Izvestiya of Saratov University.
Philology. Journalism
ISSN 1817-7115 (Print)
ISSN 2541-898X (Online)

Literary criticism

Decembrists in the cultural and historical mythology of the Soviet era. Literature experience of the 1920s–1960s

The relevance of the topic is determined by the interest of modern humanities to the myth-making aspects of the Soviet culture, including the interpretation of Decembrism. The purpose of the article is to review the main stages and patterns of the literary realization of Decembrism from the beginning of the Soviet era to the moment of the final separation of the two versions of the Decembrism myth (official and oppositional).

Hybrid identity in the American-Jewish literature

The paper analyzes the complex relationship between becoming American and keeping up ethnic and religious traditions in immigrant  families as portrayed in the works of leading American Jewish novelists who entered the literary scene after the Second World War when the back-to-the-roots sentiment was on the rise driven by the expanding multiculturalist discourse. The writings of Saul Bellow, Alan Lelchuk and Philip Roth are discussed to illustrate the different stages in the reassessment of Jewish identity.

Chekhov by B. K. Zaitsev: The author’s concept and composition of ‘biography’

The article analyzes the book by B.K Zaitsev Chekhov (1954) as a novelized biography, a ‘life story’. The author’s concept and composition of the book, consisting of 15 chapters with titles, 54 subchapters / fragments, are given a special emphasis; the artistic meanings and originality of the narrative of a complete biography are considered.

M. Gorky. A Sky-blue Life: ‘Grey’ and ‘blue’ in the story

The article discusses some issues of creative history and the conceptual meaning of M. Gorky’s understudied short story A Sky-blue Life, the last one written in the landmark cycle Stories of 1922-1924. Relying on new documents from the writer’s biography, his correspondence and available scientific comments allow us to clarify the leitmotif of the work, its place in the writer’s creative biography.

The image of the city in the literary digests Zemlya (Moscow Publishi ng House, 1908–1917)

The article describes the image of the city in the literary texts comprising 20 issues of the literary digest Zemlya (Moscow Publishing House, 1908–1917). Various city images (buildings and surrounding nature, urban dwellers) are analyzed in the literary works (both prose and verse) by the authors of Zemlya (M. Artsybashev, A. Kuprin, F. Sologub, V. Vinnichenko, N. Krasheninnikov, E. Chirikov, etc.). The analysis is accompanied by the journal and newspaper reviews of popular literary critics of the beginning of the 20th century.

The world of animals in The Tragic Menagerie by L. D. Zinovieva-Annibal

The article reveals the images of animals in the cycle of stories The Tragic Menagerie (1907) by the writer of the Silver Age L. D. Zinovieva-Annibal (1866–1907) and their role in molding the character of the heroine. These images perform several functions. They establish the environmental discourse of the narrative, shape the moral and philosophical problem range, facilitate the religious self-identification of the main character.

F. M. Dostoyevsky in the Journal Zavety (1912–1914): Stating an issue

The article attempts to identify the key moments of F. Dostoevsky’s presence in the context of the literary and critical declarations of the journal Zavety, primarily, by its co-editors, V. Chernov, and especially by Ivanov-Razumnik. His attitude towards the writer as a “world genius”, “the apogee of ethical individualism”, expressed in a number of articles, should be considered programmatic for this journal. A. Dolinin’s critical reception and reviews in the bibliographic department are in line with this attitude.

American underground spirit: Dostoevsky’s Notes From Underground and the 20th century USA literature

F. Dostoevsky’s Notes from Underground (1864) exerted a considerable influence on American literature since 1940s. The works by outstanding authors beginning with Saul Bellow (Dangling Man, 1944) or Jerome Salinger’s prose and up to Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, 1991), Percy Walker, David Foster Wallace, show a persistent fascination of American writers with the novella and are based on re-reading and re-interpreting Dostoevsky’s ideas, motives and imagery.

Literary and critical publications of Andrey Nemzer in newspaper and magazine periodicals: An attempt at comparison

The article presents a comparative analysis of the materials of the critic, philologist and literary historian Andrey Nemzer, published in political and social, as well as literary and art journals of the 1990s. Structural and content features and self-editing are brought under close scrutiny.

“Here out of the foam of my saliva purest…” A. Kruchenykh: Transformation of the myth about Venus Anadyomene

The article examines the transformation and functioning of the myth of Venus Anadyomene in the early lyrics by A. Kruchenykh in the context of the main trends of the futurism aesthetics and literary/painting studies on Venus-Aphrodite iconography of 1910-1925. The myth remains at the level of the plot basis as a relic; however, there is a shift of emphasis from the female ideal of beauty and cultural symbol to the male figure, usurping the power of creation.

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