Russian Emigration Research Articles

A Belarusian Trace in the Murder of Voikov in Historiography and New Sources

The article examines how the assassination of the Soviet ambassador to Poland P. Voikov in Warsaw on June 7, 1927 is reflected in the Belarusian historiography in the context of the Belarusian national liberation movement as part of interwar Poland. Currently, the widely known information about Voikov’s involvement in the murder of the royal family and the availability of unfavourable information about his character and diplomatic career have overshadowed the image of Voikov an ardent revolutionary and Soviet diplomat. Modern Belarusian authors view Voikov negatively as a person involved in the murder of the royal family, and as an unlucky, unscrupulous and unsuccessful diplomat. As far as the circumstances of Voikov’s assassination are concerned, Belarusian authors address the ethnicity and ideological and political beliefs of his killer, B. Koverda; they disagree with his interpretation as a Russian emigrant, a member of the White Guard and monarchist. There are opposing views regarding his commitment to the Belarusian revolutionary liberation ideals. The article presents the main motives of the murder of Voikov, including the version about the involvement of the Soviet special services in his elimination, which is confirmed by the archival documents identified by the author. Archival documents reveal the existence of contradictions within the community of representatives of Soviet political, diplomatic, and intelligence structures in Poland, which could also have led to the physical elimination of P. Voikov.

Встречный взгляд: переписка Р. Роллана и И.С. Шмелева. К 150-летию И.С. Шмелева

The paper studies literary contacts of Ivan Shmelev (1873–1950) with the French writer, 1915 Nobel Prize winner Romain Rolland (1866–1944) in the 1920s. The author analyzes unpublished correspondence of the writers, including 3 letters from Shmelev and 2 response letters from Rolland. The content of the correspondence is connected with Shmelev’s desire to find in Rolland, who personified the “conscience of the world” for the writers of the Russian emigration, a like-minded person in understanding the tragedy that befell Russia in the wake of the October Revolution, which led to mass death, devastation and famine. Shmelev sent Rolland the German editions of his books “The Sun of the Dead” and “The Inexhaustible Chalice”. Rolland’s answers contain high praise of Shmelev’s work and sympathy for the emigrant writer who lost his homeland. However, complete understanding was not to be achieved: a representative of the left intelligentsia, Rolland reacted with no lesser sympathy to the experience taking place in the USSR in the “social and moral restructuring of humanity.” From criticism of the results of the October Revolution in 1921-22 Rolland, by the end of the 1920s proceeds to glorifying the social experiment of building a “new society” in the USSR, publishing congratulations to the Soviet people on the 10th anniversary of October in the Soviet press. This step of the writer was met with hostility by Shmelev and put an end to their correspondence. There was a final demarcation between Rolland and the writers of the Russian emigration, with whom he maintained literary contacts. Among them are not only Shmelev, but also I.A. Bunin and K.D. Balmont, who published open letters to a writer who took a pro-Bolshevik position, despite his earlier expressions of sympathy towards Russian emigrant writers.

«Сибирский сатрап» М. М. Лашевич и его смерть в Харбине

The article is dedicated to the Soviet politician M. M. Lashevich (1884–1928), a participant in the revolution and the Civil War, chairman of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that his activities as a fellow chairman of the Board of the CER in 1926–1928 little known, as are the causes of death in Harbin. The purpose of the article is to reconstruct the final period of Lashevich’s life in the context of the Soviet presence in China, with emphasis placed on the perception of Lashevich’s personality by Russian emigration in Manchuria, the circumstances of his death and posthumous biography using an anthropological approach and the biographical method. The research is based on unpublished sources, ego-documents and periodical materials from Harbin. The author emphasizes that the study of such extraordinary figures as Lashevich is important not only for understanding Soviet policy in China, but also for clarifying the problems of perception and assessment of the activities of Soviet leaders by ideological opponents.

Русская эмиграция в Ирландии: середина XIX — вторая треть XX в.

Русская эмиграция в Ирландии: середина XIX — вторая треть XX в.

Back to the Other Shore: The Prerevolutionary Russian Emigration

Back to the Other Shore: The Prerevolutionary Russian Emigration

Русский книжный дом в Стокгольме – «Издательство З. И. Гржебина»

The activity of the key publishing enterprise of the Russian emigration in Sweden publishing enterprise of the Russian emigration in Sweden during the period of the “first” wave is reconstructed – “Z. I. Grzebin Publishing House”. The fate, repertoire, mission, role of Z. I. Grzebin in the context of processes within and beyond the Russian Abroad are explored. Editions issued by “Z. I. Grzebin Publishing House” in Stockholm are identified. The prospects of merging the organization with E. A. Lyatsky’s “Northern Lights” are comprehended. It is argued that the relocation of the “Z. I. Grzebin Publishing House” to Berlin occurred due to geographical, economic and logistical factors. The reason for the closure of the publishing house was its focus on the rapidly recovering Soviet Russia and the futility of the small “provincial” market of Russian emigration in Sweden and Finland. The organization in its “Stockholm” period published natural science, educational and children’s books. Z. I. Grzebin’s enterprise mostly produced softcover books. The importance of studying and accepting the historical experience and heritage of “other” Russia in the context of the identity and development path of modern Russia is voiced.

Русская эмиграция первой волны о советской литературе и социалистическом реализме

The paper presents an overview of the critical opinions of prominent representatives of literature, criticism and philosophical thought of the Russian European Diaspora (the “first wave” of Russian emigration). The main attention is paid to the literary process in the USSR in the 1920s–30s, in some cases Soviet post-war literature is also touched upon. The spectrum of assessments ranges from recognizing the complete failure of Soviet literature, which, moreover, has no prospects for positive development as long as Soviet power exists, — to recognizing certain successes of a number of young authors. It is quite widely believed that the most valuable period is the first post-revolutionary decade, which produced a number of good works by L. Leonov, B. Pilnyak, K. Fedin, while the general decline begins with the Decree on the restructuring of literary and artistic organizations (1932) and the introduction so-called method of socialist realism, perceived by critics as something absurd from an aesthetic point of view. However, some representatives of the emigration do not accept early Soviet literature for naturalism, coarse morals, and a manifestation of atheism. As typical negative features of Soviet literature, since the 1930s, are mentioned ideologization, artificially collisions, falseness and lies in the reflection of reality, canonicity and lack of creative freedom due to party dictates. At the same time, several writers stand out who were not affected by the general process of degradation of Russian literature in the USSR, those Yu. Olesha, K. Paustovsky, B. Pasternak are named. The work of B. Pilnyak, I. Babel, V. Kataev receives an ambiguous assessment.

ПАРАДОКС АЛЕКСАНДРА АЛЕКСЕЕВА: ИЗ КАДЕТОВ – В ХУДОЖНИКИ (1919-1930)

The authors of the article examine the way Alexander Alexeev (1901, Kazan – 1982, Paris), the outstanding world and Russian classical literature illustrator and pinscreen creator began his creative career. It is mentioned in the article that Alexander Alexeev had to leave the Russian Empire, forming part of the first wave of the Russian emigration settling down in Paris in the long run. In the beginning of his creative career he worked there as a theatre artist. Henceforward, Alexander Alexeev committed himself to the art of the book illustration. The authors claim in the first fifteen years of his creative activities Alexander Alexeev to have become the most eminent of the Russian emigrants book artist with twenty seven books, including book author frontispiece portrait and some book jackets illustrated. Having examined creative activities in the first fifteen years of his Paris life the authors claim Alexander Alexeev, as many other creative intellectuals of the first wave of the Russian emigration to have retained in his soul and heart the image of his Motherland, visualizing it in his works this way or another. These reminiscences and Motherland perception do demonstrate our contemporaries Alexander Alexeev though being away from Russia for nearly 60 years, in fact to have always been Russian patriot retaining the Russian world particle in his heart, as well as love for his mother, with her images scattered in his works all over his creative activities.

«Новая Русь» и опыт совместного русско-шведского книгоиздания

The publications of Russian-Swedish publishing enterprises of the period of the first wave of Russian emigration is observed – "Novaya Rus’", PLC Hasse V. Tullberg and the printing house "Progress". Their repertoire and further fate are studied in the context of processes within the Russian Abroad and beyond. For the first time based on archival materials from the manuscript department of the IRLI (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences the list of the publishing house "Novaya Rus’" is reconstructed. The editions of the joint-stock company Hasse V. Tullberg and the printing house "Progress" are revealed. They published fiction, educational, children’s and memoire publications. The key reasons for the closure of the three organizations was their orientation towards the rapidly recovering Soviet Russia and futility of the small "provincial market of Russian emigration in Northern Europe. The importance of studying and accepting the historical experience and heritage of the "other" Russia in the context of the identity and development path of modern Russia is arised.

Истрати, Роллан, Горький: новые факты советско-французских литературных взаимодействий 1920–1930-х гг.

The article analyzes the “Istrati case,” one of the most expressive travelers to the Land of the Soviets. The little-known and unpublished materials from the writers’ personal archives used in the study demonstrate a turning point in the evolution of the socio-political views of Rolland and Gorky. In 1928, both of them moved on from criticism of the internal policies of the Soviet leadership to cooperation with the Stalinist regime. Rolland dissociates himself from the writers of the Russian emigration and sends congratulations to the Soviet people on the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution; Gorky travels to the USSR after a seven-year absence. A kind of trigger in these conditions was the story of the Romanian writer P. Istrati, who came to the USSR to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the October Revolution and was determined to stay in the country of the “red fighters” forever, as evidenced by his letter to Gorky. However, after staying in the USSR for more than a year and plunging into the everyday life of Soviet people, shaken by social and personal dramas caused by the arbitrariness of the authorities, against the backdrop of mass repression and the absence of any freedom, Istrati lost faith in the possibility of revolutionary transformations of society based on justice. In the history of Istrati’s interaction with his literary idols, new trends emerged that determined their social behavior: Gorky turned from the author of “Konovalov” (1897) into a “sweet panegyrist,” into a “pasha from Sorrento.” Rolland was ready to turn a blind eye to any abuses by the Soviet authorities for the sake of “defending the USSR.” The “untimely” decision to publish the book “To Another Flame” (1929) about his impressions of his stay in the USSR cost Rolland the friendship and recognition of the socialist writers from his circle.

«Другой» Набоков vs Набоков- Сирин: об одном случае упоминания в романе Алексея Ремизова «Учитель музыки»

The article is devoted to the problem of reconstruction of the author’s strategy in the novel Music Teacher, which was connected with projections of the names mentioned in the title onto specific events of the literary life of Russian emigration of the early 1930s and personal creative biography. The central object of the study is the case of the single and unmotivated mention of “musician Nabokov” in the story “Industrial Horseshoe” (1931). The history of Remizov’s relationship with the composer N.D. Nabokov had so far remained unstudied. The reconstructed by archival materials event series of these relationships appears as a presupposition of the story “Industrial Horseshoe.” This information explains not only the motives of the reference to Nicolai Nabokov but also the role of this reference in the idea and plot of the story. Given the aesthetic and ethical differences between Remizov and the composer’s cousin, writer V.V. Nabokov (V. Sirin), the author of the article reveals the essence of the so-called “mutual dislike” of the two writers in the context of a specific period (1928–1931). The author also infuses a new view of the history “hostility” of the representatives of the older and younger generation of Russian foreign literature and describes this literary confrontation as a problem of linguistic self-identification of their younger peers and their choice of literary “teachers.”

The Study of the History of Russian Emigration by Modern Chinese Scholars (According to the Scientific Site CNKI — 中国知网)

In China and Russia in recent years, the history of Russian emigration has attracted increased interest from many scholars. The purpose of the article is to identify and systematize publications about the fate of Russian emigrants in China, posted on the site “Zhiwang” (中国知 网, www.cnki.net). The analysis of information on this topic made it possible to identify the degree of interest of Chinese scientists in the study of intellectual and cultural heritage. The authors draw attention to the scientific and educational activities of educational organizations (Harbin Normal University, Heilongjiang University, Qiqihar University, Heihe University, East China Normal University, etc.) and scientific foundations (State Social Science Foundation of China, Philosophy and Social Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province, etc.), which provided financial support and documentation support for the ongoing research. The authors of the article used their thematic focus as the main criterion for systematizing the publications of the Chinese site “Zhiwang”. The article focuses on quantitative indicators: the number of publications of Chinese scientists on the history of Russian emigration, the publication activity of the most famous Chinese Scientists-Slavists who described the fate of Russians who ended up in China. The applied value of the description by Chinese scientists of the educational and research, professional and entrepreneurial activities of Russian emigrants is noted. The opinion of Chinese scientists is emphasized that the culture (literature, painting, music) of Russian emigrants who settled in the cities of Northern China, adapted in the cultural space of the local population, left a significant mark in the history of China. The authors come to the conclusion that the cultural and historical heritage of Russian emigrants can currently be used not only to preserve national and spiritual values, but also to strengthen cultural interaction between China and Russia.

Национальная самоидентификация героя-эмигранта в эмигрантской прозе Г. Иванова и Г. Миллера. Статья вторая: кризис творческой самореализации

The author compares the American prose writer Henry Miller’s novel Tropic of Cancer (1934) and the Russian poet Georgy Ivanov’s story Disintegration of the Atom (1938). The aim of the article is to compare the plot situations of the emigrant heroes’ self-identification in the aspect of the manifestation of their national and cultural identity in order to understand how the problem of national self-identification of a person of the modern era in emigration is aggravated. The second part of the article draws attention to the collision of creativity and the interpretation of art (literature) by the central characters. It is concluded that Miller and Ivanov agree on the idea of the crisis of culture and the dying of art in the situation of modernity. In the story of a hero, an aspiring writer, Miller shows the transformation of avant-garde ideas and the conformism of a contemporary artist. Miller’s central character appears as a spiritually integral person, capable of creative realization and capable of challenging a civilization stricken with cancer. Ivanov depicts a creatively sterile man-“atom”, unable to overcome the existential impasse in the crisis of modern civilization. Although in both works the heroes assert the highest value not of art, but of real life, sensuality, bodily passion, Ivanov’s hero cannot accept life and renounces it unlike Miller’s hero, who accepts himself and the world. The novel Tropic of Cancer is interesting in the aspect of imagology: it shows a number of images of Russian emigrants as perceived by an American hero. This is an American “view” of the Russian emigrant, different from the automyth of Russian emigrant writers (Georgy Ivanov). Geographically, Miller sees Russia as the most distant part of Europe. The dominant feature of Russians in Tropic of Cancer is irrationality (“crazy Russians”), but Miller, unlike Ivanov, captures both the pragmatism and conformism of Russian emigrants. The emigrant writer Boris, on the one hand, appears as a type of a European avant-garde artist; on the other hand, Russian roots are manifested in his aesthetics and attitude to the world. Boris turns out to be similar to the hero of Ivanov’s story, a creatively sterile person, immersed in the world of ideas, the break with which reflects the creative growth of the hero of Miller’s novel. A skeptical assessment of Russian idealism brings Miller and Ivanov closer together. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

Modern Russian prose abroad: perception, translations, research

The article is devoted to assessing the current state of contemporary Russian literature abroad in terms of interest from foreign readers, influence from the Russian emigrants, the volume of translations and topics of interest. The article analyzes the cultural aspects and periods of Russian history of literature that are of particular interest to foreigners, as well as their reflection in modern prose in Russian. The article also focuses on the centers for the promotion of Russian culture abroad, as well as centers/chairs for its research at universities.

Między Wschodem a Zachodem (pisarze czwartej fali emigracji rosyjskiej)

Between the East and the West (Writers of the Fourth Wave of Russian Emigration) This article attempts to define the phenomenon of the fourth wave of Russian emigration in relation to writers leaving their homeland after the symbolic collapse of the USSR, or who are descendants of representatives of the third wave. The characteristics of contemporary emigration that differ from previous waves of refugees and the reasons for leaving their homeland are indicated here. The destinations of emigrants (USA, Canada, Switzerland, Israel) that shape the specifics of the mental landscape of the newcomers, the barriers, the borders that they have to overcome in order to establish good relations with the citizens of their host countries are also included. Indeed, the aim of multiculturalism is not to tear down walls, but to build bridges. In this respect, dialogue and the associated language as a fundamental distinctive feature of culture that determines the identity of each person is of paramount importance. The current of post-memory, autobiographical and memoir literature, promoted by many emigrants, is linked to identity and its recovery. As far as young emigrants are concerned, they have to live in a global village, in a specific uniformity introduced by the 21st century, which makes mobility one of the most important values.

Literatura w kręgu wpływu hezychazmu: Wałaam w prozie Nikołaja Leskowa i Iwana Szmielowa

Literature in the Circle of Influence of Hesychasm: Valaam in Prose of Nikolai Leskov and Ivan Shmielyov The prose of a prominent literary representative of the “first wave” of Russian emigration after the 1917 revolution Ivan Shmielyov and selected texts by Nikolai Leskov were used as the material for the study. The émigré author represents the neorealistic trend in the prose of the early 20th century, referring to the classics of 19th century Russian literature. The traumatic experiences of the revolution and the civil war became for him, as for the entire generation of Russian émigrés, a turning point in reevaluating their worldview, leading to a religious revival. Consequently, the author became a continuator of the Orthodox tradition in literature, whose exponent was N. Leskov. Despite the differences between the discourses of patristics and belles-lettres, the hypothesis stipulated in the title of the article that the considered word artist - both in terms of worldview and literature - was under the influence of hesychasm (elderhood), is confirmed.

ON ‟MONISTIC” POLITIC AND LEGAL IDEAS, KONSTANTIN LEONTIEV AND EURASIANISM THEORY OF THE STATE

The article analyses the often contradictory assessments available in modern Russian science of Eurasianism, as an association of Russian emigrants of the first wave who sought to create a post-revolutionary ideology of restoring the national state and law. The authors formulate objections to the statements of some researchers about the absence of the need for a state ideology for democratic societies and the danger of the embodiment of the Eurasian ideocracy in Russia. The article examines the connections of classical Eurasianism of the 1920s to 30s with the Russian philosophical tradition of the 19th century and concludes that the Eurasians, when creating their own political and legal doctrine, were not modernisers of the Slavophile heritage, rather relying on the ‟despotism of the idea” and the Byzantium of Konstantin Leontiev and not on pan-Slavism of Nikolay Danilevsky. Studying the classical texts of the Eurasianism movement, using the method of typology and the basic definition of ideocracy formulated by one of the creators of Eurasianism, Prince Nikolai Trubetzkoy, the authors expand the theory of ideocratic statehood by introducing new concepts: 1) imitative; 2) latent and 3) manifesting ideocracies. The description of the mentioned types of ideocracies is based on the analysis of a number of legal documents important for understanding the content of the modern ideology of the United States striving for world domination.

VAGAPOVA N.M. THREE RUSSIAN DIRECTORS IN EUROPE. UNREAD PAGES IN THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN ÉMIGRÉ THEATRE: 1920S-1960S. MOSCOW: GOSUDARSTVENNYJ INSTITUT ISKUSSTVOZNANIYA, 2002. 379 P.

The review presents a monograph by Natalia Vagapova, a well-known domestic theatre critic, slavist and translator, dedicated to the contribution of Russian emigration to European culture. This study, based on unique factual and archival material, gives a deep and objective idea about fruitful influence that reprsentatives of Russian theatre school exerted on the development of Bulgarian and Yugoslavian Theatres. The most outstanding directors who left Russia - Nikolai Massalitinov, Petr Sharov, Yuriy Rakitin - spread the experience of Moscow Art Theatre and the system of Stanislavsky, and made a huge impact on the history of forein theatre, especially the spread of Chekhov’s drama.

Казаки-эмигранты в Чехословакии в 1921–1939 годах

Introduction. The purpose of this study is to analyze key aspects of the lives and details of Cossack emigrants in the Czechoslovak Republic (ČSR). Methods and materials. Within the research process, the author relied mainly on the following methods: narrative, historical-genetic, comparative-historical, and the method of analogies. The sources used were regulatory legal acts and office documents of the government and several ministries of the Czechoslovak Republic, speeches by individual representatives of the Czechoslovak ruling circles, documents of various organizations and societies, orders and decrees of army atamans, periodical press materials, and sources of private origin. Analysis. Most Cossacks moved to Czechoslovakia from Turkey and Greece, where they ended up after the evacuation from Crimea. The organization of the Cossacks’ move to Czechoslovakia was carried out mainly by public associations and societies. The first part of the Cossacks arrived in Czechoslovakia in June 1921. By the beginning of 1922, about 3,000 Cossacks were stationed on the territory of Czechoslovakia. The Cossacks received great support as part of the campaign to help Russian refugees. Within Czechoslovakia, the Cossacks formed public associations in the form of villages and khutors, as well as workers’ artels, in order to obtain and perform various jobs. Most Cossacks living in Czechoslovakia were involved in agriculture. Atamans of Cossack troops tried in every possible way to counteract the assimilation of Cossacks. Many Cossacks, after getting an education, were trying to leave Czechoslovakia for other states, mainly for France. Results. A comparative analysis showed that the Cossacks generally adapted more easily to the conditions of life in the position of an emigrant than most representatives of other parts of the Russian emigration. At the same time, the problem of assimilation among the Cossacks was sometimes quite acute and required the adoption of effective measures by their leaders. One of these measures was the popularization among the Cossacks of facts from their historical past and the preservation of historical memory. Not least, it was contributed by the Cossack historical commissions and archives.

The Infl uence of Russian Vocal Music on Chinese Vocal Pedagogy and Performance

The article examines the infl uence of the Russian vocal school on Chinese culture in the context of vocal performance and vocal pedagogy. The history of the formation of Russian vocal traditions is touched upon, the process of their integration into Chinese society from the beginning of the 20th century to the present is analysed. The historical process of the functioning of Russian vocals in China is analysed both in general and through the example of the capital of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin – a city that has been considered the center of Russian emigration for more than a century. The specifi cs of teaching vocal performance to modern Chinese students in Russian higher educational institutions are considered. At the end of the article, it is concluded that the promotion of the Russian vocal school in China allows the traditions of Russian vocals to develop not only in Russia, but also abroad.