The Imperial Script of Catherine the Great

“[The] book by Proskurina has already become an important milestone in the study of the literary legacy of Catherine II and the Catherinean era as a whole. The book successfully reconstructs the Empress’s efforts to shape a complimentary image of Russia—one that had achieved enlightenment and prosperity under the rule of a philosopher and writer on the throne.” —Arina Novikova, Ab Imperio (translated from Russian)

“This is the first study in English of the vast literary output of Catherine the Great. In addition to the memoirs, for which she is famous, Catherine wrote—in French, Russian, and German—over two dozen dramas; operas, histories, essays, fairy tales; legislation; and over 10,000 letters. With breadth and precision, Vera Proskurina opens up the vistas of Catherine’s geographic imagination as she set out to conquer Russia, Europe’s Republic of Letters, and the Ottoman Empire with her pen. While she expanded the Russian empire, she wrote with purpose and ambition, creating her Enlightenment persona as the incarnation of her empire. Proskurina reveals how Catherine had her works performed, translated, and published at home and abroad in dialogue with elites in intellectual campaigns that presented Russia and its autocrat to the world as enlightened. Proskurina masterfully traces the imperial legacy of Catherine’s pen.” — Hilde Hoogenboom, Associate Professor of Russian, School of International Letters & Cultures, Arizona State University

“Vera Proskurina’s book is a must for every scholar of Russian imperial history and classical literature, for both research and teaching. And, as I know from personal experience, students love her work no less than their professors do. It mixes a broader perspective of cultural history with the most meticulous philological analysis. Uniquely, Proskurina strikes a perfect balance between rigorousness of her research on the one hand, both literary and historical (her analysis of the parade of weirdos on European thrones as exposed in Derzhavin’s ode ‘On Fortune’ is one of the most amusing scholarly reads I know of), and extreme vividness of the resulting picture on the other. It may seem from its title that the book is dominated by one person, the Empress herself, but in fact, readers are treated to the amazing diversity of voices with their own ideas of literary and state affairs. Enjoy the ride!” — Daria Khitrova, Associate Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures, Harvard University