From the History of Russian Literary Institutions

Abstract

[Rev.: Institutes of Literature in the Russian Empire: joint monograph. Comp., ed. by A. V. Vdovin, K. Yu. Zubkov. Moscow, 2023. 496 (HSE Monographs: Humanities)]

The present review observes a joint monograph that examines literary institutions and institutes of the Russian Empire. The researchers gathered in the working group are specialists in different areas of the general topic, which allowed them to develop a unified approach and to delve into particular issues at the same time. The authors overview such institutions as censorship, public education, theater, coteries, salons, and literary organizations and communities are in the field of view. By analyzing the constructs (the imaginary reader, the public, the people, the society), the authors show that such phenomena exist not by themselves, but within the framework of the institutions in question, and every time we talk about a particular text, this must be taken into account. The undoubted advantages of the publication are the elaboration of the material and the composition: the allocation of nodal problems, the distribution of chapters into parts. The study organically fits into academic interests of its authors, into the history of the study of literary institutions, and indicates the prospects for further research. This may be related to further refinement of tools and terminology, and to the quantitative accretion of material that will form the basis of the history of Russian literary institutions. A number of chapters which drew our special attention, highlight both the features that link them to the methods and goals of the whole study and individual discoveries, achievements, and controversial moments that testify to their independent significance.

DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2025.1.13