“Пушкинизм” Анны Ахматовой: филология как форма ленинградской неофициальной культуры

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to draw attention to Anna Akhmatova's scholarly studies of Pushkin, which she called “pushkinizm” after Boris Tomashevskii, and to discuss its place in Akhmatova's work, as well as the role it played in the unofficial culture of Leningrad. Her studies are regarded here as an “open” text, unfinished and ongoing. The importance of the oral performance is stressed; it uses “pushkinizm” to create a theatralized act of commemoration. A wider question is raised in this connection, that of the unofficial culture in Leningrad as being a culture of conservation, rather that of dissent. There the most prominent part was played not only by a poet, but also by a scholar.