About the book: 2020 / The Institute of Literature in Russia began to take shape during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741–1761). Its formation was closely connected with the practices of court patronage - the flourishing of literature was considered an important sign of a prosperous monarchical state. Developing the work of literary scholars who studied the connections between Russian literature of the 18th century and statehood, K. Ospovat raises the theoretical question of the interaction between poetics and politics, between literary form, writing activity and the absolutist model of society. How did the authoritative ideas about poetry accepted in Europe influence the works of Russian authors of the Elizabethan era - Kantemir, Lomonosov, Sumarokov, Trediakovsky and others? What communication schemes were behind their works and what place in the model of society was given to the literary act? In what forms did literature present and justify its claims to public recognition? In what ways was the lyrical mode adjacent to the constructions of monarchical power and the political subjectivity of the subject? Kirill Ospovat – philologist, associate professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.