Katenin's principal contention was that poetry should be national, and it was this which led him away from the Karamzinians and Zhukovskyites. Disappointed by Zhukovsky's mellifluent translation of Bürger's Lenore, Katenin brought out his own version of the ballad, whose title was Russified as Olga (1816).
Katenin's belief in national poetry led him to distance himself from the Karamzinians and Zhukovskyites. He was dissatisfied with Zhukovsky's translation of Bürger's "Lenore," leading him to publish his own version, which became known as "Olga."