No 1 (21) (2024)

The article is the first part of a large study aimed at studying the transformation of state participation in the Russian system of book publishing and book consumption. The theoretical basis of the work is the structural and functional paradigm of T. Parsons and the methodological approach to the analysis of the social institute of literature, presented in the early works of L.D. Gudkov and B.V. Dubin. In this article, we explain the methodology of the research and trace the transformation of Russian book publishing that occurred after the state abandoned the leadership of the industry in 1990. The main source of data for analysis was the industry reports of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications (Rospechat), published annually since 2009 and representing a specific communication tool for the state and the industry community through the specialized agency. As part of our research, we were interested not only in the data presented in the reports, but also in the form of representation of various collective actors of the social institute of literature.

The author of the article refers to the theatrical repertoire of the 2023–2024 season, comparing it with the indicators of the season from five years ago, which was already the object of his consideration. The objectives of the study include recording the dynamics of changes in the structure of the theatrical repertoire over the specified period, especially taking into account those external (cultural, socio-political and even sanitary-epidemiological) challenges that have been thrown at society in recent years and to which theatrical life could not fail to respond. Therefore, even a simple calculation of the total number of literary works, staged in Russian theatres, makes it possible to present the main trends. Thus, the author discovers the growing conservatism of repertory politics. The transformation of Russian classical literature into the basis of the theatrical repertoire is clearly noticeable. This is observed against the background of an increase in the number of performances themselves, but the proportion of modern works remains almost the same. However, Russian classics and works of the XX century provide the specified quantitative increase. There are no special changes in relation to foreign literature, the quantitative increase does not affect it. Time-tested works also have their share in the repertoire as the basis of the children's segment of the repertoire. At the same time, modern "serious" literature, with some exceptions, is not particularly popular. It can be said that Russian theaters, turning to literary pretexts, for the most part do not go beyond the limits of conservative-populist repertory politics. Moreover, there is a clear difference between the theater centers and the periphery. If in the former there is a noticeable frond, the choice of a less obvious and predictable repertoire, then with increasing distance from them, the repertoire policy does not even look like a compromise, but simply inertially archaic.

The article explores the controversial problems of identifying the phenomenon of transcultural literature associated with the work of writers who occupy a borderline position between several cultural traditions and loci. The authors of the article consider this phenomenon on the basis of the material of Kior Yanev's novel “Southern Mangazeya”, which represents the author's historiosophical concept of the “imperial world” in the context of Russian history from the era of Peter the Great to the post-Soviet period. We analyzed the formal and substantive aspects of the artistic model of the thinking world “beyond the brain”, the principles of transcultural and translingual modeling of its historical constants, the features of the figurative-metaphorical and genre-style system. The image of the thinking world “beyond the brain” in Kior Yanev's novel “Southern Mangazeya” is presented as a “personal myth” of the writer, combining the existential and ontological in the author's attempt to build his historiosophical interpretation of “empire on bones”. On the one hand, this worldview captures historical revelations about the accomplished history-entropy, starting with the collapse of the Golden-haired Mangazeya state and ending with the eschatology of Soviet statehood. On the other hand it captures providence about the possible future resurrection of a new world.

The article is an interview with Tatiana Vladimirovna Sosnora, the widow of the poet and writer Viktor Alexandrovich Sosnora. Ekaterina Vladimirovna Bolnova, senior lecturer at Lobachevsky State University of Nizhni Novgorod, acts as an interviewer. Viktor Alexandrovich Sosnora is a large-scale poet, writer, who rose to fame in the second half of the 20th century. Each of his books became an event in literary circles. The fate of V.A. Sosnora is full of unexpected twists and turns. T.V. Sosnora is an independent researcher who is engaged in preserving her husband's legacy. The interview touches on the problems of publishing previously unpublished works, including numerous diaries, as well as critical articles and reviews. T.V. Sosnora talks about the fate of the diaries of V.A. Sosnora's second wife Nina Alekseeva, who died after a long illness in 2009. T.V. Sosnora tells us about V.A. Sosnora's attitude to critical feedback and reviews of his works. Some points related to the creative laboratory of the writer are revealed. Speaking about V.A. Sosnora's mastery of foreign languages, the writer's widow also clarifies the progress of work on the translations that he did. The interview also touches on the facts of the writer's biography concerning his father, mother, uncle, sister, grandmother and other relatives, as well as those related to V.A. Sosnora's relocation to Leningrad. T.V. Sosnora talks about V.A. Sosnora's artistic credo, as well as his attitude to political issues.

In accordance with the plans for the preparation of a scientific collection of works and a scientific biography of B.A. Sadovskoy, the study of his St. Petersburg literary contacts continues. This article is devoted to the almost unexplored issue of Sadovskoy's relationship with Alexander Alekseevich Izmailov, head of the literary department of the newspaper "Birzhevye Vedomosti", a satirical critic, novelist, poet. Sadovskoy's personal acquaintance with Izmailov was preceded by their printed characteristics of each other's creative individuality. Sadovskoy published in 1911 a review of Izmailov's collection of literary and critical prose, "Literary Olympus". Izmailov published a parody of Sadovskoy's conceptually important poem "Great-Grandfather" in the same year. And, although the parody, perhaps, could not suit Sadovskoy with its ideological orientation, nevertheless it played a certain beneficial role for him, because it added to his fame, popularity, and recognition. So, in the Soviet years, when Sadovskoy was practically not published, Izmailovsky's parody, which was included in anthologies of works of the corresponding genre, reminded of his name and poems. The personal acquaintance of Sadovskoy and Izmailov took place in 1913. It was very important for Sadovskoy to establish connections with an influential critic. This could help him establish himself in the capital's literary world, achieve true recognition of his artistic abilities, which, in his opinion, critics appreciated little. Izmailov wrote about Sadovskoy in several articles and emphasized his undoubted talent as a writer. Through Izmailov, Sadovskoy gained permanent cooperation with "Birzhevye Vedomosti", one of the largest newspapers in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Sadovskoy's texts published in it are almost unknown to modern researchers and readers and need to be introduced into scientific circulation. The article provides the first publication of the correspondence between Sadovskoy and Izmailov, with an appropriate comment. A letter from L.N. Andreev to Sadovskoy is also being printed for the first time. The Appendices reproduce the texts of articles by Sadovskoy and Izmailov that have not been republished since the first publication in the pre-revolutionary press.

The article is a review of the collection of materials of the international scientific conference "Grekhnev Readings–XIV: A Literary work in a system of contexts", dedicated to the 85th anniversary of Vsevolod Alekseevich Grekhnev (1938–1998) and held on October 30–31, 2023 at the N.I. Lobachevsky National Research University.