|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
‘So often have I wished to talk to you...’. The correspondence between N. Berkovsky and V. Grib
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-6-254-308
Abstract
The published correspondence between two Soviet literary critics, N. Berkovsky and V. Grib, dates from 1936 and 1939 (letters from 1937–1938 are missing from the archive). The subject of the letters was determined by their mutual academic interests (European literatures of the new age) and, equally importantly, their determination to subject historical material to philosophical analysis, and preoccupation with general aesthetic problems. However, squabbles were not uncommon: Grib’s rationalistic tendencies throughout his research (corresponding to his biggest academic interest: literature of the Enlightenment) would prompt an occasional joke from Berkovsky, whose ideas were often guided by romantic intuitivism. Over a decade after Grib’s untimely death (1940), Berkovsky published a laudatory review of the fellow scholar’s posthumous works, where he still managed to gently point out their differences. He expressed even more praise for Grib’s unorthodox academic views in a private letter (to B. Zingerman, 1961), an extract of which is cited in the closing lines of this article.
About the Author
L. S. DubshanRussian Federation
Leonid S. Dubshan – philologist, literary critic, drama critic, independent researcher
70 Nevsky Av., St. Petersburg, 191025
References
1. Alpatov, M. (1997). Letters to N. Y. Berkovsky. Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 25, pp. 155. (In Russ.)
2. [Anon.] (1936). Mythologem, or A reductively anomalous case (signed: a Stunned reader). Sovetskoe Iskusstvo, 34, p. 3. (In Russ.)
3. Belitsky, G. (1936). Prehistory of the ‘history of literatures’. Literaturniy Leningrad, 30 June, p. 3. (In Russ.)
4. Berkovsky, N. (1920-1921). Psychology of lyrical realism. [book] Personal archive of M. N. Virolainen. St. Petersburg. (In Russ.)
5. Berkovsky, N. (1928a). A struggle for prose. Na Literaturnom Postu, 23, pp. 26-43; 24, pp. 16-25. (In Russ.)
6. Berkovsky, N. (1928b). Two books by Pilnyak. Krasnaya Gazeta, 6 Mar. (evening edition), pp. 112-116. (In Russ.)
7. Berkovsky, N. (1929). On prose writers. Zvezda, 12, pp. 147-156. (In Russ.)
8. Berkovsky, N. (1930a). A struggle for prose. In: N. Berkovsky, Current literature. Moscow: Federatsia, pp. 9-64. (In Russ.)
9. Berkovsky, N. (1930b). Workbook. [workbook] Personal archive of M. N. Virolainen. St. Petersburg. (In Russ.)
10. Berkovsky, N. (1934). Aesthetic views of German Romanticism. In: N. Berkovsky, Literary theory of German Romanticism. St. Petersburg: Izd. pisateley v Leningrade, pp. 5-118. (In Russ.)
11. Berkovsky, N. (1935). German Romanticism. In: N. Berkovsky, ed., German romantic novel (2 vols). Vol. 1. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia, pp. 23-47. (In Russ.)
12. Berkovsky, N. (1936a). Early bourgeois realism: Collected articles. St. Petersburg: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
13. Berkovsky, N. (1936b). Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffman. In: E. T. А. Hoffman, Short stories and novels. Translated by A. Fyodorov. St. Petersburg: GIKhL, pp. 5-97. (In Russ.)
14. Berkovsky, N. (1936c). To think for yourself, to speak for all. Literaturniy Leningrad, 27 Mar., p. 2. (In Russ.)
15. Berkovsky, N. (1937). Realism of bourgeois society and history of literature issues. In: V. Zhirmunsky, ed., The Western collection. Moscow, St. Petersburg: AN SSSR, pp. 53-86. (In Russ.)
16. Berkovsky, N. (1957). Review of The selected works of V. Grib. Voprosy Literatury, 1, pp. 232-237. (In Russ.)
17. Berkovsky, N. (1957, 1965). Letters to D. D. Oblomievsky. [letters] Personal archive of M. N. Virolainen. St. Petersburg. (In Russ.)
18. Berkovsky, N. (1960). B. Krzewski. In: B. Krzewski, Articles on foreign literature. Moscow, St. Petersburg: GIKhL, pp. 3-20. (In Russ.)
19. Berkovsky, N. (1960-1961). Letters to B. I. Zingerman. [letters] Personal archive of S. B. Zingerman. Moscow. (In Russ.)
20. Berkovsky, N. (1962a). Criticism in collaboration with the history of literature. Russkaya Literatura, 1, pp. 244-246. (In Russ.)
21. Berkovsky, N. (1962b). Letter to V. V. Kozhinov. [letter] Personal archive of E. V. Ermilova. Moscow. (In Russ.)
22. Berkovsky, N. (1966). Letter to V. Svaton!. [letter] Personal archive of V. Svaton!. Prague. (In Russ.)
23. Berkovsky, N. (1973). Romanticism in Germany. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
24. Berkovsky, N. (1989). The world created by literature. Moscow: Sovetskiy pisatel. (In Russ.)
25. Berkovsky, N., Lifshits, M., Luppol, I. et al., eds. (1937). The complete works of H. Heine (12 vols). Vol. 10: Prose. Translated from German. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia. (In Russ.)
26. Berkovsky, N., Lifshits, M., Luppol, I. et al., eds. (1938). The complete works of H. Heine (12 vols). Vol. 1: Lyrics. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia. (In Russ.)
27. Blum, A. (1996). Art goes ahead, the convoy is back: A discussion on the formalism of 1936 through the eyes and ears of informers (on secret reports of the State Security agents). Zvezda, 8, pp. 218-227. (In Russ.)
28. Blumenfeld, V. (1963). Letter to N. Y. Berkovsky. [letter] Personal archive of M. N. Virolainen. St. Petersburg. (In Russ.)
29. Cultivating a love of classical literature in students. (1936). Pravda, 8 Aug., p. 5. (In Russ.)
30. Fadeev, A. (1930). The objectives of the Russian Association of Proletarian Writers during the reconstruction period (report). Literaturnaya Gazeta, 10 Feb., p. 1. (In Russ.)
31. Fridlender, G., ed. (1956). The selected works of V. Grib. Moscow: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
32. Gaydenko, P. (1983). Schelling. In: Philosophical encyclopaedic dictionary. 1st ed. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, pp. 779-780. (In Russ.)
33. Gorbachev, G. (1930). Critical carts. Krasnaya Nov’, 12, pp. 136-157. (In Russ.)
34. Grib, V. (1934a). Balzac’s attitude to capitalist progress. Khudozhestvennaya Literatura, 2, pp. 40-45. (In Russ.)
35. Grib, V. (1934b). Balzac’s worldview. Literaturniy Kritik, 10, pp. 27-73. (In Russ.)
36. Grib, V. (1935a). Aesthetic views of Lessing and theatre. In: G. E. Lessing, The Hamburg dramaturgy. Translated by I. Rassadin. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia, pp. 7-48. (In Russ.)
37. Grib, V. (1935b). Bourgeois psychology and the power of money. In: H. de Balzac, Eugеnie Grandet. Translated by F. Dostoevsky. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia, pp. 7-57. (In Russ.)
38. Grib, V. (1936a). Balzac on the fate of an individual in the bourgeois society. In: H. de Balzac, La Peau de Chagrin. Translated by P. Averkiev. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia, pp. 7-21. (In Russ.)
39. Grib, V. (1936b). Classicism. In: Great Soviet encyclopaedia. Vol. 32. 1st ed. Moscow: OGIZ, pp. 835-845. (In Russ.)
40. Grib, V. (1936c). Historical place of the novelet by Prevost. In: Abbot Prevost, Manon Lescaut. Translated by M. Petrovsky. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia, pp. 7-47. (In Russ.)
41. Grib, V. (1936d). ‘Novelets and Stories’ by K. Fedin. Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 10, pp. 10-12. (In Russ.)
42. Grib, V. (1937). Balzac and his novel ‘Le Pfre Goriot’. In: O. de Balzac, Le Pfre Goriot. Translated by M. A. Petrovsky. Moscow: GIKhL, pp. 3-23. (In Russ.)
43. Grib, V. (1938a). Lessing. In: Great Soviet encyclopaedia. Vol. 36. 1st ed. Moscow: OGIZ, pp. 702-705. (In Russ.)
44. Grib, V. (1938b). ‘Marx and Engels on Art’ by M. Lifshits. Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 3, pp. 50-55. (In Russ.)
45. Grib, V. (1940a). Balzac. Literaturniy Kritik, 9-10, pp. 45-72; 11-12, pp. 93-131. (In Russ.)
46. Grib, V. (1940b). On the comedies of Lope de Vega. Literaturniy Kritik, 1, pp. 191-198. (In Russ.)
47. Gukovsky, G. (1939). Russian literature of the 18th century. A textbook for higher educational institutions. Moscow: Gosudardtvennoe uchebno-pedagogicheskoe izdatelstvo Narkomprosa RSFSR. (In Russ.)
48. Gtnther, H. (2000). Totalitarian nation and its origins. In: H. Gtnther, ed., Socialist realist canon: Collected articles. St. Petersburg: Akademicheskiy proekt, pp. 377-389. (In Russ.)
49. Ippolitov, S. (1939). Translations of Heine. Literaturnaya Gazeta, 21 (15.04), p. 4. (In Russ.)
50. Keliin, F. (1935). Tirso de Molina and his time. In: Tirso de Molina, Theatre. Translated by V. Pyast, T. Shchepkina-Kupernik. Moscow, St. Petersburg: Academia, pp. 7-55. (In Russ.)
51. Kozhinov, V. (1962). Fundamentals of theory of literature (A brief sketch). Moscow: Znanie. (In Russ.)
52. Krzewski, B. (1923). Tirso de Molina. In: Tirso de Molina, Don Gil of the Green Breeches. Translated by V. Pyast. Berlin: Petropolis, pp. 7-124. (In Russ.)
53. Krzewski, B. (1960). Articles on foreign literature. Moscow, St. Petersburg: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
54. Kuzmenko, M. (1986). Introductory note to the publication: N. Berkovsky. Letters from the war years (from letters to D. Oblomievsky). Voprosy Literatury, 5, pp. 147-148. (In Russ.)
55. Kuzmenko, M. (1990). Introductory note to the publication: From the archive of N. Y. Berkovsky. Russkaya Literatura, 3, pp. 192-193. (In Russ.)
56. Lifshits, M. (1936). Against vulgar sociology. Critical notes. Literaturnaya Gazeta, 24 May, p. 2. (In Russ.)
57. Lopyryova, E. Handwritten notes. [notes] Personal archive of M. N. Virolainen. St. Petersburg. (In Russ.)
58. Lopyryova, E. (1939). Letter to V. R. Grib. [letter] Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, Fond 3118 (Grib V. R.), inv. 1, item 64. Moscow. (In Russ.)
59. Lopyryova, E. (1940). A review of S. Butler’s novel ‘The Way of All Flesh’. Literaturnoe Obozrenie, 2, pp. 33-36. (In Russ.)
60. Lungina, L. (2016). Word for word. The life of Lilianna Lungina as told by her in a film by Oleg Dorman. Moscow: AST, Corpus. (In Russ.)
61. Lurie, T. (1971). Letter to N. Y. Berkovsky. [letter] Personal archive of M. N. Virolainen. St. Petersburg. (In Russ.)
62. Malikova, M. [n.d.] Western Department (1935-1950). [online] Pushkinsky Dom. Available at: http://www.pushkinskijdom.ru/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=ogyY-7bv-4o%3D&tabid=134 [Accessed 20 Jul. 2018]. (In Russ.)
63. Novich, I. (1930). Na Postu diary. Against the formalist feeble imitation! Na Literaturnom Postu, 3, pp. 17-23. (In Russ.)
64. Orlov, M., Bause, R. and Svirin, N. (1936). A reply to The Stunned Reader. Literaturniy Leningrad, 29 Aug., p. 4. (In Russ.)
65. Pomerants, G. (2010). Personality development through terror and war. Vestnik Evropy, 28-29, pp. 192-201. (In Russ.)
66. Pomerants, G. (2013). Notes of an ugly duckling. Мoscow, St. Petersburg: Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ. (In Russ.)
67. Rosental, M. (1936). Against vulgar socialism in literary theory. Literaturnaya Gazeta, 10 Sept., p. 4. (In Russ.)
68. Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, Fond 3118 (Grib V. R.), inv. 1, item 64. (In Russ.)
69. Smirnov, B. (1995). The photographer clicks, and the bird flies out... (Naum Yakovlevich Berkovsky). Peterburgskiy Teatralniy Zhurnal, 7, pp. 110-113. (In Russ.)
70. Svetlov, M. and Sapozhnikova, A., eds. (1938). The selected works of G. Veert. Translated by M. Svetlov and A. Sapozhnikova. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
71. Tamarchenko, D. and Tanin, N. (1930). Against eclecticism and the ‘thieving’ formalism (On the book ‘Current Literature’ by N. Berkovsky). Rezets, 3, pp. 15-16. (In Russ.)
72. Tarasenkov, A. (1930). N. Berkovsky. Current literature. Pechat’ i Revolyutsia, 1, pp. 78-80. (In Russ.)
73. Zhirmunsky, V., ed. (1937). The Western collection. Moscow, St. Petersburg: AN SSSR. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Dubshan L.S. ‘So often have I wished to talk to you...’. The correspondence between N. Berkovsky and V. Grib. Voprosy literatury. 2018;(6):254-308. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-6-254-308
Views:
687
Email this article 
