Bakhtin, Fedin, Shklovsky. Two little-known episodes from the life of Mikhail Bakhtin

Abstract

The article reconstructs two episodes from the life of M. Bakhtin in the 1960s — early 1970s. Producing the scholar’s academic biography remains a relevant goal of contemporary Bakhtin studies. In order to achieve that, one has to rely on strictly documented evidence so one can perceive the actual attitude of the scholar’s contemporaries to his personality and ideas. Involving such dissimilar personages as K. Fedin and V. Shklovsky significantly enriches the portrayal. Introducing hitherto unknown documents uncovered in the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI), the authors bring to light the previously undiscovered details about K. Fedin’s and Vyach. Ivanov’s assistance in Bakhtin’s being granted a Moscow residential permit in the early 1970s. From the memoirs and diaries of V. Kozhinov and A. Chudakov, the authors glean details about the growing friendship between Bakhtin and Shklovsky after their first meeting in the boarding house for writers in Peredelkino in March of 1972.