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Abstract:

The article attempts to fill in the gap related to studying the early works of S.N. Syromyatnikov (Sigma) (1864–1933). His heritage often draws attention of those who study the conservative thought in Russia as well as scholars of the East (the orientalists). Our article examines his work as cultural mediation. The analysis of archival data and forgotten publications of the late 19th century leads to the conclusion that he began his literary work as a Westernizer, a student of A.N. Veselovsky, member of the Neophilological Society and an expert in the Icelandic epic. He authored several articles on Russian-European relations, did a Russian translation of “Saga of Eric the Red” (Eiriks saga Raudha) (1890), a work that inspired N.S. Gumilev to write his “Gondla” (1917), and of the Gutasaga (1893). Although A.N. Pypin promised a bright future to him as the founder of a new trend in comparative research, his interest in the East overcame his Western studies. The figure of Syromyatnikov, positioned between the Western and Eastern vectors of Russian culture, serves as a metaphor of historically recurring fluctuations towards one of the extremes that are equally important for the fruitful development of the Russian intellectual thought.