Article

Name: Victor Astafyev – a reporter of Chusovskoy rabochiy (1951–1955)

Authors: Piotr P. Kaminskiy

Tomsk State University, Tomsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract:

This paper represents the first examination of Victor Astafyev’s journalistic work produced during his tenure at the Chusovskoy Rabochiy newspaper (1951–1955). The poetic and aesthetic features of the earliest journalistic works are established by analyzing over eighty publications, focusing on the industrial development of the Urals in the early 1950s. The articles under analysis were published in the city newspaper and in the regional press. Initially, Astafyev employed the artistic genre of sketching, which serves as a visual representation of people or events. From autumn 1952 onwards, his mastery of the essay form has progressed to encompass more intricate analytical structures, emphasizing profound investigation into the underlying nature of persons and problems. The analysis reveals that the primary thematic concern was exploring the character of the Soviet citizen, specifically the socialist builder, and their dedication to their labor. Complying with a direct party commission, the fledgling writer at the party-Soviet newspaper produced idealized representations of the laborer, marked by formulaic and repetitive character traits. However, the predetermined and schematic nature of the characterizations is progressively transcended. Despite being bound by the tenets of human representation prevalent in the Soviet press, the writer strives to forge a distinctive narrative style. A template-based newspaper sketch develops into significant artistic and documentary essays.

Keywords: Viktor Astafyev, super-early creativity, the Ural period, newspaper Chusovskoy rabochiy, jour-nalistic publications, the formation of an artistic system, creative evolution

Bibliography:

Astaf’ev V. P. Sobr. soch.: V 15 t. [Collected works: In 15 vols.]. Krasnoyarsk, Ofset, 1997.

Goncharov P. A. Tvorchestvo V. P. Astaf’yeva v kontekste russkoy prozy vtoroy poloviny dvadtsatogo veka [The work of V. P. Astaf’yev in the context of Russian prose of the second half of the twentieth century]. Abstract of Dr. philol. sci. diss. Tambov, 2004, 48 p.

Ovsepyan R. P. V labirintakh istorii otechestvennoy zhurnalistiki. Vek 20 [In the labyrinths of the history of Russian journalism. 20th century]. Moscow, RIP-kholding, 2001, 316 p.

Rostovtsev Yu. A. Stranitsy iz zhizni Viktora Astaf’yeva [Pages from the life of Viktor Astaf’yev]. Moscow, Entsikl. sel i dereven’, 2007, 477 p.

Strovskiy D. L. Istoriya otechestvennoy zhurnalistiki noveyshego perioda [The history of Russian journalism of the modern period]. Yekaterinburg, Ural Univ. Publ., 1998, 269 p.

Viktor Petrovich Astaf’yev. (K 75-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya): Bibliograficheskiy ukazatel’ [Victor Petrovich Astaf’yev. (For the 75th anniversary of his birth): Bibliographic index]. N. Ya. Sakova, V. F. Faber, G. M. Gaynutdinova, T. I. Zadneprovskaya (Comps.). Krasnoyarsk, 1999, 224 p.

Viktor Petrovich Astaf’yev. Pervyy period tvorchestva (1951–1969: Slovar’-spravochnik) [Victor Petrovich Astaf’yev. The first period of creativity (1951–1969). Dictionary-reference. L. G. Samotik, T. N. Sadyrina (Comps.). Krasnoyarsk, RASTR, 2019, 471 p.

Viktor Petrovich Astaf’yev. Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo: Bibliograficheskiy ukazatel’ [Victor Petrovich Astaf’yev. Life and creativity: Bibliographic index]. T. Ya. Brixman (Comp.). Moscow, Publishing house of the Russian State Library “Pashkov dom”, 1999, 238 p.

Yanovskiy N. N. Viktor Astaf’yev: ocherk tvorchestva [Viktor Astaf’yev: An essay on creativity]. Moscow, Sov. pisatel’, 1982, 272 p.