SMOLENSK POETIC SCHOOL AND THE RESEARCHERS: A.V. MAKEDONOV, V.S. BAEVSKY, V.V. ILYIN

Abstract

The article considers the problem of Smolensk poetic school (SPS) as a particular creative association; the hypothesis of its existence was offered as far back as in 1960 by an outstanding literary critic and our fellow countryman A.V. Makedonov in his book «Essays on the Soviet Poetry». Having analyzed the hypothesis, the author can determine its motives. A.V. Makedonov’s views on the SPS and its founders like A.T. Tvardovsky, M.V. Isakovsky, N.I. Rylenkov who largely helped to delineate a priority attitude to the poets and their literary surrounding at the level of the Smolensk region and of the entire Russia as well. On the basis of some reliable archival sources and printed matter the present article considers the viewpoints on SPS. They belong to A.V. Makedonov’s friend and close associate – Vadim S. Baevsky, a famous literary scholar, specialist in the field of poetry and the founder of Smolensk school of philology, whose research confirmed the above-mentioned hypothesis and turned it into a theory. The sources of the «school» were also traced by one of the leading researchers of A.T. Tvardovsky’s creative heritage – Victor V. Ilyin. He singled out traditions of SPS, extended the circle of the inherent poets and outlined the prospects of further studies. The article demonstrates present-day assessments of SPS by Smolensk literary scholars. It is noteworthy that certain linguists, having analyzed the heritage of the founders of SPS and their nearest circle at the onomastic level, confirmed the existence of the «school». The peculiarities of Smolensk poets’ creations make it possible to speak about the significance of SPS against the background of Soviet and Russian literature as a whole. This significance, in its turn, supposes further research of Smolensk authors’ creative activities both by literary scholars and linguists.