Polonsky, Vadim Vladimirovich - Between tradition and modernism: Russian literature at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries: history, poetics, context. Imli director Vadim Polonsky: “we are at the point of a paradigm shift in the cultural model” Imli Polonsky

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21:48 — REGNUM

The year 2018 will be remembered by everyone who is concerned about the problems of Russian education and science for unexpectedly heated debates not about dozens of educational standards, decisions on the introduction of which are constantly posted on the website of the Ministry of Education and Science, but for a strange discussion only about the Federal State Educational Standard for Literature.

It seems to us that a discussion of this kind is fundamentally fruitless. It is difficult to imagine the result of the dispute between approximately 1,000 teachers who signed a letter from one of the professional associations, the “Guild of Literature,” who strongly opposed the standard, and 15,000 parents who supported the Ministry of Education and Science.

It is not for nothing that the discussion was eventually postponed by the decision of Deputy Prime Minister O.Yu. Golodets until June, that is, until the start of the work of the new government, which we will find out after the May inauguration.

It seems to us that it is necessary to discuss not so much a specific document as the entire educational and scientific agenda related to humanities in general.

Currently in the Russian Federation there is a considerable variety of types and types of school education, which are united throughout the country only by the Unified State Exam.

These include regular secondary schools, IB (International Baccalaureate) schools, religious secondary schools, private schools and gymnasiums, based on a variety of methods from “Finnish” to “Waldorf”, not to mention national schools in many regions of the Russian Federation.

These schools have fundamentally different goals. If a secondary school prepares students to work and continue their studies in the Russian Federation, then IB (International Baccalaureate) directly prepares students for admission to foreign universities. IB graduates may, in accordance with their wishes, not receive a Russian certificate and not take the Unified State Exam.

It is this diversity that requires the creation of standards that make it possible to realize the idea of equality of citizens within the framework of the Law on Education of the Russian Federation.

Obviously, the basis of such a standardized education is the Russian language and Russian literature based on Russian history. Of course, all these disciplines must be placed in the European and world historical and literary context.

The literature standard contains the minimum amount of texts that a schoolchild who receives a Russian certificate must know and thereby confirm his ability to interact with the cultural canon of Russia.

The issue of the teacher’s freedom in choosing a teaching position or in choosing additional authors and works and, if necessary, partial replacement of the studied works included in the program, is resolved here within the framework of 30% of the teaching time provided to the teacher for such work, which significantly exceeds similar indicators in European countries and the USA.

An extremely important feature of the new standards is the increase in the number of literature lessons in high schools from 2 to 3 per week, which allows the teacher to work with two rather than three classes within the pedagogical rate.

And it is precisely the material and ideas with which the teacher must fill both these 30% and the “stable” 70 that are subject to discussion: the existing “methodological literature” is largely inadequate to the subject of study. We need a clear, competent and transparent examination of all these products.

Other serious problems remain.

First of all, this is an impossible number of hours that a full-time teacher must give, in accordance with the decrees of the President of the Russian Federation. In an effort to comply with these decrees, school directors, on the instructions of the relevant governing bodies, do not have the right to employ part-time or off-staff teachers.

Considering that 80 percent or more of teachers are women, not many of them, having children, will be able to efficiently carry out a workload that, in reality, often involves working with four or even five grades, ranging from fifth to eleventh.

Hence the outflow of teachers from schools. At the same time, the system of connections between schools and universities was disrupted. For many years, teaching in schools was carried out by scientists and specialists who never needed a full-time salary, but it was they who provided teaching in special schools and gymnasiums at an advanced level, while remaining employees of universities and academic institutions. Now the school does not have such an opportunity.

The rapid development of private tutoring in today's Russia was a response to the crisis of the modern school, regardless of either computerization or the often dubious “creativity” in teaching and learning.

The real disaster that destroyed the best schools, at least in Moscow, was the consolidation of schools. Now the director of such a school runs 3-5 schools and 10-12 kindergartens, forming a “metropolitan” educational district. It is clear that such a director can no longer manage his leading school, which was supposed to “raise” the others, and his best teachers are forced to work in several territories in schools of very different levels to fulfill their assignments.

The response was an outflow of teachers, at least in Moscow, to newly formed private schools. And this is also a symptom of an alarming situation.

A new problem arose in connection with the emergence of the Moscow Electronic School. Now teachers, on the one hand, receive a salary bonus for using their media resources, and on the other hand, are forced to use other people’s electronic content in their lessons to an extent completely controlled by the system. Currently, work is already underway on the Russian electronic school.

The most severe critics of the new Federal State Educational Standard for Literature take part in this work, some of whom are also the authors of the corresponding educational complexes. Probably, such activities do not contradict their ideas about the creative freedom of the teacher.

Today there are already proposals to use a similar system in universities.

But any modern teacher will always be able to prepare for himself any interactive content that matches his views, program, textbook and level of students. If only this is really a teacher, and not a service supplement to the mandatory “electronic resources”.

In the conditions of the normative “Electronic School”, there can be no talk of any freedom for the teacher, not to mention the psychological problems of the systematic use of technical teaching aids of this kind in the classroom.

It would be smarter and more effective to create interactive lecture courses for teachers who could use the received techniques and ideas in their daily live work with students. In accordance with your own understanding of the needs and capabilities of your students.

You can often hear that today’s schoolchild “sits” on several social networks at once and owns a computer like a bicycle. Therefore, the school needs to correspond to this trend. In our opinion, everything should be the other way around: school is the place where a student returns from virtual reality, with the help of a teacher, to the reality of life.

Without continuing the list of problems (and it is far from exhausted), we will say that in the field of teaching literature, all the “measures” of recent years lead to the same result: to the separation of the student from the text of the work and the belittlement of the role of the teacher, both ideological and social.

A special problem is the Unified State Exam. Its composition is understandably tied to existing standards. However, a purely tabular assessment of work again only leads to a schematization of education in high school and training for results in two or three disciplines.

We should return to the idea of a big final essay that forces students to learn to read and write long texts, rather than adapting school reading and writing instruction to the schematism and length of Twitter texts. Imagine a pre-revolutionary classical gymnasium whose teachers would have chosen the telegram syllable as a model of written speech. Even Chekhov's Belikov could not have imagined this. Let’s not even talk about the style of avant-garde poetry and prose, which some current Internet resources, incl. named, but which no one has tried to reduce to this kind of straightforward primitive.

The idea of a single Unified State Exam throughout the country as the only way to enter higher education institutions seems flawed.

Historically, decades ago, the strongest cadres were moved to the two capitals.

Everyone knows that the number of people taking the Unified State Exam and, accordingly, their testing experts differs by one and a half to two orders of magnitude in small regions of the federation and in Moscow.

Moreover, in a number of regions, knowledge of the Russian language and the teaching of Russian literature and history varies so much that such a process is fundamentally meaningless.

Thus, the Unified State Exam in reality does not fulfill its task of equal and independent assessment of the level of knowledge of graduates throughout Russia.

We leave aside the problems of status, payment and forms of work of Unified State Examination experts, which today is almost voluntary-compulsory.

The school assessment of a student’s knowledge itself also turns out to be very different in different regions, and graduates enter universities based on the results of the Unified State Exam. In addition, the school “5” in the Unified State Examination system is about 70 points out of 100 possible. This recognizes the impossibility of achieving the maximum grade without special training outside of school. This gives rise to additional classes to prepare for the Unified State Exam and, inevitably, mass tutoring, which would not be a big problem if it, in turn, were not frankly of different quality. Only a school under the control of the state and society can provide the minimum required level of teaching, and if it cannot cope with this, educational policy needs to be changed.

Today, the quality of preparation of applicants turns out to be fundamentally different, which leads to a large dropout rate in the first years of study at universities.

The Olympiads do not solve the problem: it is no coincidence that the country’s “main” universities introduce their own internal exams.

All this suggests that we will have to return to the fundamental separation of graduation and entrance tests, no matter in what form they are conducted. In this case, the Unified State Exam will be a form of admission to entrance examinations to universities, but will not decide the fate of a person. We consider everything that is already purposefully and consistently “working” for the social Darwinist paradigm to be absolutely unacceptable.

Daria Antonova © IA REGNUM

Internal examinations in universities under such a system should be as transparent as possible, which is quite possible in our creative and electronic age. The university must announce in advance the verification principles approved by the Ministry of Education and Science, which will make it possible to actually certify the abilities and capabilities of future students from any region of Russia. The performance of commission members must be factored into an effective contract. In all cases, after the examinations, it is necessary to publish both the examination tasks and the answers to them.

A “traditional high school” is needed.

If interactive games, computer training and psychological training are replaced by ordinary, but traditionally difficult studies, the minimum level of intellectual development of an individual required in modern conditions is guaranteed to be unattainable.

The tradition of such a school provides for the leading role of the teacher in the educational process, education and assessment of the student’s knowledge.

The main result of the educational process in such a school should be the formation of the ability to acquire serious knowledge in the conditions of the latest information environment, which is only a means, but not the goal of education and, especially, subsequent scientific activity.

Humanities should occupy a special place in such a school: only they form a creative personality capable of critically analyzing information flows of various types, and therefore becoming true professionals, no matter what they do. At the same time, the study of history and literature must be synchronized and interdependent: otherwise we will only get a “single space” of postmodern games in their most primitive and destructive version.

But the final state exams in such a school must be taken in all the disciplines that are studied in it (minus, of course, the optional “home economics”, etc.). Only in this case will it be possible to talk about secondary school as a source of versatile knowledge, allowing students to make an informed choice of professional field of activity.

In this situation, it is possible to introduce a multi-level examination system depending on the choice of students’ areas of interest, while all subjects of the school curriculum acquire the meaning of their existence, especially in high school, and school education regains its integrity and universality.

Economists who do not know history, physicists who have not even read basic classics, politicians who are not capable of even basic calculations are of no use to anyone.

A particular problem is the correspondence between the structure of secondary and higher education. It is necessary to consider the issue of types of higher education that allow and do not allow admission only with the Unified State Exam, and the use of the so-called. Bologna system.

This system of the Anglo-Roman structure of higher education does not correspond to the traditional Russian one, which is closest to the German one, with its two-stage certification system: doctor and doctor habilitate.

In today's conditions, when this system has been completely implemented in the EU and Russia, the solution is to allow serious universities to issue master's degrees after a 6-year traditional specialty.

The main problem here is that Russian and Soviet school education was and is significantly different from the Western one. Russian schoolchildren, even today, do not require a four-year propaedeutic course in basic disciplines followed by specialization. Here, higher education is only losing future specialists.

Daria Antonova © IA REGNUM

In addition, the social structure of the Russian Federation does not provide for the possibility of leisurely education of “eternal students” at the expense of parents up to 30 years of age or more. Therefore, a 4-year break between intense high school and, even preparation for the Unified State Exam, and vocational education in the Russian Federation is not required. There is no point in turning the traditional Russian education system into global “life preparation schools” or global IB (International Baccalaureate) just so that our diplomas are supposedly “automatically recognized in the West.”

The experience of the mentioned IB (International Baccalaureate), which does not provide for studying in Russia at all, has shown that our graduates are most often expected only in tertiary universities, which, for the sake of their survival, are ready to accept anyone for paid training. But IB (International Baccalaureate) graduates do not always deserve exactly this.

It is necessary to solve the problem of ranking Russian universities in relation to the “teacher/student” criterion, significantly limiting its value. Of course, there are universities that teach traditional subjects that are completely controlled by this indicator. However, ancient languages and ancient history, cultures, religions and languages of the countries of the East, complex political science specialties, and many others. pl. others require a “teacher/student” ratio that is absolutely impossible for a typical scheme. It is necessary to give the country's leading universities the right to request permission to receive the right to teach such disciplines from the Ministry of Education and Science, without risking, following the example of the Russian State University for the Humanities, being “ineffective”, along with theater, art, architecture, etc. universities. This incident has not yet been forgotten in the university community.

In conclusion, let us return again to the debate about the Federal State Educational Standards in literature, which gave rise to the entire discussion. The “Guild of Word Writers” solves its problems at the government level. But these problems concern those schoolchildren who are already humanitarian-oriented, and those teachers who recognize the “Guild” for the significance that it ascribes to itself. And Federal State Educational Standards are accepted for everyone without exception.

And we also need to think about what, for example, the idea of the All-Russian Literature Olympiad for schoolchildren gives to Russian science and education, when the almost academic and clearly extracurricular requirements of a creative task are assessed on par with various kinds of creative games. Isn’t it clear that history and philology are one thing, but “creative skills” are completely different?

Today, creative logic has already led to the appearance overseas of the so-called. “long reading”, when texts of past centuries are not fundamentally read, but are evaluated according to formal parameters, a “context” of several classic writers is created, and this type of activity is victoriously opposed to “slow reading”. We want future philologists taking the Unified State Exam to begin with as professional readers, and not “creative” sociologists-statisticians. The latter in itself is not bad, but this is a different profession.

So, forward to the text, following the teacher.

Ivinsky Dmitry Pavlovich, Doctor of Philology, Professor of Moscow State University

Katsis Leonid Fridovich, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities

Polonsky Vadim Vladimirovich, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of the Institute of World Literature named after. A.M. Gorky RAS

Shaitanov Igor Olegovich, Doctor of Philology, Professor of the Russian State University for the Humanities, editor-in-chief of the journal “Questions of Literature”

Shkarenkov Pavel Petrovich, Doctor of History, Professor, Vice-Rector for Continuing Education, Director of the Institute of Philology and History of the Russian State University for the Humanities

Gurovich Nadezhda Mikhailovna, Ph.D., teacher, School No. 45, Moscow

Doctor of Philology,

professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences,

Director of IMLI RAS,

Head of the Department of Russian Literature of the late 19th – early 20th centuries, IMLI RAS

Education: graduated from the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov with honors (1994), postgraduate studies in the department of history of Russian literature of the 20th century of the same faculty (1997).

PhD thesis:

“Biographical genre in the works of D.S. Merezhkovsky 1920–1930s" (1998)

Doctoral dissertation:

“Mythopoetic aspects of genre evolution in Russian literature of the late 19th – early 20th centuries.” (2008)

Area of scientific interests: Russian literature of the late XIX – early XX centuries, reception of Russian literature of the XIX – XX centuries. abroad, literary comparative studies, Russian-French literary connections, philosophical contexts of literature, literary theory, poetics of the genre, problems of literary neo-mythologism.

Scientific and organizational activities

editor-in-chief of the journal “Izvestia RAS. Literature and Language Series"

editor-in-chief of the Complete Academic Works of A.M. Gorky (series “Letters”)

member of the editorial board of the Complete Academic Works of A. Blok

member of the editorial board of the Complete Academic Works of L.N. Andreeva

Chairman of the Academic Council of IMLI RAS

member of dissertation councils at the IMLI RAS and the Russian State University for the Humanities

member of the Expert Council of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation for philology and art history (until January 2016, resigned from its membership in connection with his appointment to the position of director of the IMLI RAS)

member of the expert group on historical and philological sciences of the Science Council under the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

accredited expert of the Federal Register of Experts in the Scientific and Technical Field (certificate No. 08-04104)

RAS expert

RSF expert

co-chairman of the Expert Commission on Literature of the Russian Council of School Olympiads

Honorary titles and awards

Laureate of the competition of the Foundation for the Promotion of Russian Science in the category “Candidates and Doctors of Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences” (2006)

Holder of a grant from the President of the Russian Federation for the support of young scientists - doctors of science (2011–2012)

Honorary Professor of Southwest (Chongqing) University of China

Scientific publications - 182 publications, including 2 individual and 8 collective monographs.

Main publications

Individual monographs

Between tradition and modernism. Russian literature at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries: history, poetics, context.
M.: IMLI RAS, 2011. 472 p.
Mythopoetics and dynamics of the genre in Russian literature of the late XIX – early XX centuries: Monograph; Institute of World Lit. them. A.M. Gorky RAS. M.: Nauka, 2008. 285 p.

Collective monographs (executive editor and compiler)

The turning point of 1917: the revolutionary context of Russian literature. Research and materials /
resp. ed. V.V. Polonsky. M.: IMLI RAS, 2017. 864 p.
Russian Revolution of 1917 in literary sources and documents / rep. ed. V.V. Polonsky. M.: IMLI RAS, 2017. 440 p.
Literary life. Articles. Publications. Memoirs. In memory of A.Yu. Galushkina / rep. ed. V.V. Polonsky; comp. M.P. Odessky, M.L. Spivak / Library of the “Literary Heritage”. New series. Vol. 1. M.: IMLI RAS, 2017. 400 p.
Russian literature in the mirrors of world culture: reception, translations, interpretations / editor-ed. M.F. Nadyarnykh, V.V. Polonsky; resp. ed. A.B. Kudelin. M.: IMLI RAS, 2015. 974 p.
Politics and poetics: Russian literature in the historical and cultural context of the First World War. Publications, research and materials / resp. ed. V.V. Polonsky. M.: IMLI RAS, 2014. 880 p.
Russian journalism and periodicals of the era of the First World War: politics and poetics. Research and materials / resp. ed. V.V. Polonsky. M.: IMLI RAS, 2013. 600 p.
Poetics of Russian literature of the late XIX – early XX centuries. Dynamics of the genre: General problems. Prose/answer. ed. V.A. Keldysh, V.V. Polonsky. M.: IMLI RAS, 2009. 832 p.
Russian literature of the late XIX – early XX centuries in the mirror of modern science. Research and publications: In honor of V.A. Keldysh / under general. ed. V.V. Polonsky; comp. O.A. Lekmanov, V.V. Polonsky. M.: IMLI RAS, 2008. 415 p.

Articles

Karamzin and the West: “Letters of a Russian traveler” // Proceedings of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences 2016 / rep. ed. V.A. Tishkov. M: Nauka, 2017. pp. 94–103.
Problems of constructing the academic history of Russian literature of the late XIX - first half of the XX century // The National Histories of Russian Literature / Ed. by Liu Wenfei. Beijing Slavic Review. Vol. 1: Beijing: People's Oriental Publishing and Media, The Oriental Press, 2017, pp. 13–36.
Russian Revolution of 1917 in literary sources // Bulletin of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research. Humanities and social sciences. 2017. No. 4 (89). pp. 9–24. (co-authored with Vvedenskaya V.M., Glukhova E.V., Kozmenko M.V.)
The problem of constructing the history of Russian literature at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries and the typological originality of the “Silver Age” // Rupture and connection of times. Problems of studying literature at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. M.: IMLI RAS, 2017. pp. 54–63.
Mythologization and experimental archaization of poetics in Russian prose of the late XIX - early XX centuries // Rupture and connection of times. Problems of studying literature at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. M.: IMLI RAS, 2017. pp. 766–799.
Dmitry Merezhkovsky // Russian literature of the 1920s - 1930s. Portraits of prose writers. M.: IMLI RAS, 2016. T. 1, book. 1. pp. 5–71.
Philology vs philosophy? In search of a way out of the impasse of interpretations // Studia litterarum. 2016. T. 1, No. 1–2. pp. 14–25.
Modernist Period, or the “Silver Age”, of Russian Literature: Typological Originality in the European Context // Literary World of Modernism and Modernism in World Literature. Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2016, pp. 119–125.
Poetics of Fyodor Sologub: basic principles, mythological images, literary allusions // News of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Literature and Language Series. 2016. T. 75, No. 2. P. 5–20.
Russian literature in the era of the First World War: Historical and cultural context // Proceedings of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2015 / resp. ed. V.A. Tishkov. M.: Nauka, 2016. pp. 236–253.
On the question of the typological originality of Russian symbolism in the culture of European modernity // Mirgorod. Section de langues slaves de l"Université de Lausanne, Instytut Neofilologii i Badań Interdyscyplinarnych UPH w Siedlcach. Lausanne - Siedlce. 2016. No. 1 (7). pp. 13–23.
“Eternal Images” of Dante in Russian culture of the late 19th – first half of the 20th centuries: between D.S. Merezhkovsky and A.K. Dzhivelegov // “Eternal” subjects and images in the literature and art of Russian modernism. M.: Indrik, 2015. pp. 84–105.
Russian Dante of the late XIX - first half of the XX century: Experiences in the reception and interpretation of classics before and after the revolutionary threshold // Literary journal. 2015. No. 37. pp. 111–130.
Prerequisites and experiences of symbolist decoding of events. Historiosophy of the Slavs in Russian journalism during the First World War // Questions of literature. 2014. No. 2. pp. 145–163.
On the typology of the perception of symbolism in Russia and France (based on materials from Paris discussions of 1929-1931) // News of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Literature and Language Series. 2014. T. 73, No. 1. P. 3–14;
A.P. Chekhov and Russian literature of the Silver Age // Proceedings of the Department of Historical and Philological Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences. M.: Nauka, 2014. pp. 423–435.
Discussions about symbolism in the Parisian Franco-Russian studio of 1929-1931 // Comparative studies of comparative literature. Collective monograph / ed. E. Dmitrieva and M. España.
M.: IMLI RAS, 2014. pp. 308–401.
The main vectors of poetic-ideological transformations in Russian literature and journalism during the First World War // Bulletin of the Nizhny Novgorod University. N.I. Lobachevsky. 2014. No. 2 (2). pp. 13–19.
Historiosophy of the Slavs in Russian religious and philosophical literature of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries // Tsrnogorsko-Ruske kizhevne veze (Meћusobna prozhimњa, dotitsaji and substitsaji). Tsrnogorsk Academy of Science and Ability. Teach to be stingy. Kiga 120. Clothes for smartness. 2013. Kiga 38. Podgorica. pp. 71 – 82;
Knut Hamsun and Leonid Andreev (in the context of the perception of the work of the Norwegian writer in Russia of the “Silver Age”) // Izvestia of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Literature and Language Series. 2011. T. 70, no. 4. pp. 9–30.
On the Principles of Structuring the History of Russian Literature of the Late 19th and First Half of the 20th Centuries // Social Sciences. Minneapolis. 2010. Vol. 41. No. 1. P. 62–72.
A look at a century a hundred years later, or Gogol in 1909: the writer’s centenary anniversary based on materials from Russian newspapers // New Literary Review. M., 2010. No. 3 (103). pp. 152–163.
Archetypal models in Russian prose at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries // II Congreso International “La lengua y literature rusas en el espacioeducativointernacional: estado actual y perspectivas”. Ponencias y Communicaciones. Granada, 2010. T. II. P. 1823–1828.

Scopus, Web of Science

(Vadim Polonsky, Lu Wenfei. Zuowei "cha nshi bin" de jingyuanpaiwenxue - jian lun xuekejiexian de beilunxing / Scholastic literary criticism as a “disease of description” - and the paradoxical nature of the boundaries of reasoning about science // 文艺研究, Literature & Art Studies, Beijing, 2016, P. 26-30. /201608/669704204.html
The academic history of literature and art as a “disease of interpretation”: on the paradoxical nature of interdisciplinary boundaries // Social sciences in China. 2016. T. 37, no. 3. pp. 168–174.
Boris Eikhenbaum and Paul Claudel: on the issue of the reception of symbolist mystery in Russia // Russian literature. 2015. No. 3. pp. 227–234.
On the principles of structuring the history of Russian literature of the late 19th and first half of the 20th centuries //
Social sciences. 2010. No. 1. P. 62–71.
Between metaphysics, history and politics: religious mythology in the late literary works of Dmitry Merezhkovsky //
Social sciences. 2006. T. 37, No. 3. P. 33–44.
A look at a century a hundred years later, or Gogol in 1909: the writer’s centenary anniversary based on materials from Russian newspapers // New Literary Review. M., 2010. No. 3 (103). pp. 152-163
Chekhov's irony: between classics and the “Silver Age” //
New philological bulletin. 2009. No. 3 (10). pp. 69–75.

Teaching activities

He taught at Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, PSTGU. From 2004 to 2016 - Professor of the Department of History of Russian Classical Literature at the Russian State University for the Humanities.

As a visiting professor, he gave a number of lecture courses at universities in the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic, and China.

At the Institute of World Literature (IMLI) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, philologists will gather and discuss the contribution of Maxim Gorky to the development and formation of Belarusian literature. This will be an exciting conversation. At one time, Alexey Maksimovich, after meeting the young Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas, was enthusiastic about their work. In one of his letters, he admitted: “These are very interesting guys! They write so simply, so affectionately, sadly, sincerely. If only we had a little of these qualities. Oh, my God! It would be nice!”

On the eve of the round table, the SOYUZ observer interviewed the director of the IMLI RAS, Doctor of Philology, Vadim Polonsky.

Vadim Vladimirovich, who came up with the idea of holding the forum?

Vadim Polonsky: The idea of trying to take a fresh look at literary cooperation between Russia and Belarus arose two years ago at the level of the Writers' Union of the two countries. We have implemented several initiatives. And in May of this year, a round table on this issue was held at the Belarusian Embassy in Moscow. And the idea to gather together was born during a recent competition for the best literature lesson of Belarusian and Russian teachers, “#Power of Words,” in which employees of the Institute of Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences also took part as experts. When summing up the results and awarding the finalists in the presence of the State Secretary of the Union State, Grigory Alekseevich Rapota, the idea was voiced that the connections between Russian and Belarusian literature in the twentieth century were largely associated with the initiatives and personality of Gorky. By the way, our institute also bears his name...

I think that this is not the only thing that connects your institute with Gorky?

Vadim Polonsky: We have a unique archive of Gorky, the riches of which have not yet been fully revealed. And it seemed natural to us to remind the teachers-competitors of the Union State that the enormous potential of the archive is associated with Gorky’s program for studying the mutual enrichment of national literatures of the peoples of the world. We invited the finalists to visit the Apartment Museum of Alexei Maksimovich, where on October 26, 1932, at a dramatic turning point in our common history, writers - “engineers of human souls” - gathered to discuss the creation of a single Union of Writers in the presence of Stalin.

And now, 84 years later, the idea was voiced that the time had come to “remember everything,” including the best that happened in Russian-Belarusian literary relations, which today will help rely on the good “power of words.”

It is difficult to imagine a more suitable platform for this than your Institute. But why did this topic arise now?

Vadim Polonsky: It arose spontaneously, but there were also prerequisites. One of them is the upcoming anniversaries: the 85th anniversary of our Institute and the 150th anniversary of Gorky’s birth. In addition to us, many people are preparing for the celebration, especially the regions associated with the name of the writer. The humanitarian component of the activities of the Permanent Committee of the Union State, which constantly reminds us of the historical kinship between Russia and Belarus, the close intertwining of the destinies and cultures of our peoples and the undoubted success of this interaction, gave special meaning to the celebration.

It is known that Gorky did not know the Belarusian language and translated into Russian only one work by Yanka Kupala - the poem “And who goes there?” Some philologists consider the translation to be flawed. And Gorky himself later apologized to the young Belarusian poet for his translation. And yet, how do you assess the contribution of the author of “Song of the Petrel” to the development and formation of Belarusian literature?

Vadim Polonsky: I think the key stage here is related to the historical and cultural context of the early twentieth century, including the events of 1905. Circumstances stimulated free thought and gave impetus to the development of national Belarusian culture. Time gave our people outstanding writers: Maxim Bogdanovich, Yakub Kolas, Yanka Kupala, Zmitrok Byadulya, Francis Bogushevich... Their work revealed not only to Gorky the treasures of Belarusian folklore, original stories from the life of Belarusians, but also, for example, to Leo and Alexei Tolstoy. .. In turn, the work of Pushkin and Gogol, Nekrasov and Saltykov-Shchedrin, and later - Vladimir Korolenko, Gleb Uspensky, Leonid Andreev and the same Gorky served as a creative stimulus in the formation of Belarusian writers. The influence of Gorky’s revolutionary romance is felt in Kupala’s poems “I am free with my soul” and “I am a song, I am a falcon, I am”, and Gorky’s fairy tales helped Belarusians rethink and literary rework their own folklore, which is clearly felt in the fairy tales and poems of Kolas. We recognize the lush landscapes of the Russian classic in the images of the Volga, created by Maxim Bogdanovich.

All these people not only read each other, but also communicated closely.

Vadim Polonsky: Of course, and that's the main thing! In June 1910, Gorky vacationed in Capri and received a group of teachers from Russia. From them he learns the names of Kolas and Kupala. He immediately becomes eager to meet her and soon receives in the mail collections of poems “Zhaleika” by Kupala and “Songs of Pity” by Kolas. He begins to subscribe to “Nasha Niva” and books published in the Belarusian language. And after meeting, Gorky very quickly becomes a kind of moral support for young Belarusians, acting as an experienced “mentor-impresario” who loves his charges. And most importantly, he tries in every way to draw attention to them, both Russian and Ukrainian writers. It was at this time that Alexey Maksimovich translated the poem you named by Kupala. And the point is not how successful the translation is. But what it was made for. Gorky’s goal, as he himself writes in the article “On Self-Taught Writers,” is to attract the attention of “skeptics” to the “young literature of Belarusians”, to their pristine lyrical purity. He emphasizes “the deep meaning of this song, which, perhaps, will become the national anthem of Belarusians for a while.” She became, as we know.

I would like to hear your assessment of the modern literary interaction between Belarus and Russia?

Vadim Polonsky: This is one of the constant topics of the research program of our Department of Literatures of the Peoples of Russia and the CIS - in its own way the only scientific department in the country. Almost every collective work they publish contains materials devoted to Belarusian subjects. Recently, the Academic Council of the IMLI RAS approved for publication the next issue of the scientific series “Classics in the Dialogue of Cultures,” which contains two major works: “Ales Adamovich - a dialogue with time” and “The last publication of Valentin Rasputin in Belarus.” Our employees actively respond to Belarusian literary novelties, acting not only as academic researchers, but also as critics. For example, the first volume “Belarus - Russia” from the series “Consonance of Hearts”, recently released in Minsk, aroused our keen attention. Our collective monographs and serial publications systematically publish articles about the most notable writers of Belarus. We regularly participate in scientific conferences held annually at BSU, at the Pedagogical Institute named after. M. Tanka. And, of course, we are always glad to see Belarusian colleagues at scientific events organized by our Institute.

How do you like working with the Permanent Committee of the Union State?

Vadim Polonsky: Amazing! A striking event that determined our interaction was the second edition of the amazing literary monument created by Simeon of Polotsk - the poem "The Russian Eagle". The book was prepared by the chief researcher of our Institute, Lydia Sazonova, and it facsimilely reproduces the author's manuscript - a most valuable artistic object. The preface to the publication was written by Grigory Alekseevich Rapota.

What problems do you see?

Vadim Polonsky: We have something to remember and something to study. Thus, the Department of Manuscripts stores the works of repressed Belarusian and Russian writers - these are complexes of materials that await thoughtful and painstaking researchers. I think they will help to reconstruct our common history of literature using stereoscopy. One of the most important problems is the lack of regular publication of translations from Belarusian in mass periodicals in Russia. It is very sad that the monthly supplement to the Literary Newspaper, Lad, has been closed. Its editor, Belarusian prose writer Ales Kozhedub, regularly introduced the Russian reader to the works of his Belarusian colleagues. True, reverse processes have also emerged. As if to compensate for the loss of "Lada" in the journal "Literary Studies" (by the way, a project of Maxim Gorky!), publications of translations from Belarusian have resumed. So, the works of Gennady Buravkin should be published in the December issue.

Is it possible to use the successful experience of cultural interaction between Russia and other countries? It is known, for example, that Japanese people are translated into Russian more often and more willingly than Belarusians... What is the commercial component here, in your opinion?

Vadim Polonsky: Experience with different countries is different. I will only say that commercial demand for certain literary phenomena can largely grow thanks to targeted educational and popularization activities, preferably with the support of government authorities and influential public organizations. It would be good for us to use the Kulturträger experience of the same Gorky. It makes sense to present literary heritage as part of a broad, rich and attractive cultural field. We must study our archives, delve into the micro-processes of cultural interaction and propose a long-term program of joint action to our ministries of culture and the Standing Committee. In the near future we would like to hold a meeting with the leadership of the Institute of Literary Studies named after. Yanka Kupala, which was recently recreated in the system of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, negotiations on the prospects for systemic cooperation. Perhaps on a regular contractual basis. We are convinced that great opportunities can open up here. And for our Institute this is among the priority research areas.

Yakub Kolas, classic of Belarusian literature:

It was the nine hundred years... Gorky walked with giant strides, gathering audiences of thousands of young people, freeing minds from the tedious mold of decadence. A new word sounded, and the eyes of those who were looking for a path to a new life turned to its herald. I have forever retained in my heart a deep gratitude to Maxim Gorky for his sensitivity to the first steps in literature that Yanka Kupala and I took.