卷 84, 编号 3 (2025)

Vsevolod Ivanovʼs novel “Y” (1932), which has been analyzed by researchers mainly from the perspective of its experimental form and satirical content, as well as its allusions to Russian and European literary works, is discussed in detail for the first time in this article in the historical and literary context of the 1930s. The connections of the novel itself and the editorial board that led to the creation of an independent work, “Crimson Sunset” (1934), are linked to the new general theme of proletarian literature that was formulated in 1931. This theme brought with it new requirements for writers, including the task of depicting the construction of factories during the first five-year plan and showing heroes of labor and new people and so-called “saboteurs” in industrial production. From the point of view of the challenges of the era and their fulfillment, the author of the article, utilizing new biographical sources, analyzes a group of texts: a fragment of the novel “Y”, published in periodicals; its complete text, which was not published during Ivanovʼs lifetime; the never-published novel “Crimson Sunset” (it is stored in the archive), and its original concept, as reflected in its publication in periodicals. The article traces how the absurdity and irony, including over industrial construction, of the novel “Y”, where Ivanov showed mainly “former” people, in the novel “Crimson Sunset” are replaced by an image in the foreground of a factory in Donbass. The writer visited real factories in 1933, and these served as the basis for the description in the novel. Moving away from the ironic tone of the original draft of the novel, Ivanov in “Crimson Sunset” shows representatives of working youth who strive to become new people with a new consciousness. He also introduces images of saboteurs who interfere with this process. It is concluded that, at the same time, the novel “Crimson Sunset” turned out not to correspond to the expectations of the ideologists of its time for literature. Reflecting on the fates of people during the era of socialist construction, and striving to capture the unpredictable real life and the “secret of secrets” of the human soul, the writer created a work that was in many ways an alternative to the Soviet literature of the 1930s. In this work, he explored the non-proletarian emotions of sacrifice, loneliness, and longing that were often ignored or suppressed in official Soviet literature.

The article analyzes the polymetrical verse of Genrikh Sapgirʼs poetic cycle Memories with Angels in Kraskovo. It is divided into five sections. The first section examines the metrical heteromorphism in Sapgirʼs verse, concluding that he uses not meters per se, but rather lines, which form part of his metrical repertoire as “ready-made” forms, to create polymetry. The second section focuses on the tonic structure of Memoirs..., emphasizing the repetition of specific varieties of dolnik. The third section addresses the use of free verse, which appears in a limited capacity within Sapgirʼs cycle. The fourth section provides general statistics on meter and analyzes the ways in which it is combined. The fifth section explores the phonetic effects of the verse in Memoirs... in relation to its polymorphical nature. Sapgirʼs work significantly expands the possibilities of Russian metrical versification, developing a special type of polymetry that operates with stable combinations of meters, inclusions of tonic and free verse, as well as the expressive possibilities of super-short lines. An essential element in the formation of Sapgirʼs verse is the visual representation of the text, which is divided into syntagms and individual words. This leads to the emergence of a secondary rhythm, namely the rhythm of verse divisions and sound repetitions. Consequently, the same text may be perceived as metrical, tonic and free, depending on the manner of reading. Sapgirʼs proposed model of polymetry represents a transitional form of verse that resists the notion of regularity, yet functions according to a set of defined laws. Such verse may be considered a modern stage in the evolution of Russian metrical versification.

The objective of the research is to establish the connection between the Wandering Rocks mythologeme and the tenth episode of “Ulysses”, and to describe the representation of the mythologeme in the episode. The Wandering Rocks transform in Joyce’s world view into the biblical image of a barrier at the boundary of Eden. While in the Bible the flaming sword which turns every way is analogous to the Wandering Rocks, and the Cherubim is near it, in the literary world of James Joyce the objects of the physical world become the manifestations of the Wandering Rocks with nearby characters performing the function of the Cherubim. Using crypto parody in combination with an element of travesty, Joyce interprets the mythologeme by means of metaphoric comparative concretism. The Bible and the Greek myth are the two sources that can help the reader of the tenth episode to reveal concealed allusions and by doing so to bridge the gaps in meaning. The paper provides the rationalization of the main symbols of the episode from Joyce’s scheme: blood as the blood of Christ, the time of 15.00 as the time of His death on the cross, and mechanics as the science of passing through the Wandering Rocks following in the footsteps of the Savior.

The article makes an attempt to trace the history of the participation of the critic Yu.I. Aikhenvald in the Collected Works of A.S. Pushkin, ed. S.A. Vengerov. Aikhenvald’s letters to Vengerov, stored in the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as draft letters to the critic for 1907–1908, contained in Vengerov’s Office Book, are analyzed. In the Collected Works of Pushkin, only 2 essays by Aikhenvald were published – about “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai” and about “Poltava” – although another essay about “Gypsies” was sent, and it was assumed that the critic would provide another essay about “Mozart and Salieri” and about “A stingy knight”. It is concluded that it was the work on the essays in the Collected Works of Pushkin that gave Aikhenvald the idea of including chapters on Pushkin’s works in the 2^nd edition of the I Issue of “Silhouettes of Russian Writers”. It was the work on the reissue of “Silhouettes...” and the release of this collection in the fall of 1908 that did not allow Aikhenvald to continue participating in the Collected Works of Pushkin. The Appendix publishes a number of letters from Aikhenvald and some editions of letters from Vengerov’s Office Book concerning the history of the critic’s participation in this publication. Two letters from Aikhenvald to Vengerov, written after the appearance of Vengerov’s article “Critic-Impressionist” (1910), are also published.