Writers’ Artistic Biographies That Received the “Big Book” Award (The Genre Typology and Works’ Specificity)

Abstract

The article reviews writer’s biographies as a kind of literary biography genre. There are revealed the thematic and artistic features characteristic to this subgenre of literature. The author systematizes the subgenre’s specific features and shows a wide range of their possible implementation at the present stage. The material for the study was selected among the works that won the national award “Big Book”. In less than fifteen years of the award’s existence, writers’ biographies have taken first place twice (D.L. Bykov’s book about B.L. Pasternak and P.V. Basinsky’s book about L.N. Tolstoy) and second place four times (A.N. Varlamov’s book about A.N. Tolstoy, L.I. Saraskina’s book about A.I. Solzhenitsyn, S.A. Shargunov’s book about V.P. Kataev, and the joint work by A.A. Kabakov and E.A. Popov about V.I. Aksyonov). All these works are analyzed sequentially (in order of receiving the award) in the article. On the one hand, this allows us to identify the features of each of them, on the other hand — to find common typological features that are characteristic of the subgenre in question. A distinctive feature of the book by D.L. Bykov is the deepest “sensitive immersion” of one poet (the author) in the creative work and world perception of another (his character). A.N. Varlamov is characterized by comparison of several sources in order to reveal complete truthfulness. P.V. Basinsky has a specific angle in which the writer’s biography is shown (he puts forward the “family idea”, the most important for Tolstoy himself). L.I. Saraskina focuses on the personality of A.I. Solzhenitsyn, considering his biography as the main artistic work of this author. A.A. Kabakov and E.A. Popov build the text of V.I. Aksyonov’s biography in the form of a lively, casual conversation, while the objectivity of the written is confirmed by a variety of documents submitted in the appendix. S.A. Shargunov traces the reflection of V.P. Kataev’s unusual life, full of real adventures, in the writer’s works.Nevertheless, all these works have common features. Each of them create a Russian writer’s living and full-blooded image, both tightly included in the historical and cultural context of the corresponding era, and shown in the indissoluble unity of the writer’s personal destiny and creative heritage (which is carefully analyzed). All books are written based on carefully studied biographical materials and documents, including archival ones. The works’ large volume allows including these materials directly in their text.