Russkaâ literatura

The quarterly peer-review academic journal published since 1958.

Founders

  • Russian Academy of Sciences

Publisher

  • Russian Academy of Sciences

The journal is published under the supervision of the RAS Department of Historical and Philological Sciences (OIFN RAS).

About the journal

Russkaia literatura” (Russian Literature) is the country's first and only periodical devoted to the history of Russian literature at all stages of its development. One of the most urgent tasks of "Russian Literature" is to present the current state of academic literary criticism and the most striking achievements in its individual fields. The same aim is pursued by the chronicles of current conferences and reviews of recently published scholarly monographs and anthologies. The volume is intended for specialists in the history of Russian literature and is aimed at a professional audience.

Key areas

  • Folklore;
  • Old Russian and 18th century literature;
  • Classical heritage;
  • Modern (20th century) literature;
  • Theoretical and historical-literary studies;
  • Biographical and textual research;
  • Thematic sections on the anniversaries of classic writers, polemics and attribution;
  • Critical reviews and critiques;
  • Comprehensive information about current scientific life, including chronicles of international symposia and conferences.

Indexation


Media registration certificate: № 0110194 от 04.02.1993

Edição corrente

Nº 2 (2025)

Articles

Pojmi, kol’ Mozhet…: The Fate of F. I. Tyutchev’s Poem «Nature is not what you Imagine…»
Uspensky B.
Resumo

Tyutchev’s poem «Nature is not what you Imagine…» (the autograph has not survived) is known in two drastically different versions. One of them was published in Pushkin’s literary periodical Sovremennik in 1836, the other in Tyutchev’s lifetime collections of poems in 1854 and 1868. How can the coexistence of two very different versions of this poem be explained? What are the differences between them? Which version is the initial one, and which is the result of a later revision? The article offers the answers to these questions.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):5-15
pages 5-15 views

Travelogues: Borderline of Nations, Cultures, Literary Genres

Grigoriy Novitskiy’s Brief Description of The Ostyak People (1715) as a Literary Text
Trofimov A.
Resumo

The article deals with Grigoriy Novitskiy’s book Brief Description of the Ostyak People, a document of Siberian writing of the early 18th century. Our studies focus on the literary features of the text that formerly has been researched as a source of historical data only. Artistic features of the book, such as references to the medieval literary tradition, versified inclusions, citation of the Ancients etc. are analyzed in the article.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):16-25
pages 16-25 views
«Constantinople Letters»: Issues of Context, Attribution and Interpretation
Kozlov A.
Resumo

The article examines a series of anonymous publications united by the Istanbul theme: «Constantinople Letters», «Greek Letters», «Letter from Pera», «Ten Days on the Bosphorus». All these publications, originally contributed to Russkiy Vestnik and Moskovskie Vedomosti and signed with cryptonyms: N., S. N., M., testify to a peculiar «appropriation» and «domestication» of the Oriental space. Various traditions and pretexts that complicate the journalistic text are revealed and studied: travelogues by A. S. Pushkin and Lamartine, as well as fiction by W. Thackeray and Ch. Dickens. An attempt is made to attribute the analyzed works to Eugeny Petrovich Novikov, a writer and a diplomat, who remained in service between 1860 and 1882.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):26-33
pages 26-33 views
Disruption and Affirmation of the Canon: Spanish Sketches and Florence by P. P. Pertsov
Bagno V.
Resumo

The short Italian and Spanish travelogues by P. P. Pertsov are samples of exploring and appropriating alien cultural spaces from within. Invoking the «image» of a country as reflected in the Russian culture, Pertsov tried to transcend the existing stereotypes and come up with his own image of a country and a cultural space as implanted in his own spirituality. Spanish Sketches and Florence resonate with Pertsov’s book Venice that was first published in 1905. Based on the manuscripts, all the stages of the writer’s work on his texts can be reconstructed. His studies of I. P. Muratov and H. Taine’s books on Italy (he translated the latter into Russian) led to the emergence of his own concept of representing the images of the «unknown» people and countries, of an anthropogeopraphy of culture of sorts.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):34-43
pages 34-43 views

Book Publishing in the First Third of the 20th Century

The Publishing History of Andrei Bely’s Novel Moscow and the Literary «Kitchen» on the 1920s
Spivak M.
Resumo

The article considers the publishing history of the novel Moscow (Moscow Weirdo, Moscow under the Attack, 1926), using the new archival data and putting it into the context of the Communist Party guidelines and of the literary life of the 1920s, in connection with Bely’s publishing projects of the time. The focus is on Bely’s relations with the literary periodical Rossiya and Krug Publishing House, as well as on the involvement of B. A. Pilnyak and D. K. Bogomilsky in solving the writer’s literary and financial problems. The «portraits» of the contributors to the publishing history of Moscow who remain obscure in contemporary academic literature (N. E. Helminsky and D. K. Bogomilsky) are outlined.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):44-95
pages 44-95 views

Публикации и сообщения

I. I. Martynov and M. S. Kaysarov Discussing L. Sterne in 1804
Baskina (Malikova) M.
Resumo

The article is a reconstruction of a phantom dialogue in the form of a literary game based on projecting a translated French article about Laurence Sterne on the topical issues of national literature between two like-minded persons, Ivan Martynov, the editor of the Messenger of the North, who in 1804 published the French review in his magazine with the editor’s notes, and Mikhail Kaysarov, translator of Tristram Shandy, who responded with a «Letter», which, however, remained unpublished.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):96-102
pages 96-102 views
A Letter to Sofya Nikolaevna and Ekaterina Nikolaevna, the Daughters of N. M. Karamzin: Attribution and Dating
Sapchenko L.
Resumo

The article defines the authorship and dating of the Letter to Sophia Nikolaevna and Ekaterina Nikolaevna, the Daughters of N. M. Karamzin (RGALI, copy), erroneously attributed to Karamzin and incorrectly dated 1810. The archival and epistolary sources, as well as the content of the message, point to the authorship to P. A. Vyazemsky and clarify the dating, summer of 1822. The handwritten copy was made, apparently, by the daughter of the historiographer E. N. Karamzina.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):102-109
pages 102-109 views
The Humpbacked Horse by P. P. Ershov: The Background of the Literary Success
Fomichev S.
Resumo

As for its quality, The Humpbacked Horse, a fairy-tale by P. P. Ershov, is comparable to Pushkin’s masterful tales that the young author used as his reference point, mostly under the influence of his teacher, Professor P. A. Pletnyov. The first thing to consider, however, is the folklore background of Ershov’s story, arguably based on The Tale of Ersh Ershovich (The Tale of the Ruffe the Ruffe’s Son); and it is for this reason that this character, with the name consonant to the name of the author, made his way into the tale about the Humpbacked Horse. The interest of the young man from Siberia in the Old Russian literature and folklore is also worth considering. Many fantastic images from Ershov’s fairy-tale (the magic horse, the Firebird, The Tsar Maiden) have insidious mythological origin, which certainly enriches the poetical quality of Ershov’s tale.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):110-118
pages 110-118 views
The Tale of Igor’s Campaign: A. I. Turgenev’s Copy in the Library of A. S. Pushkin (1830s)
Khokhlova N.
Resumo

The article deals with the history of a rare book, a copy of the first edition of The Tale of Igor’s Campaign (1800), owned for a while by A. I. Turgenev. The article focuses on the following issues: The Tale in the library of the diplomat and orientalist A. Ya. Italinsky and his marginalia — «notes on oriental languages»; the circumstances of the acquisition of the book by Turgenev, still obscure; Turgenev’s copy in Pushkin’s library as one of the sources of the poet’s work on the translation of the poem. Finally, M. I. Gillelson’s 1964 hypothesis concerning the supposed location of the book is analyzed and rejected.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):118-126
pages 118-126 views
Censoring The Betrothed by A. Manzoni in the Context of the Social History of Literary Works in Translation
Bodrova A.
Resumo

The article explores the censorship history of the early Russian translations of Alessandro Manzoni’s novel The Betrothed (I Promessi Sposi). Examining the specific institutions of cultural transfer, the Foreign Censorship Committee that regulated the circulation of foreign language books and the rank-and-file censorship departments that were responsible for the translations into the languages of the Russian Empire, the author focuses on the institutional mechanisms of decision-making, ideological and social contexts of judgments and actions. Using archival documents and materials from the Rare Books and Manuscripts Departments of the Academic Library of St. Petersburg State University and the Academic Library of Moscow State University, the article reconstructs the history of the Russian translations of The Betrothed of 1833, 1840, and 1854, as well as the Polish translation of 1836; the author of the first translation of Manzoni’s novel, published in book form (1833), is identified, numerous censorship omissions and alterations in Vasiliy Mezhevich’s translation (1854) are noted. The study focuses on the analysis of translated literature within the internal political climate of the Russian Empire in the 1830s. This approach to translated literature, treating it through the prism of the reception of the foreign editions, expands the boundaries of Translation Studies on Russian material, as well as enables us to place the history of translated literature into the broader context of the social history of Russian literature of the Imperial period.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):126-139
pages 126-139 views
L. A. Mey’s Aborted Publishing Project
Vorobyeva O.
Resumo

Drawing on the archival data, the article offers the first ever exploration of a magazine project by L. A. Mey, Russia, the Chronicle of National Events, Literature, Science and Arts. Even though the permission to publish the magazine was granted twice (in 1854 and 1856), Mey never brought the project to fruition. The analysis of the program of the Chronicle indicates that although Mei didn’t have the practical abilities and capabilities to implement his project, he nevertheless had a strategic idea of how to obtain a permission to publish a magazine in a challenging time for the Russian press.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):140-145
pages 140-145 views
The Conflict Between I. A. Goncharov and I. S. Turgenev in a Social Perspective
Guskov S.
Resumo

This article analyzes the conflict between I. A. Goncharov and I. S. Turgenev, placing it into the framework of social and literary contexts. Contrary to the traditional interpretations that emphasize the psychopathological aspects of the issue and focus on verification of plagiarism, this study proposes to examine the conflict as an episode in the evolution of the writers’ social roles and transformations in literary communication. Apart from clarifying the reasons for the conflict, this approach provides a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that shaped the literary field in Russia on the eve of the Great Reforms.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):145-154
pages 145-154 views
The Pragmatics of F. M. Dostoyevsky’s Art
Barsht K.
Resumo

The article proposes a theory concerning the utmost importance of organic philosophy in the art and worldview of F. M. Dostoyevsky; taking its initial shape in his early years, the philosophy was reinforced in the years of his exile to Siberia and informed his literary practices of the 1860s–1870s. The idea of the vibrant and sapient Universe with the human being treated as a part of its Whole emerged from the ideas of the Enlightenment, to be supported by the older Slavophiles, A. S. Khomiakov and I. V. Kireyevsky, and later expanded by A. A. Grigoryev, M. M. Dostoyevsky and N. N. Strakhov, the thinkers from the Vremya and Epokha literary magazines (1861–1865), who had transformed the organic theory into the pragmatic «soil» movement that called for the restitution of the ties between humans and Universe through the vivid religious feelings and through the orientation of morality and ontology towards the image of Jesus Christ. The last 20 years of Dostoyevsky’s life were dedicated to promoting this idea, while his literary work turned into the description of the ways of achieving the moral and social transformation of Humanity.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):155-169
pages 155-169 views
Dynamics of Theme and Style in the Fiction of K. N. Leontiev
Kotelnikov V.
Resumo

The article examines the works of fiction by K. N. Leontiev, produced in the 1850s and 1880s. It shows that the writer was gradually distancing himself from the attitudes of the Natural School and the thematic and stylistic trends of Critical Realism that shaped the literature of the day. Leontiev was cultivating the genre of retrobiographical novel, introducing new ethical and aesthetic ideas into his fiction. He was the pioneer of detailed treatment of the «Oriental» theme in the Russian belles-lettres, describing the life in the European regions of Turkey, where he had spent several years in the diplomatic service.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):170-181
pages 170-181 views
Religious Journalism and Russian Literature on Clergy, 19th — Early 20th Century
Rozov A.
Resumo

The article examines the fictional works of the second half of the 19th and early 20th century that deal with the minor members of the clergy and analyzes the assessment of these texts in the church criticism. The fictional images of dyachoks (vergers) seem more diverse than those of the priests and the deacons. The image of an old verger, bearing strong similarity to that of the «little man» and disappearing by the end of the 19th century, holds a special place in these narratives.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):181-189
pages 181-189 views
Literature and Painting in the Age of Pre-Symbolism: The Problem of Co-Evolution
Stepanov A.
Resumo

The article shows that the correlations of the progress from Realism to Modernism in literature and art of the late 19th century should be considered, in literary terms, as a shift of the value center of the artistic system from the Realistic narrative to lyrics, from social determination to the emergence of individual sensitivity, from the criteria of wholeness, completeness and non-redundancy to randomness and incompleteness as the signs of «animated life».

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):190-196
pages 190-196 views
Prototypes of the Characters of L. N. Tolstoy’s Resurrection (Based of Archival Sources)
Esakov G.
Resumo

Resurrection, the novel by L. N. Tolstoy, is based on a true story provided by A. F. Koni. It took place in 1875 and involved two real characters, Ivan Trushinskii and Rosalia Onni. After the trial, Trushinskii (a member of the jury) proposed to Onni. Koni was involved in this case as the prosecutor in charge of the prison, and several years later related the story to Tolstoy. Using archival data, the author tries to reconstruct the lives of both characters and to verify the factual basis of the key issue in the story: whether Onni was seduced by Trushinskii. Three formerly unknown letters of Trushinskii to Koni are cited and analyzed in the article.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):197-204
pages 197-204 views
A. M. Remizov and Vl. V. Gippius: Two Instances of Epistolary Communication
Bystrov V.
Resumo

The article outlines the history of the relationship between A. M. Remizov and Vl. V. Gippius. The period of their work at the Repertoire Section of the Theater Department, People’s Commissariat of Education, in 1918–1919 is briefly traced. The article focuses on the writers exchanging letters in April 1915, as well as on the poem by Gippius of 1919, dedicated to Remizov. These texts, stored at the Manuscript Department of the IRLI, are published for the first time. An attempt to interpret the poetic message of Gippius is made.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):204-208
pages 204-208 views
V. V. Nabokov’s Cerebral Play
Levina-Parker M., Levin M.
Resumo

Cerebral play was made famous by a character in Andrey Bely’s Peterburg. Nabokov can be viewed as a great disciple. The article offers an overview of his «bag of tricks» that serve to create multifaceted images and shadow meanings of expressions, words, letters or numbers varying from small uncertainties to downright lies. Such practices of Nabokov are compared to those of Bely and other authors.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):208-230
pages 208-230 views
The Way to Self: Get Up and Go by Yu. M. Nagibin
Novoselova E.
Resumo

The article analyzes Yu. M. Nagibin’s novella Get Up and Go (1987). The «bifurcation» of the official and unofficial line of Yu. M. Nagibin’s creative work in the early 1940s disrupted his creative identity, and the first work of perestroika era is an attempt to overcome the crisis and regain one’s place in the world.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):230-240
pages 230-240 views

Заметки

The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes Translated by V. G. Voroblevsky
Pomirchaya E.
Resumo

The article analyzes the first published Russian translation of the Spanish picaresque novel The Life of Lazarillo de Tormes and of His Fortunes and Adversities, made by the serf writer V. G. Voroblevsky. The historical-comparative, textual and linguistic analysis of the Spanish original, the French mediator text and the Russian translation allowed the author of the article to identify the year of the first publication of the Russian translation (1777). The original source of the translation was also established as the Brussels edition of 1698. The version of the existence of a 1792 publication under the title Terpigorev is examined separately.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):241-243
pages 241-243 views

Обзоры и рецензии

Comprehension of the Ideas of The Morphology of a Fairy Tale by V. Ya. Propp in the Chinese Academic Circles
Luodan M., Xuemao C.
Resumo

This article examines the reception and interpretation of V. Ya. Propp’s ideas in China and identifies the distinctive features of the perceiving subjects in the process of its sinicization. Chinese researchers use Propp’s insights to solve problems in domestic literary theories, which has major methodological and historical significance for building the Chinese literary theory and improving the critical practices.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):244-248
pages 244-248 views
On The Masterpiece of Russian Literature and the Slovak National Revival: a New Translation of The Tale of Bygone Years into Slovak
Egorova K.
Resumo

[Review:] Nestor’s Chronicle: Legend of ancient times on the Russian land / [Preface and translation M. Daniљ]. Bratislava: Pub. Association of Slovak writers, 2024. 319 p.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):249-250
pages 249-250 views
Measuring the «Invisible Quantity» (a New Work on A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin)
Makarevich O.
Resumo

[Review:] «Nevidimaia velichina». A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin: teatr, literatura, zhizn’ / Sost. E. N. Penskaia, O. N. Kuptsova; otv. red. T. V. Sokolova; Natsional’nyi issledovatel’skii universitet «Vysshaia shkola ekonomiki». M.: Izd. dom Vysshei shkoly ekonomiki, 2024. 472 s. + 20 s. tsv. vkl.

Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):250-253
pages 250-253 views

Хроника

XLVIII Malyshev Readings
Konusova E.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):254-257
pages 254-257 views
Russian Literature in the Soviet Era Seventh Research Seminar
Prozorova N.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):257-258
pages 257-258 views
The Days of Boris Lvovich Modzalevsky in the Pushkin House
Krasnoborodko T., Turchanenko V.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):258-267
pages 258-267 views
Folklore and Booklore All-Russian Research Conference with International Participation
Zhadovskaya S., Pigin A.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):267-271
pages 267-271 views
Pushkin and World Culture International Research Conference
Karpeeva O.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):271-280
pages 271-280 views
Anna Akhmatova and … International Research Conference
Slepkov Y.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):280-282
pages 280-282 views
XXII Alekseev Readings
Arshinova I.
Russkaâ literatura. 2025;(2):283-286
pages 283-286 views