Joseph Brodsky and the Baroque

This comprehensive examination of Brodsky´s poetry and prose redefines his relevance not only in regard to the recent past, with an overview of some problems of post-Soviet aesthetics, but also with regard to the future, since the assessment of poet´s Weltanschauung as essentially Baroque leads to a redefinition of this final role as a cross-cultural, bilingual essayist. Justification for the term Baroque; Kierkegaard and Sestov: affinities and influence in Brodsky´s pre-exile verse, 1957-1972; The influence of John Donne, relative to existentialism, 1957-1972; The baroque leap of faith, 1972-1979; The post-baroque, 1980-1989; Nomadism and Venice, 1990-1996; The consequence of nomadism: late bilingualism and posthumous biographies