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« Истину царям с улыбкой говорить » : власть и поэзия в творчестве Г.Р. Державина
In this paper, we aim to examine the political dimension of the work of Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, one of the Russia’s leading poet and statesman of the eighteenth century. His political and social views were closely associated with the ideas and values of the Enlightenment and enlightened absolutism. In his ode “Felitsa” (1783), which had brought him fame, as well as in several other works, Derzhavin promoted the image of Catherine II as a virtuous and enlightened monarch and supported her policy of reforms. At the same time he popularized the principle of the rule of the law and condemned the arbitrariness of the authorities. Furthermore, its satirical poetry and activities were repeatedly directed to rebuke the habits and customs and misbehavior of the high-ranking Russian government officials.