History Of Russian Literature Research Articles

An Analysis of Mikhail Chulkov's The Comely Cook: Focusing on the Heroine and the Narrators

This paper aims to analyze Mikhail Chukov s The Comely Cook, which is published in 1770. As the Classicism literary system was being collapsed, prose took on a new status in Russian literary history. The 1760s and 1770s were the first periods of rapid development of proses in the history of Russian literature, laying the foundation for the subsequent development of prose. And one of the most important works during this period was The Comely Cook. In this paper, the heroine and narrators are analyzed. In the transition period to the Modern era, the concept of love and morality changed and I hope these changes to be revealed by closely analyzing the heroine’s development of personality and how it is positioned. This is related to the form of the work, and it can be noted that this work is composed of the form of an autobiography (or a memoir). The discrepancy between the heroine s action time-point and narrative time-point is the basis for tracing the change of her personality and the shape of the narrators.

“A СANDLE IS BURNING IN MY BOAT…”: THE IMAGE OF THE RIVER IN THE «THE TRAVEL NOTES» OF ARCHBISHOP NIL (N. F. ISAKOVICH)

The article is devoted to studying the travel prose of the Orthodox clergy in the 19th century as a phenomenon of the Siberian regional literature and one of the classical versions of the “Siberian text.” The boundaries of the “Siberian text” in Russian literature are defined by the characteristics of regional identity, which is reflected in this text and is shaped by the Siberian geographical space. The hypothesis of the importance of the river image — as the most obvious space-time coordinate — in Siberian literature is put forward. The specifics of the representation of this image in the works of the clergy are examined on the example of “Travel Notes” by Nil (Isakovich), Archbishop of Irkutsk (1838–1853). The notes recount missionary journey along the Lena and other rivers in its basin in the summer of 1843. Archbishop Nil constructs the image of the river as a multi-faceted model of human interaction with space — in the context of a Christian worldview, as well as personal and cultural memory. This model is revealed in historical, emotional-psychological, mythopoetic and ontological terms in relation to the categories of chaos and cosmos, border and transition, existential solitude and spiritual transformation. The author's intention is aimed at overcoming the prehistoric pagan essence of the river in the traveler's mind through its aestheticization, conceptualization and sacralization as a space of meeting with the Creator. This correlates with the genre strategy of the Christian pilgrimage. The image of the river recreates a dynamic image of all of Siberia — ancient, steeped in primeval chaos, pagan and mythological in its essence, but open to Christian transfiguration and rebirth. The significance of Archbishop Nil's travel notes, and clergy travelogues in general, in the history of Russian literature is determined by the fact that the Siberian space is reflected in their writings in its spiritual dimension. This approach, in turn, makes it possible to present the process of Siberian exploration in its ontological and axiological essence — as an incorporation into the Russian national consciousness, Christian in its basis.

А history of Russian literature: foreign scholars about the Russian novel (A review of the book by Andrew Kahn, Mark Lipovetsky, Irina Reyfman, And Stephanie Sandler. A History of Russian Literature. Oxford University Press, 2018. 960 p.)

А history of Russian literature: foreign scholars about the Russian novel (A review of the book by Andrew Kahn, Mark Lipovetsky, Irina Reyfman, And Stephanie Sandler. A History of Russian Literature. Oxford University Press, 2018. 960 p.)

The final remark about Zamyatin: point or endless dialogue? About L.V. Polyakova’s monograph “Y.I. Zamyatin’s Prose: historiosophical searches of the artist”

The work is a review analysis of the final work of the famous Zamyatinologist. The purpose of the study is to present the role of this monograph in modern literary criticism. In accordance with the goal, the significance of the historiosophical approach for the study of works of Russian literature, in particular the work of Yevgeny Zamyatin, is revealed, the expediency and universality of just such an approach is substantiated. The result of the above study can be a conclusion about the significance in the history of Russian literature not only of the named monograph, but also of the personality of the researcher himself.

С.П. ШЕВЫРЁВ О СМЕШНОМ В РУССКОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕ

For the first time the topic of laughter in Ancient Russia was voiced in an article by S.P. Schevyrev “The Theory of the Ridiculous, with Application to Russian Comedy” (1851) and in his book “History of Russian Literature” (1846-1860), where he completely opened ancient Russian literature to the reader. In this book the notion of laughter comes through as one of the permanent features of Old Russian and modern Russian literature. Shevyrev calls Daniil Zatochnik (12th century), the master of “weeping laughter and smiling sadness”, the first Russian humorist and compares the lucid laughter of Gogol with Daniil’s humor and laughter. All Russian comedies (by Fonvizin, Griboedov, Gogol) Shevyrev considers as phenomena of funny, bright laughter. This is directed against the old tendency in literary studies to see in every great comedy first of all a satire, a denunciation. In the works of Shevyrev the concept of laughter was expressed by the word “funny”.

Литературный факт как поздравление

[Review:] Unacknowledged Legislators: Studies in Russian Literary history and Poetics in honor of Michael Wachtel / Ed. by L. Fleishman, D. M. Bethea, I. Vinitsky. Berlin: Peter Lang, 2020. 996 S.

Комическое в критической рефлексии «молодой редакции» «Москвитянина» (1850-1856)

The paper aims to reveal the understanding of the comical among “young editorial board” members of “Moskvityanin” (“The Muscovite”) magazine (1850-1856). This understanding was based on their aspiration to create a basis of national aesthetics. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that the researcher introduces into scientific circulation previously unpublished materials - literary critical articles of the “young editorial board” members providing deeper understanding of aesthetic and ideological struggle of the 1850s - a poorly investigated period in the history of Russian literature and aesthetic thought. The research findings are as follows: the author reveals Slavophilic understanding of satire and humour, which allows identifying specificity of the comical functioning in fiction. Considered in the context of national spirit and national character, satire and humour help to reveal moral ideal.

Ghost Writers: Radcliffiana and the Russian Gothic Wave

Ann Radcliffe’s novels were extremely popular in early nineteenth-century Russia. Publication of her work in Russian translation propelled the so-called gothic wave of 1800-10. Yet, many of the works Radcliffe was known for in Russia were not written by her; rather, they were works by others that were attributed to Radcliffe. This article traces the publication and translation histories of Radcliffiana on the Russian book market of 1800-20. Building on JoEllen DeLucia’s concept of a “corporate Radcliffe” in the anglophone world, this article proposes a Russian corporate Radcliffe. Identifying, classifying, and analysing the provenance of Russian corporate Radcliffe works reveals insight into the transnational circulation of texts and the role of copyright law within it, the nature of the early nineteenth-century Russian book market, the rise of popular reading and advertising in Russia, and the gendered nature of critical discourse at this time. The Russian corporate Radcliffe assures the legacy and influence of Radcliffe in later Russian literature and culture, although a Radcliffe that represents much more than just the English author. Exploring the Russian corporate Radcliffe expands our understanding of early nineteenth-century Russian literary history through specific case studies that demonstrate the significant role played by both women writers and translation, an aspect of this history that is often overlooked.

The “Big Twenties” in the History of Russian Literature of the 20th Century: to the Сentenary of the Magazine Krasnaya Nov

The review article presents various views on the periodization of Russian literature in the 1920s and 1930s and provides arguments in favor of new, refined approaches to the boundaries of the period. Particularly noteworthy are the works of those authors who point to the need for an expanded understanding of the twenties. The concept of the Big Twenties is of particular value in connection with the centenary of the magazine Krasnaya Nov , which made a significant contribution to the literary process of that time.

Mire’s Interpretation of the Tragic and Paradoxical World of Oscar Wilde

This article analyzes the reception of the figure of O. Wilde, the 19th-century English writer, and his works in the prose and criticism of Alexandra Mikhailovna Moiseeva (1874-1913), who entered the history of Russian literature of the Silver Age by the name of “Mire”. The study focuses mainly on her story Black Panther (1909), in which the author provides an original perspective on the tragic love episode in Wilde’s life. Attention is also paid to the thematic similarities between the works of Wilde and Mire in terms of genre, plot and literary image, as well as Mire’s interpretation of Wilde’s works in her critical reviews.

Pedagogical features of creating collaborative projects in training philological disciplines

The article examines the pedagogical features of creating a collaborative project in the educational process of the university in the course of organizing and conducting a seminar with bachelor students in the discipline "History of Russian Literature". Features of the module “Artistic features of the novel in verse“ Eugene Onegin ”A.S. Pushkin ". Methodical recommendations for conducting classes in pedagogical universities. Creation of collaborative design and collaborative environment in conducting classes.

Efmov , Mikhail Smit , Dzheral'd Sviatopolk-Mirskii (review)

SEER, 99, 3, JULY 2021 554 in the Modernist Novel’; and Violeta Sotirova, ‘Petersburg and the Problem of Consciousness in Modernist Fiction’. The question remains, as so often with publications of collections which, of necessity, lack a single authorial ‘voice’: who is the potential ‘reader’ of this Guide? The answer, most probably, depends on whether we are to understand the title as promising a ‘companion volume’ to a difficult and fascinating book for a reader not particularly well-versed in Russian language and literature or as a collection of specialist articles designed to facilitate the teaching of a university course on a hitherto somewhat neglected classic? As a teaching aid, I would recommend the book unreservedly. As a ‘companion volume’, I regretted the absence of the map of St Petersburg, an internet reference to which is given by the editor, and, perhaps, some other visual material, and found Part Two more reader-friendly than Part One, perhaps because the apt and insightful contributions tend to be more tightly interwoven with Belyi’s enchanting text. Part One, with its greater emphasis on general background and what Belyi read when, though useful and scholarly, provides information rather than involves the reader in a voyage of discovery, though contributions by Lange, Fink and Bethea provide agreeable exceptions. These reservations notwithstanding, this ‘Reader’s Guide’ is to be heartily recommended to all serious students and teachers of European modernism and should be available in every university library. Department of Russian Avril Pyman University of Durham Efimov, Mikhail and Smit, Dzheral´d [Smith, Gerald]. Sviatopolk-Mirskii. Zhizn´ zamechatel´nykh liudei, vol. 2025 (1825). Molodaia gvardiia, Moscow, 2021. 701 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. R792.00. Prince Dmitrii (occasionally Dimitrii, but Dim to his close family and friends) Sviatopolk-Mirskii is best known for two reasons. The first is his History of Russian Literature, especially the 1949 edition, which is regarded by more than a few specialists as still the best introduction in English to the splendours of Russian poetry and prose fiction (see pp. 324–36). The second reason is his return to Russia (apparently on a single, not return, ticket) in 1932, a year after taking Soviet citizenship and joining the CPGB. He was just 42. (Could he have been thinking of Prince Petr Kropotkin, who went back to Russia in May 1917?) Mirskii was arrested in 1937 on suspicion of working for British intelligence and died in a camp near Magadan in 1939, aged 48. It may be naive or pointless to ask ‘Why did he give up a steady job at the London School of Slavonic Studies and the chance to publish regularly in The REVIEWS 555 Slavonic Review?’ For your reviewer, however, the attempt to find answers to this question gives a unity to a very long book and makes it well worth reading in full, whether or not the mystery is either answered or answerable. It’s tempting to plan a better, if rather boring, future for the Prince: he becomes a Professor, retires some time between 1955 and 1960, and, like Sir Dimitri Obolensky in Oxford, is offered a knighthood, but in his own case politely declines. (On his time at the School see, i.a., pp. 144, 515, 518 and 520–39.) But Mirskii preferred to risk an early death to slowly rotting away (p. 416). Perhaps he was an incarnation of Dostoevskii’s fictional Prince Myshkin, one of innumerable twentieth-century too-clever-by-half and allegedly Useful Idiots, of whom there are still so many today, but currently praising Putin rather than Stalin? Even wise men sometimes stumble. Sceptics might ask whether it was worth writing and whether it is worth reading a 701-page volume about an extraordinary man who made one, literally fatal, mistake. The answer is a resounding ‘yes’, especially for those who are interested in modern, including contemporary, Russian history or, for that matter, in ‘eternal Russia’ (some things never change). I was constantly reminded of Catherine Belton’s recent long book about Putin’s People, some of whom, especially a few of Russian heritage, are as deluded by Putin as Mirskii was by Lenin and Stalin. Jean Goutchkov, for instance, in Belton...

ON SOME FEATURES OF POST-SOVIET POLEMICS (BASED ON A REVIEW IN THE “VOPROSY LITERATURY” JOURNAL)

The article critically examines some techniques used in post-Soviet polemics based on the material from E. Abdullayev's note “New Understanding and old myths” (book review of Esaulov I. A. Russian Classics: New Understanding. St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy Publ., 2017) and traces the dependence of the interpretation and evaluation of the literary scientific system on the axiological views of the author of the description. At the same time, it demonstrates the influence of axiology on evaluation of philological work. The negative ideologems of the Soviet philological science and their presence in the philological practice of our time are revealed. A reduced understanding of the task of historical poetics (and poetics in general), which is characteristic of both Soviet philology and influential post-Soviet publications, prevents the construction of a new history of Russian literature and the identification of the role and place of Christian tradition in the text and subtext of works of Russian classical literature.

Почему Д.С. Мережковский изменил название книги «Гоголь и черт»?

For the first time, this article considers the reasons behind the title changes of D. Merezhkovsky’s book “Gogol and the Devil” (1906) in light of its concept, discussions of it in the Religious-Philosophical Meetings and in periodicals. Having chosen “Gogol and Fr. Matvey” as the topic to present in the meetings, D. Merezhkovsky emphasized the causes of the writer’s death and interpreted it as a victory of “black” monasticism and bodiless spirituality over artistic inspiration and the “holy flesh”. The semantically provocative title of the book, which was designed by N. Feofilaktov, helped promote the edition of the “Skorpion” publishing house, yet it turned out narrower than the whole book’s scope, only covering the contents of its first part, “Works”. This is evidenced by the frequencies of the occurrences of “devil” and its synonyms and their uneven distribution across the text of the book. By disposing of “Gogol and the Devil”, D. Merezhkovsky obtained greater freedom to pose the problem of “new religious consciousness”, which he examined alongside the history of Russian literature and the religiosity of Russian intelligentsia. The final title of the book, “Gogol. Works, life and religion”, corresponds to its content and composition, and also places it on a par with large-scale studies, such as D. Merezhkovsky’s book “L. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky”.

A PICTURE OF THE WORLD IN THE SPIRITUAL ODES BY MIKHAIL LOMONOSOV

The research is based on the analysis of Mikhail Lomonosov’s poetic works, which he himself designated as the general genre of ‘Spiritual Odes.’ In the beginning of the work, the authors reveal the differences in the interpretation of the “benefits of sciences” by the great Russian poet and scientist and his European predecessors (Francis Bacon, René Descartes). The originality of Lomonosov’s response to this question becomes evident when compared with the prior assessments that had emerged in the Russian literary discourse. All these differences are explained by the conceptually new solutions offered by Mikhail Lomonosov in the world modeling process. A detailed analysis of his spiritual odes from the viewpoint of the spatial organization of their artistic world indicates the emergence of a completely new subjective position, which is absent in the works of both his literary predecessors and contemporaries (Vassiliy Trediakovskiy, Alexander Sumarokov). This is the position of a scientist, the emergence of which leads to significant adjustments to the artistic description of the spatial positions of God and man (an ordinary “mortal”). This results in a radical change of the artistic view of the world itself, presented in Mikhail Lomonosov's spiritual odes. This event is considered to be one of the most important in the Russian literary history of the 18th century.

Life and Death Ethoses in the Short Story The Mystery of Foreseen Death by Aleksandr Grin: Imaginative Apophatic Reality

The paper is dedicated to the issue of the apophatic component of artistic culture associated with Thanatos that is developed in the literature oeuvre of Aleksandr Grin. Setting Grin’s short story The Mystery of Foreseen Death as the research object, this texts seeks to provide insight into the image of death and the examination of its spiritual and material manifestations that reflected the logocentric approach that was then popular among the Russian thinkers. To pursue this aim, the methodology of this study should allow identifying the ontological perspective of Grin’s story. Thus, the methodological foundations embrace the onto-hermeneutic approach to the analysis of literary work. In revealing the ontological dimension of the story much attention is paid to the ethos of life and death, the protagonist’s artistic imaginative experience of reality. In the story under study death is ambivalent: it is bodily, anthropological, as indicated by the repetitive image of neck on the execution block. At the same time, it is apophatic, as indicated by the darkened end of the story, the bewilderment of skeptical scientists that arose because of the main event of the story, namely the protagonist’s execution. In this regard, it appears to be effective to consider the anthroposophical thought of Rudolf Steiner that was absorbed by a large part of Russian intelligentsia at the beginning of the 20th century. This doctrine stresses the reflections on a person’s experience of death in reality. The imaginative aspect of anthroposophism was developed by Grin’s close friend, a neighbor in Crimean Cimmeria, Maximilian Voloshin, a disciple of the teachings of Steiner. The conclusions that can be drawn from the study are as follows: Grin’s story presents a detailed imaginative death experience, which makes it possible to raise the issue of it being part of the broader anthroposophical teaching. The Mystery of Foreseen Death indirectly expresses the Steinerian ideas and at the same time it fits into the framework of the Russian apophatic artistic tradition. The article also raises the issue of the apophatic component of Russian artistic culture, the thanatological experience of which can help in overcoming crisis situations nowadays. The findings of the research, in this way, can have an effect on better understanding in several fields: in literature studies (philology), in the history of Russian literature, in cultural studies and in philosophy.

Nikolay Ulyanov's historical and aesthetic position in the context of “DP literature”

Historians attribute the beginning of the scientific and literary activity of the second wave of emigration to the time of the camps for the DP (Displaced Persons).The concept of the “DP literatureˮ is often used as a synonym for the “second waveˮ of Russian emigrant literature. Most of the names of writers who were “displaced personsˮ are not often mentioned in the history of Russian literature and are known only to a narrow circle of specialists. The article examines the special historical and aesthetic position of a prominent representative of this group – Nikolay Ulyanov, justified by a short excursion into his dramatic fate and the history of scientific and literary creative work. Today, in his homeland, Nikolay Ulyanov is better known as a remarkable historian, the author of a few, but unique, scientific works and concepts. And although many of his literary works have also been reprinted and are available to the general reader, the special literary position of Nikolay Ulyanov, which distinguished him in the contradictory literature and science of the second wave, remains not fully studied. The article discusses Nikolay Ulyanov's positioning of himself and his like-minded people as successors and completers of the Russian culture of “Fin de siècleˮ. The disclosure of this provision, an attempt to explain its grounds and consequences for the surrounding Nikolay Ulyanov in a completely different context is undertaken in this article.

Kormilov, S. (2019). A history of Russian literature in the 20th c. (1920s - 1990s): The main trends. Moscow: Yurayt. (In Russ.)

The book under review is a polemical and somewhat provocative study of the literary process in Russia and among Russian-speaking emigre writers. Despite its genre (a textbook), the book bears a greater resemblance to a monograph which sets out to construct a theoretical history of 20th-c. Russian literature across the major parameters of literary history. This overarching agenda defines the book's unusual structure: it foregoes the traditional division into periods or listings of ‘big names.' At the same time, the classics and stages of the literary process constitute sections in their own right. The author also considers the history of literary criticism and studies in theory and history of literature, as well as the relationship between verse and prose and writing genres vs. main categories of literature. S. Kormilov's approach can be described as non-ideological, i. e., the author tries to steer clear of any social-political engagement.

ПОРТРЕТНЫЙ ОЧЕРК ВС.Н. ИВАНОВА 1920-х – НАЧАЛА 1930-х гг. В КОНТЕКСТЕ СОБЫТИЙ ЭПОХИ

The aim of this article is to determine the features of the genre and the moral-philosophical perspective of Vsevolod Ivanov’s portrait essays of the 1920s – early 1930s published in Vladivostok non-Bolshevik newspapers (Russkiy krai, Russkaya armiya, Vechernyaya gazeta), in Harbin émigré periodicals (newspapers Svet, Gun-Bao, the magazine Rubezh). To achieve this aim, using a semantic-cognitive approach, the author of the article studied archival materials of periodicals of the Russian Far East and Far Eastern emigration and introduced into academic discourse new unexplored factual material contributing to filling gaps in the history of Russian literature and journalism of the 20th century. Ivanov’s portrait essays are analyzed in the context of the sociopolitical and cultural life of the Far Eastern Republic (FER) that existed in the Russian Far East and the large-scale emigration of Russians to China. The author considers the dynamics of Ivanov’s portrait essay genre development. It acquires elements of the memorial and obituary essay, the genre of the literary portrait as a reflection of the progress of the national historical-literary process in the mother country and in the diaspora caused by the spiritual-moral confrontation of the political forces of Russia, the ideological split in the national culture of Russia due to the events of October 1917. The author of the article relies on historically significant material: the memorial essay with the conceptual title “Justified Avvakum” actualizes the problem of a reasonable and balanced attitude to changes, the correlation of evolutionary and revolutionary principles in the development of society. Ivanov raises the question of personal, moral, and civil responsibility for the fate of his country in the essay “The Blood of the Tsar”, which recreates the tragic events of the execution of the family of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II by Bolsheviks. In the analysis of obituary portrait essays about the tragic losses of Russian literature of the Silver Age (“Conversant with Secret (In Memory of A. Blok)”, “In Petrograd the Bolsheviks shot the poet Nikolay Gumilev”), the author of the article concludes about the originality of the creative potential of Ivanov, who, using elements of the genre of the literary portrait, demonstrates the synthesis of scientific, literary, and journalistic writing. The portrait essays of Ivanov’s prominent contemporaries, figures of politics and culture (“Admiral Kolchak”, “Semenovshchina “, “Prof. D.V. Boldyrev”, “Vasiliy Fedorovich Ivanov”) complement the complex picture of the sociocultural context of the era with relevant axiological aspects identified in the essays. The author of the article considers Ivanov’s reference to the iconic figures of the turning epochs in the fate of Russia as a peculiarity of his journalistic position in relation to history as a criterion of truth and moral value of a person.

A history of russian literature: from philologists to theologians (A review of: Russian Literature of the 19th Century: A Course of Lectures for a Bachelor of Theology Degree: in 2 V. М.: POZNANIE Publishers, 2020.)

A history of russian literature: from philologists to theologians (A review of: Russian Literature of the 19th Century: A Course of Lectures for a Bachelor of Theology Degree: in 2 V. М.: POZNANIE Publishers, 2020.)