Gorky and Aldanov, like-minded antagonists

Abstract

The article is concerned with the interaction between M. Aldanov and M. Gorky in Petrograd in the years 1914 to 1918, hitherto unexplored by literary historians. The author focuses on the ideological positions and philosophies of the two writers and intellectuals, both of them prominent advocates of the pro-Western movement of the Russian Silver Age thought. On quite friendly terms before the 1917 October revolution, they used to share similar views of the literary process. But on exiting from the revolutionary crucible, the two became implacable opponents in ideological as well as literary matters. Among other things, Gorky spoke derogatively of Aldanov’s historical novels. The article focuses on Gorky’s and Aldanov’s respective critical receptions of the literary legacy of the 19th-c. Russian writers. Aldanov’s veneration of Tolstoy provoked Gorky’s skeptical response. At the same time, both expressed profound dissatisfaction with F. Dostoevsky’s work, pointing out his ‘pochvennichestvo’ sympathies and the tendency to portray Russians as mentally ill.