“Tuberkulez Kuporosovich!” On I. Bunin’s Marginalia at V. Khodasevich’s “Collection of Poems”

Abstract

The article introduces into scientific circulation and for the first time examines the marginalia of I.A. Bunin at the “Collection of Poems” (1927) by V.F. Khodasevich from the funds of the Russian Archive of Leeds (RAL). A comprehensive analysis of the marginalia of I. Bunin, undertaken by the authors of the article, allows to clarify both the aesthetic and general poetic principles of I. Bunin himself, and his attitude to the poetry of V. Khodasevich. As a result of the study, conclusions were made that in his marginalia I. Bunin appears as a traditionalist advocating for classical aesthetic orientation. He does not accept the symbolist worldview and modernist poetics, the mixing of prosaism and poetism, reduced “physiological” imagery, the use of heterogeneous lexical and stylistic layers. It is these characteristic features of V. Khodasevich’s poetry that cause the negative attitude of I. Bunin, which is reflected in his marks and comments. The negative marginalia of I. Bunin are also associated with the biographical context of V. Khodasevich’s poems, which is not always “read” by I. Bunin, as well as with allusions to the poetry of A. Bely and A. Blok.