When ‘history belongs to a poet…’ Ivan Bunin’s Cursed Days [Okayannye dni]: A chronicle or a myth?

Abstract

N. Reznichenko’s article centres on I. Bunin’s Cursed Days [ Okayannye dni ] as a chronicle of the 1917 Russian Revolution that also takes into account works by Bunin’s predecessors and contemporaries. The author argues that Cursed Days seems to be an attempted verification of history, written in the genre of a writer’s diary with an ambition to pass for a historical record. The analogy with the chronicler author is reinforced by Bunin’s quotations from Russian fundamental historical research typified by the chronicler style (V. Tatishchev, V. Klyuchevsky, S. Solovyov, and N. Kostomarov) as well as journalistic works by Russian writers and politicians who represented the major movements in 19th-c. Russian political thought. In his pursuit to recreate the post-revolutionary atmosphere, Bunin frequently intersperses his narration with contemporary journalistic publications, including Bolshevik newspapers. Bunin’s rich chronicle-like narrative not only runs alongside the artistic depictions, but effortlessly blends with them, making Cursed Days a unique combination of a historical record and a work of literature.