A. P. Skaftymov

The article discusses the relationship of V. A. Bochkarev, a graduate of Saratov University in 1930, the first postgraduate student of A. P. Skaftymov in 1930–1933, subsequently Doctor of Philology, professor, the head of the department of the Russian and Foreign literature of Kuybyshev (Samara) Pedagogical Institute (University) for many years, the author of the fundamental works on the Russian historical drama, and A. P. Skaftymov, the founder and the creator of Saratov School of Philology, a scientist of world renown. A. P.

Reflecting on the place of one of the main characters of A. P. Chekhov’s comedy “Cherry Orchard”, Ermolai Lopakhin, in the life and oeuvre of A. P. Skaftymov, the author shares his observations on the delicate inner link that exists between the object of close literary focus and complex life collisions of the scientist himself.

The article discusses the important episodes of the history of Saratov philological school associated with the names of Yu. N. Chumakov, A. P. Skaftymov, E. I. Pokusaev.

The approaches to ‘thematic motives’ of F. M. Dostoevsky’s novel The Idiot outlined by A. P. Skaftymov in the 1920s unintentionally shed light on how the scientist comprehended the motives of love in A. P. Chekhov’s comedy The Cherry Orchard.

The article offers the contrastive comparison of two figures of humanitarian culture unique in their scientific methods and especially in their personalities and characters. The author relies on the correspondence materials of the two scientists and on a wide circle of sources published in recent years.

The article views the letters of A. P. Skaftymov to N. M. Chernyshevskaya of the 1920-1940s from the N. G. Chernyshevskiy museum stock. Different connections of the two scientists are covered, the details of A. P. Skaftymov’s studying the life and creative works of N. G. Chernyshevskiy, his participation in the activities of the museum, that in those years was a certain center of developing and promoting the writer’s literary heritage. 

A. P. Skaftymov’s article «On the style of “The Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” by A. N. Radischev» is regarded as one of the most significant works about the book of this author. The methodological basis of the research and the specific character of A. P. Skaftymov’s attitude to the formal method in literary criticism are observed. The conclusions are drawn on how up-to-date the ideas of the scientist are for contemporary science.

The article discusses the place of Saratov-based plot in Yu. N. Chumakov’s letters addressed to the author of the article. The subject of discussion in the correspondence is the defense of Yu. N. Chumakov’s dissertation at Saratov University in 1970 and its role in his scientifi c biography. The defense of the dissertation with Yu. M. Lotman as the fi rst opponent became the key event of the Saratov plot and its climax.