Authors:
Galina N. Vorontsova
( 13 downloads)
Abstract
This article examines documentary sources of the image of Nestor Ivanovich Makhno
in Alexey N. Tolstoy’s trilogy The Road to Calvary; it bears on the materials that are
both published (Tolstoy’s notebooks) and hitherto unpublished. Among the latter,
there are Tolstoy’s notes from The Diary of Makhno’s Wife and the execution record of
ataman N.A. Grigoriev shot by the Makhnovists on July 28, 1919. The document entitled The Diary of Makhno’s Wife was repeatedly quoted in Soviet publications of the
1920s which caused a negative reaction on behalf of both Makhno and P.A. Arshinov,
the ideologist of the Makhnovist movement who claimed the diary to be fake. However,
G.A. Kuzmenko, Makhno’s civil wife, recognized the authenticity of the document in a
conversation with a historian S.N. Semanov in the late 1960s. The traces of Tolstoy’s acquaintance with the diary may be found in the final book of the trilogy The Road to Calvary, a novel Gloomy Morning where he describes Makhno’s behavior before the march on
Yekaterinoslavin. Drawing details from the document, reconstructing a general picture
on its basis and adding imaginary details, the author thus gave his own assessment of the
diary. Equally interesting is Grigoriev’s execution record that is preserved in Tolstoy’s
archive. It is the evidence of the author’s open refusal to follow reliable, documented
information. Despite the fact that Grigoriev was shot by Makhno’s allies, the author
makes Makhno himself commit the crime. The leader of the Ukrainian rebel movement
leaves the pages of the trilogy as the immediate assassin of the insurgent ataman, and the
novel’s climax thus reflects Tolstoy’s attitude to his literary character.
Keywords: A.N. Tolstoy, trilogy The road to Calvary, Nestor Makhno, archive, documents and materials, the history of the trilogy
Authors:
Elizaveta E. Baldanmaksarova
( 14 downloads)
Abstract
The article deals with a hitherto unexamined literary text written by a famous Buddhist philosopher and scientist XII Pandito Hambo-Lama Dashidorzhi Itigelov. This
text is the last poem by D. Itigelov entitled “The Testament” (1927) written in the genre
of the epistle and addressed to the people of the 21st century. 2017 is a year of the 90th
anniversary of the phenomenal state achieved by the philosopher; on September 10,
Buryat people celebrate the 15th anniversary of his acquisition of the Precious Inexhaustible Body. Not only was D. Itigelov a leader of the Buryat society who headed its
religious and secular (state) activity until 1917, he also was an educated theologian and
a gifted writer who left rich literary, religious, and philosophical heritage relevant in the
context of the Buddhist aesthetics and philosophy. This essay calls for the necessity to
make this heritage available to public by stressing its originality and relevance for contemporary society.
Keywords: XII Pandito Hambo-Lama Dashidorzhi Itigelov, Buddhist philosophy, literary canon, Indo-Tibeto-Mongolian-Buryat literary connections
Authors:
Alexander V. Pigin
( 13 downloads)
Abstract
The article deals with one of the genres of Russian folklore, the so-called obmiraniye
narratives about a human soul visiting the other world during the lethargy state. It discusses the problem of perception of such texts on the example of the following case study.
At the turn of the century, a famous Tula-based Old Believer and publisher D.V. Batov
(1825–1910) wrote a short article “On the Reading of Brochure Phrases” (reprinted as
“On the Reading of Fictitious Brochures”). In this article, he strongly criticized the narrative about a “resurrected woman” recorded by Archimandrite Macarius (Glukharyov)
of Altai in the early 1830s. In this narrative, a local Cossack’s wife sank into lethargy and
was ascended to heaven where she met the Lord who heard the prayers for her and let her
go back but instead ordered to bring him the soul of a different woman bearing the same
name. D.V. Batov interpreted this obmiraniye narrative as sheer fiction circulated by the
dominant church, alongside other fictitious stories, and causing damage to the faith.
The article examines other D.V. Batov’s arguments against this text: the main one is discrepancy between the narrative and the Orthodox doctrine of the soul’s afterlife ordeals
as represented in the Byzantine Life of Vassily Novy (10th century). The Old Believer of
Tula reads a text belonging to folk culture through the lenses of church literature and
bookish topoi. Thus, the process of text verification by the bearer of religious consciousness consists in its juxtaposing with the tradition that the recipient sees as the only true
one. The article also analyzes the actual obmiraniye narrative recorded by Archimandrite
Macarius and finds its parallels in oral and written texts of the visionary genre.
Keywords: folklore genre of obmiraniye, visions of the otherworld, Archimandrite Macarius (Glukharyov), D.V. Batov, Old Belief
Authors:
E.A. Dorokhova, O.A. Pashina
( 13 downloads)
Abstract
Folk culture is capable of developing certain adaptation mechanisms that help it
promptly react to the changing conditions of natural, socio-political, and economic environment. This is evidenced by the stories of the villagers recorded during folklore expeditions to different regions of Russia. The article highlights changes that took place in the
traditional Russian culture under the influence of collectivization in the 1920s–1930s,
the collapse of kolkhozes in the 1990s, the development of the rural club amateur performances in the Soviet time, the events of the World War II, modern military conflicts, and
Chernobyl ecological catastrophe. The authors come to conclusion that representatives
of traditional culture flexibly adapt to their new living conditions, while extreme conditions such as wars and ecological catastrophes often contribute to the actualization of
folk culture and enable the return of its certain aspects to living practice.
Keywords: RUSSIAN FOLK CULTURE, ORAL EVIDENCE, THE VILLAGERS. FOLKLORE EXPEDITIONS
Authors:
Еlena S. Kotlyar
( 12 downloads)
Abstract
With the loss of mythological beliefs, traditional plots become decompensated by their
new interpretations. For example, when a tribe borrows a plot from a neighboring tribe
but does not share the beliefs of the authentic “bearers” of this folklore, we may observe
the plot’s transformation that often results in its deformation and eventual transfer to
a different generic category. For example, a leitmotif of a hero, tribe leader searching
for a great river and new lands for his tribe as presented in the epic legends by Lianja
(and Nsong’a) transforms into a residue motif in the secondary variants that focus only
on the moment of the “movement” itself. Motifs concerned with the magic become autonomous of the main character and prompt the inclusion of magicians. We encounter
similar examples of plot transformation in Mandinka epos devoted to the development
of medieval Sudan state in the 13th century Mali. Comparison of the more archaic texts
about the “patron of the water” with the more recent heroic narratives about the “guard
of the water,” demanding the sacrifice of female victims in exchange of the water, reveals
a variety of plots — from archaic myths to numerous transitional texts and epic legends.
In the more recent texts, the guard of the water replaces the patron of the water, and
water does not disappear after his death. A young stranger who redeems people from the
obligatory sacrifices by killing the serpent, commits a heroic act and gains a reward. The
image of mythological trickster with whom Khoisan tribes associated all their mythological events also underwent radical metamorphosis. The more recent texts accentuate
not his properties of the demiurge but his humoristic and comic traits of a simpleton or
a fool. In general, plot deformation and underestimation of the ideal epic hero image
lead to the reorientation of the original legend and to the destruction of the epic genre.
Keywords: epos, plot transformation, Lianja, Nsong’a, Mandinka epos, the motif of serpent killing, mythological trickster
Authors:
Olga V. Bystrova
( 11 downloads)
Abstract
The article focuses on the history of Maksim Gorky’s design — the publication of the
History of the Civil War volumes. The analysis of Gorky’s correspondence (1929–1930)
from the A.M. Gorky archives (IWL RAS) reveals that the idea of the collection emerged
at the beginning of 1928. In the course of the preparatory work, the Central Committee
of the CPSU(b) obliged Communist party officials, Soviet and military functionaries in
all Soviet republics and regions to collect documents and memories of the Civil War,
to write and review materials for the collection. Gorky conceived the volumes of The
History of the Civil War to be popular and accessible to the average reader. For this
purpose, he considered inviting talented Soviet authors who took part in the Civil War.
Gorky’s recommendations were taken into account while forming the Editorial Board.
The CC of the CPSU(b) on July 31, 1931 established the Editorial Board (comprised of
Chief, Historical and Artistic Boards) that Gorky also joined. Under his guidance, the
Secretariat of the Chief Editorial Board issued instructions that were intended to direct
a wide range of research subjects and provide researchers with methodology. Gorky’s
letters from the RGASPI collection give us idea of the huge amount of work done by
the writer in the process of preparing the first volume for publication. If the first, 1935
volume reflects Gorky’s vision and concept of the collection, the subsequent 4 volumes
published after his death departed from the original design. Despite this and the fact that
only 5 volumes out of 15 were issued, we can state that Gorky’s design was realized and
that the History of the Civil War still remains an authoritative book in the field.
Keywords: Maxim Gorky, History of the Civil War, correspondence, editing, publishing series
Authors:
Zoya S. Zakruzhnaya
( 12 downloads)
Abstract
No Abstract
Keywords: ACADEMIC BUNIN, TEXTOLOGICAL ISSUES, PREPARING A COLLECTION
Authors:
Sergey N. Zenkin
( 14 downloads)
Abstract
Balzac’s short story “The Unknown Masterpiece” (“Le Chef-d’œuvre inconnu”) is one
of his most commented works. This essay offers a new reading of the story by correlating
the narrative structures of the text with the deforming effect these structures produce on
the visual artifact (the painting) featured in “The Unknown Masterpiece.” The analysis
takes into consideration the dynamic history of Balzac’s “waving” text undergoing
changes with every new authorial revision that obscured the important circumstances
of the plot and made the central visual image ambiguous. The latter is stratified as it
acquires width instead of depth while the figure it represents protrudes from the smooth
surface of the canvas. The close reading of Balzac’s text is followed by the survey of
French literary works and films that elaborate, after Balzac, on “the masterpiece and the
model” plot. The latter include the works by Théophile Gautier, Goncourt brothers, Émile
Zola, and Jacques Rivette.
Keywords: Balzac, “The Unknown Masterpiece,” Gautier, Goncourt brothers, Zola, Rivette, visual image in the narrative text
Authors:
E.V. Astashchenko
( 10 downloads)
Abstract
This article examines a fantasy genre in the work of Cornelia Funke against the background of Protestantism and “Als ob” (“as if”) philosophy. Alongside, it also explores fantastic Romantic novels written by modern German authors (M. Gläser, K. Gier, K. Mayer, and V. Moers) that champion the cult of literature and writing. The essay thus attempts to systematize the features of German identity as revealed through representation of childhood and the national specificity of fictional art. The symbol of “an unending book” as a way of reconstructing the world is at the very basis of German culture and is endowed with religious meanings, from Novalis to M. Ende and more recently to C. Funke. In The Thief Lord (Herr der Diebe), a novel full of references to E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Princess Brambilla, F. Pforr’s and F. Overbek’s paintings, Funke seeks to combine German love of dreaming with poeticized Italian joyfulness and love of life. For example, the novel’s characters discover a magical carousel on the Isle of Mysteries and set off on an existential journey. In the course of this journey, they try to recognize themselves “in other clothes that seem to belong to the past,” in a fashion similar to Heinrich von Ofterdingen. In the Inkheart trilogy (Inkheart, Inkspell, and Inkdeath), the author underscores the vernicle nature of verbal reality and its power over human existence; she also touches upon the problem of the author and her literary gift. According to Funke, a human being should certainly correspond to his or her higher destination and be directed by the inner moral law. However, it is words, like prayers in late Kant, that transform and create the universe.
Keywords: children’s fiction, Die unendliche Geschichte, hermeneutics, didacticism, escapism
