The Rousseauist Aspects of Marina Cvetaevaʼs Creative Philosophy

This article examines the intertextual relationship between the works of the Swiss francophone writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) and those of Marina Tsvetaeva. Analysis of Tsvetaevaʼs references to Rousseau indicates that she shared with the eighteenth-century philosopher an experience of personal, social and existential isolation which partly contributed to their shared predilection for literary genres allowing the expression of the self and their preoccupation with the theme of solitude. These affinities made Tsvetaeva particularly receptive to the works of Rousseau, whose influence can also be detected in her views on childhood and in her unwavering commitment to her poetic and literary vocation.