Freidenberg Olga

Freidenberg Olga (1890‒1955) – Classic philologist, historian of classic culture.

She finished gymnasium in St. Petersburg (1908) and studied at the High Female Courses. In 1910-1914, she studied in Europe – mainly by herself. In October 1914, she became a nurse in hospital.

In 1923, she graduated from the Classic Department of the Petrograd University; she wrote her Master thesis ‘The Origin of Greek novel’ (1924) under the supervision of Acad. S. A. Zhebelev. In 1924-1932, she was Researcher at the Institute of Literatures and Languages of West and East (Japhetic Institute of the Ac. of Sc.). Professor of the Leningrad Institute of Philosophy and Literature (1932). Head of the Chair of Classic Philology (1932‒ 1941; 1944‒ 1950).

She defended her Doctor thesis ‘Poetic of Plot and Gender (Period of Classic Literature)’ (1935). The book based on the thesis (1936) had negative review in ‘Izvestiya’ newspaper, and it started a campaign of chasing, which was stopped after the interference of the Narkomat of Education.

During the WWII she did not leave Leningrad, there are her memories about the blockade. From October 15, 1943 till July 1944, she was Professor of Classic Literature at the Herzen Teachers-Training Institute. After the start of the company against cosmopolitism, her works were not published; in 1951, she was fired out from the Leningrad State University.

Her works were dedicated analysis of mythology and folklore; she treated them as a basement and source of classic literature. She developed ideas of H. Usener, E. Cassirer, and L. Levy-Bruhl; she anticipated the newest research in the sphere of ‘archeology’ of cultural forms in the frames of the symbolical theory of culture.

Compositions

The Idea of Parody: Some Notes for Work // Collection of Articles in Honour for S. А. Zhebelev. Leningrad, 1926, pp. 378-396. (in Rus.)
Gospel as One of the Kinds of Greek Novel // Atheist. 1930, No 59, December, pp. 129–147. (in Rus.)
Classic Theories of Language and Style / Edit. О. М. Freidenberg. Moscow-Leningrad, Sotsecgiz Publishing House, 1936. (in Rus.)
Poetic of Plot and Gender: Period of Classic Literature. Leningrad, Gosliizdat Publishing House, 1936. (Moscow, Labirint Publishing House, 1997). (in Rus.)
The Origin of Epic Comparison (on the Material of Iliade) // Proceedings of the Jubilee Research Session of the Leningrad State University. Section of Philology. Leningrad, 1946, pp. 101-113. (in Rus.)
On the Issue of the Origin of Greek Metrics // Uchenye zapiski of the Leningrad State University. Seria of Philological Studies. Leningrad, 1948, iss. 13, pp. 290-320. (in Rus.)
The Origin of Literary Intrigue; The Origin of Parody; What is Eschatology? // Trudy po znakovym sistemam. Tartu, 1973, iss. 6, pp. 490-512. (in Rus.)
The Origin of Greek Lyrics // Voprosy literatury. 1973, No 11, pp. 103-123. (in Rus.)
Semantic of the First Object // Dekorativnoe iskusstvo SSSR. 1976, No 12, pp. 16-22. (in Rus.)
Semantic of Architecture of the Vertep theatre // Dekorativnoe iskusstvo SSSR. 1978, No 2, pp. 41-44. (in Rus.)
Myth and Literature of Antiquity. Mocsow, Nauka Publishinh House, 1978, 605 p.; 2nd publ., corr. and add. Moscow, 1998. (in Rus.)
Boris Pasternak. Correspondence with Olga Freidenberg / Edit. and comm. E. Mossman. N. Y.: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981. VII. (in Rus.)
The correspondence of Boris Pasternak and Olga Freidenberg 19101954 / comp., ed., intro. E. Mossman. L.: Secker & Warburg, 1982.
Will it Be Moscow Nurnberg? (from the Notes of 1946-1948) / Publ. Yu. М. Kagan // Sintaksis. 1986, No 16, pp. 149-163. (in Rus.)
Methodology of One Pattern // Trudy po znakovym sistemam. Tartu 1987, iss. 20, pp. 120-130. (in Rus.)
Siege of a Man / Publ. C. Nevelsky [Yu. М. Kagan] // Minuvshee: Historical Almanac. Paris, Atheneum, 1987, iss. 3, pp. 944. (in Rus.)
‘Eirene’ by Aristophanes // Archaic Ritual in Folklore and Early Literary Monuments. Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1988, pp. 224-236. (in Rus.)
Utopia // Voprosy filosofii. 1990, No 5, pp. 148-167. (in Rus.)
<Introduction for Greek Novel > // Dialogue. Carnival. Chronotop. 1995, No 4, pp. 78-85. (in Rus.)
On the Immovable Plots and Wandering Theoreticians // Odyssey. Man in History. Vol. 7, Moscow, Nauka Publishing House, 1995, pp. 272-297. (in Rus.)
Etudes on Semantology of Literary Forms. Palliata. Chapter 21. // Lotmanovsky sbornik. 1, Moscow, Its-Garantiya Publishing House, 1995, pp. 704-718. (in Rus.)
Game of Dice // Arbor mundi. 1996, No 4, pp. 163-172. (in Rus.)
Poetics of Plot and Gender. Moscow, Labirint Publishing House, 1997. (in Rus.)
Image and Concept: Mythopoetic Roots of Literature. / N. V. Braginskai︠a︡, Kevin Moss, eds. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic, 1997.
Cross in a Grave // Arbor mundi, 1998, No 6. (in Rus.)
Aim Approach for the Collective Work on the Plot about Tristan and Isolde. Memories about Marr // Dusk of Linguistic: From the History of National Linguistic. Anthology. Moscow, Academia, 2001, pp. 325-339, 425-443. (in Rus.)
Entering Jerusalem on Donkey // Freidenberg О. М. Myth and Literature of Antiquity. Moscow, 1998, pp. 623-665. (in Rus.)

About her

Lotman Yu. М. О. М. Freidenberg as Cultural Researcher // Uchenye zapiski of the Tartu State University. Trudy po znakovym sistemam. 6, Tartu, 1973, pp. 482-489. (in Rus.)
Braginskaya N. V. Problems of Folkloristic and Mythology in the Works by О. М. Freidenberg // Vestnik drevnei istorii. 1975, No 3, pp. 181-189. (in Rus.)
Chertkov L. Brother and Sister, Poet and Scholar // Kontinent. Munich, 1981, No 30, pp. 403-407. (in Rus.)
Gasparov B. Poetics of Pasternak in the Cultural and Historical Dimension (B. L. Pasternak and О. М. Freidenberg) // Collection of Articles by the 70th Anniversary of Prof. Yu. М. Lotman. Tartu, 1992, pp. 366-384. (in Rus.)
Moss C. Оlga Freidenberg and Marrism // Voprosy yazykoznaniya. 1994, No 5, pp. 98-106. (in Rus.)
Trubochkin D. V. Freidenberg Olga Mikhailovna // Culturology Twentieth Century: Encyclopedia. St. Petersburg, Universitetskaya kniga Publishing House, 1998, pp. 315-317. (in Rus.)
Perlina N. Ol’ga Freidenberg’s Works and Days. Bloomington: Slavica, 2002.
Kabanov A. Ol’ga Michajlovna Freidenberg (1890-1955): Eine sowjetische Wissenschaftlerin zwischen Kanon und Freiheit. Wiesbaden, 2002.
Braginskaya N. V. World Non-Fame: Olga Freidenberg on Classic Novel. Moscow, 2009. (in Rus.)

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