‘UNIQUE STYLISTICS’ OF THE BIOGRAPHER, OR THE UNSOLVABLE TSVETAEVA
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-3-84-122
Abstract
This critical review extensively discusses Ilya Falikov’s book Marina Tsvetaeva. Harsh and gentle [Marina Tsvetaeva. Tvoya nelaskovaya lastochka], published in The Lives of Remarkable People series in 2017. Unlike other Tsvetaeva biographers, Falikov had access to a wealth of materials introduced in the past twenty years. Yet his attempt to produce the poet’s new biography is far from successful. The article points out numerous factual errors, including incorrect numbers of poems in the poetic cycles, mixed up dates and events, as well as careless and inaccurate citations, which, being the book’s systemic issue, works to distort Tsvetaeva’s image. Particularly disturbing are the biographer’s very arbitrary treatment of documentary sources, their biased selection and presentation, as well as unsubstantiated interpretations and ambitious claims.
About the Author
T. GevorkyanArmenia
Tatiana M. Gevorkyan, Doctor of Philology, Independent researcher
123 Hovsep Emin St., Yerevan, 0051References
1. Belkina, M. (2005). Destinies crossing. Moscow: Izografus. (In Russ.)
2. Efron, A. and Saakyants, A., eds. (1965). The selected works of Marina Tsvetaeva. Moscow, Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel. (In Russ.)
3. Falikov, I. (2001). High coast. Voprosy Literatury, 4, pp. 96-133. (In Russ.)
4. Falikov, I. (2017). Marina Tsvetaeva. Harsh and gentle. Moscow: Molodaya Gvardiya. (The Lives of Remarkable People Series). (In Russ.)
5. Korkina, E., ed. (1999). Marina Tsvetaeva. The unpublished. Family: history in letters. Moscow: Ellis Lak. (In Russ.)
6. Korkina, E. and Shevelenko, I., eds. (1997). Unpublished notebooks of M. Tsvetaeva. Moscow: Ellis Lak. (In Russ.)
7. Lubyannikova, E. (2014). About the nobility of the Tsvetaevs. In: V. Maslovsky, ed., Tsvetaeva today — 2012. In honour of poet’s 120-th birth anniversary. 18-th international conference. Moscow: Memorial house of Marina Tsvetaeva, pp. 13-61. (In Russ.)
8. Mets, A. (2014). O. Mandesltam: Chronicle of his life and work. Moscow: Progress-Pleyada. (In Russ.)
9. Mnukhin, L. and Saakyants, A., eds. (1994). The collected works of M. Tsvetaeva (7 vols). Vol. 4-5. Moscow: Ellis Lak. (In Russ.)
10. Mnukhin, L. and Saakyants, A., eds. (1995). The collected works of M. Tsvetaeva (7 vols). Vol. 6-7. Moscow: Ellis Lak. (In Russ.)
11. Mnukhin, L. and Turchinsky, L., eds. (2002). Reminiscences of Marina Tsvetaeva by her contemporaries. Homecoming. Moscow: Agraf. (In Russ.)
12. Tereshin, D. (2017). Taking a closer look to get it right. NG ‘Ex Libris’, 19 Jan. (In Russ.)
13. Tsvetaeva, M. (1990). Verses and poems. Leningrad: Sovetskiy pisatel. (In Russ.)
14. Tsvetaeva, M. and Pasternak, B. (2004). The souls begin to see. Letters, 1922-1936. Moscow: Vagrius. (In Russ.)
15. Valbe, R., ed. (2008). Life story, soul story. The collected works of A. Efron (3 vols). Vol. 3. Moscow: Vozvrashchenie. (In Russ.)
16. Vidgof, L. (2012). ‘But I love my whore Moscow’. Osip Mandelstam: the poet and the city. A guided tour. Moscow: Kastrel. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Gevorkyan T. ‘UNIQUE STYLISTICS’ OF THE BIOGRAPHER, OR THE UNSOLVABLE TSVETAEVA. Voprosy literatury. 2018;(3):84-122. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-3-84-122
Views:
516
Email this article 
