BORIS GODUNOV OF A.S. PUSHKIN EVALUATED BY A.F. VOEYKOV’S RUSSKY INVALID AND LITERARY SUPPLEMENT TO RUSSKY INVALID

Abstract

The article describes the opinions on the tragedy Boris Godunov by A.S. Pushkin, which appeared from 1831 to 1836 in Russky Invalid and Literary Supplements to Russky Invalid by A.F. Voeykov. A frontal, consistent study of critical articles and polemical materials in these publications shows that Voeykov, who first heard an excerpt from the tragedy in 1826 and enthusiastically responded to it, sympathized with the release of the full text of the tragedy from print in 1830. As an editor, Voeykov expressed his desire to provide the magazine with support for the poet’s new work. As a critic, he highly appreciated Boris Godunov, put it on a par with Pushkin’s other works, including those that were highly praised by critics, and identified Boris Godunov as one of the significant achievements of Russian literature and an example of Russian tragedy. Voeykov’s critical judgments about the work that appeared in press are indirectly confirmed by I.A. Velyaminov’s surviving response letter to him.