Myth(s) of Creation: Puškinʼs ‘The Blackamoor of Peter the Great’

‘The Blackamoor of Peter the Great’ is Puškinʼs first, albeit incomplete, prose work and historical novel. It is often assumed to foreground the protagonist, who is modeled after Puškinʼs African great-grandfather. Yet as I argue, the work is fundamentally about two genesis myths: one centers around the figure of Ibragim ‘The Blackamoor’, and the other around Peter the Great. Ibragim is presented as the creator or progenitor of a new family – a new people. Peter the Great, the Creator of the new Russian state, is placed in the center of another creation myth. These two dimensions are intricately intertwined within the storyline of the historical narrative and suggest a troubling, complex dynamic between national and personal (hi)stories.