Article

Name: A. Platonov and V. Zazubrin: intersecting parallels

Authors: Elena N. Proskurina

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: The paper shows the general features of the creative behavior of A. Platonov and V. Zazubrin, with a fundamental difference in the artistic language of writers. Both tried to preserve their own creative style, their attitude to the revolutionary reality, which in many respects differed from the emerging ideological maxim. The analysis involves the episodes of the novel by A. Platonov “Chevengur,” the novels by V. Zazubrin “Two worlds” and “Mountains,” as well as his novels “Sliver” and the essay “Unmarked roads” which were found to have plot-motif rolls. Previously, an idea was put forward that an essay of Zazbrin could be one of the sources of the novel “Chevengur.” However, the intersections identified in these works are related to the metаdialog rather than to the creative reception since in the literature of the 1920s, the plot and motive space was largely the same. It was due to the post-revolutionary historical situation in the country. In addition, on the basis of epistolary, the relations of Zazubrin and Platonov with Gorky, the highest authority for both of them, were analyzed. An unexpected conclusion was made from the analysis performed: Gorky’s participation in the fate of Notch was as active as cautious was his attitude towards Platonov. Perhaps, Zazubrin was more understandable to Gorky as a writer, with his main theme being the struggle between “two worlds.” Platonov turned out to be too mysterious for Gorky, with an uncertain ideological position and unusual poetics. In conclusion, paradoxically, it is Zazubrin that Gorky considers being in the first place, not Platonov.

Keywords: A. Platonov, V. Zazubrin, M. Gorky, “Red Terror” in literature, creative behavior, metadialog, plot, motive

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