Literary criticism

The poem by Okudzhava is comprehended against the background of a number of texts published during the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Patriotic War. Okudzhava’s unique stand in the situation of the historic celebration is determined, the controversy with Levitansky’s poem The Little Man is traced. It is shown how Andersen’s formula of the ‘persistent tin soldier’ is transformed in Okudzhava’s point of view. The views of Okudzhava and Samoilov on literature about the war are compared.

The article discusses the role of the comic in the prewar historic drama on the example of Prince Napoleon by V. Shkvarkin and Long Long Ago by A. Gladkov. Shkvarkin wrote a satirical work exposing a potential adversary, and Gladkov wrote a heroic comedy glorifying the people’s valor. Historical comedies on the eve of the war instilled optimism in the audience and aroused a sense of patriotism.

The article deals with the topic of peasantry – one of the most important topics in M. Gorky’s socio-cultural paradigm, which still presents a challenge in M. Gorky’s studies. The comprehensive coverage of the problems of ‘town and country’, the ‘peasants and revolution’ based on the biographical facts, prose, essays and the author’s correspondence of the 1920s – early 1930s, conclusively disproves the persistent claim of Gorky’s ‘dislike’ and his ‘distrustful’ attitude towards the peasant.

The article studies the poetic cycle Autumn by B. Pasternak, which concludes his book of poems Themes and Variations (1916–1922). The imagery system of the cycle and its plot, reflecting the relationships between the lyrical hero and his beloved, are analyzed. The role of spiritual conflict generators as important cycle-formative elements is noted. The intertextual connections with the Bible and W. Shakespeare’s play Hamlet are highlighted.

The article is devoted to the study of dialogue in the surrealist work “The Process of Barres” and its role in the construction of the collective identity. The surrealists turn the dialogue into a meta-technique: on the one hand, it is often used as a creative tool, with its help collective works are created and surreal practices are transformed; on the other hand, the focus on dialogue within the group characterizes the special forms of social interaction among the surrealists.

The article analyzes a variety of different forms of interaction between Dance and Poetry in Dadaist art and explores the common sources of poetics and dance-theory-transformation in the historical avantgarde. The mutual influence of Dance and Poetry is based on the avant-garde artists’ interest in ‘primitive’ mentalities and a search of syncretic language that combines verbal and corporeal expression. The representation crisis and the reinterpretation of the concept of rhythm caused the invention of intermedial poetic-dancing forms.

The article analyzes how an old believer Bishop Mikhail (Semenov), one of the prominent opinion journalists of the 20th century, drew upon S. Ya. Nadson’s poetry. Bishop Mikhail used poem excerpts as quotes, which allowed him to express his own attitude to other literary works, to argue, to highlight his own opinion. The use of Nadson’s allegory of Love has a specific nature of its own. An original means of an individual reception of other authors has been brought to light.

The article discusses the interaction of rhythm and narrative strategy. Free indirect speech is a complex phenomenon, sometimes devoid of bright markers of the transition to the character’s inner mental space. Metric changes, change of breath expressed in the rhythm, are considered as one of the ways of ‘switching’ from the author’s speech to the character’s internal speech.

The article analyzes the materials of a Slavic studies special course given by Professor T. M. Akimova in the middle of the 1970s as a part of the course “Introduction into Slavic studies” (section “Culture of the Slavs. South Slavic epic”). The volume, thematic plan and a part of special course materials are characterized. The article focuses on how the unique identity of the author, who had experienced the school of prominent soviet scientists B. M. Sokolov and V. M. Zhirmunsky within the higher education curriculum, is revealed in this special course.

The article considers the features of the cultural dialogue of two generations – the 1970’s and 1990’s. The poems of E. Shvartz and A. Gorenko are analyzed, world-view and aesthetic attitudes that are key for the two generations are indicated. Also the paper reveals the difference in understanding the tasks of the creator and the purpose of the creative act.