санкт-Петербурга с основания до наших дней. М., 2002.

M. G. Hugaeva. Dostoevsky Fedor Mikhailovich
Gogol Nikolay Vasilievich
Lotman Yury Mikhailovich
Peter I, Emperor
Pushkin Alexander Sergeevich
Анциферов Н. П. Быль и миф Петербурга. Пг., 1924
Волков С. М. История культуры Санкт-Петербурга с основания до наших дней. М., 2002
Лотман Ю. М. Избранные статьи: В 3 т. Таллинн, 1993
Синдаловский Н. А. Легенды и мифы Санкт-Петербурга. СПб., 1994
Феномен Петербурга: Тр. междунар. конф. СПб., 2000
Феномен Петербурга: Тр. 2-й междунар. конф. СПб., 2001