title: From the Poet of Stagnation to the Prophet of Revolution: Metamorphoses of Anton Chekhov’s reception
metadata.name: dc.contributor.author
metadata.value: Stepanov, Andrei D.
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.accessioned
metadata.value: 2022-03-01T11:17:20Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.available
metadata.value: 2022-03-01T11:17:20Z
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.date.issued
metadata.value: 2021-12
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.citation
metadata.value: Stepanov A. D. From the Poet of Stagnation to the Prophet of Revolution: Metamorphoses of Anton Chekhov’s reception. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Language and Literature. 2021, 18 (4): 680–696.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.identifier.other
metadata.value: https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu09.2021.403
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.identifier.uri
metadata.value: http://hdl.handle.net/11701/35310
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.description.abstract
metadata.value: The article traces the reception of Chekhov’s image and works from 1880–1900s, and its
  continuation in Stalinist culture. The transitional (from realism to modernism) nature of
  Chekhov’s works initially forced 19th century critics to negatively assess the “lack of ideology”
  and the “accidentality” of his poetics, and later to present Chekhov as an exponent of “longing
  for a common idea” and “a fighter against vulgarity”. The claims that Chekhov was outdated or,
  conversely, becoming relevant, were strictly correlated with the periods of stagnation/revolutionary
  activity. Similar patterns can be observed in Soviet criticism. In the 1920s, anti-Chekhovian
  moods were fairly characteristic for avant-garde artists, as well as representatives of the
  vulgar sociological method who criticized him harshly. After WWII, critics tried to present
  the “pessimistic” and sophisticated author as a bearer of Soviet dogmas and a predecessor
  of Soviet literature. For example, Vladimir Ermilov’s works used rhetorical strategies based
  on the opposition of “intuitive striving for freedom” vs “suppressive social reality”, which led
  Chekhov to the conclusion about the need for radical social changes. With the help of such
  rhetorical devices, the mournful “singer of stagnation” was transformed into a “prophet of
  revolution”. The task of connecting Chekhov to the humanistic tradition was solved by ascribing to him sympathy for the “little man” and “working man”. All such substitutions were done
  by equating the author’s and his heroes’ evaluative position. Many features of the “Soviet”
  Chekhov image can be traced back to Chekhov’s lifetime criticism, and therefore the outdated
  works of Soviet scholars can serve a clear example of cultural recycling, in which seemingly
  abandoned old ideas are reworked anew.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.description.sponsorship
metadata.value: The study was prepared with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (project 21-18-00527
  “Literature of the ‘transitional eras’ as a tool for the modernization of social ties”) at the Institute of Russian
  Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.language.iso
metadata.value: ru
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.publisher
metadata.value: St Petersburg State University
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.relation.ispartofseries
metadata.value: Vestnik of St Petersburg University. Language and Literature;Volume 18; Issue 4
metadata.lang: -
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Anton Chekhov
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: reception
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: history of criticism
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.subject
metadata.value: Vladimir Ermilov
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.title
metadata.value: From the Poet of Stagnation to the Prophet of Revolution: Metamorphoses of Anton Chekhov’s reception
metadata.lang: en_GB
metadata.name: dc.type
metadata.value: Article
metadata.lang: en_GB
resources.filename: 680-696.pdf
resources.url: https://dspace.spbu.ru/bitstream/11701/35310/1/680-696.pdf
resources.format: Adobe PDF
resources.size: 697,48 kB