The First Volume of the Complete Works of Pushkin Edited by Bryusov in Critical Reviews of the 1920s

Section: History of Journalism

The article analyzes the reception of the Complete Works of Alexander Pushkin edited by Valery Bryusov in literary criticism of the 1920s. The first and the only published volume of this publication, prepared for the State Publishing House and issued in the spring of 1920, caused controversy in the scientific community. The author's goal was to collect the maximum number of reviews published in the press of the 1920s and reflecting literary critics’ views on Bryusov's methods of work as an editor. His relations with each of the serious critics, which influenced the reception of the publication in print, seem to be important. The article describes the advantages and disadvantages of the Complete Works and also poses problems important for textual criticism. The article presents an attempt to analyze what the reason is for the ambivalent attitude towards the volume edited by Bryusov. The author comes to the conclusion that Bryusov the poet often defeated Bryusov the textual critic, which explains many of the reproaches to the publication coming from Pushkin scholars. At the same time, the prejudice of St. Petersburg philologists against Moscow Pushkin studies played a significant role.

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