Literary and Publishing Activities of Poetic Groups of the Russian Far Eastern First-Wave Émigré

Abstract

The material laid down in the basis of the article is drawn on various bibliographic sources and library collections (Russian State Library, Russian National Library, Research Library of Tomsk State University). The object of the article is for the first time to present and systematize the main body of literary and fiction texts of the 1920s–1940s in the context of publishing activity of literary groups and associations of the Russian Far Eastern First-Wave émigré. The poetic activity of this period initially realized itself through groups, following the Silver Age traditions, and creative persons brought together, as fate willed it, in the situation of “Russian scattering.” In this aspect, the literary group is considered as a sociocultural form due to the methodology of Yu. N. Tynyanov, B. M. Eikhenbaum and A. I. Reitblat. Such tendencies were most apparent in the second period of the literary process formation among the Russian Far Eastern émigré in Harbin, where “Young Churaevka” literary association (1926–1935) had a very well-thoughtout program and concept. In addition to regular general gatherings and discussions among like-minded people, the typology of the literary group includes public speaking and promotion of joint undertakings in the press. As a rule, the activity of any literary group or association is directly connected with some publishing body, so the defining genre of such creativity is a literary collection – the most flexible type of literary publication with all kinds and genres of fiction. All this outlines the perspective for systematization of collections of that type and revealing their common typology with the determining role of socio-cultural environment.