K. K. Vaginov. Goat Song [Kozlinaya pesn]: A novel

Abstract

The review is devoted to the 2019 Vita Nova edition of K. Vaginov’s first novel Goat Song [Kozlinaya pesn] (1928). The publishers revised the conventional textual-critical concept of T. Nikolskaya and V. Erl and proposed one of their own. Although well-defined and engaging, it often comes across as questionable. Despite several criticisms, the reviewer holds an overall positive view of the book’s design (E. Posetselskaya’s illustrations) and contents. The accompanying articles — one by N. Nikolaev about the prototypes of Vaginov’s characters (importantly, about L. Pumpyansky) and another by I. Khadikov and A. Dmitrenko about the novel’s depiction of Petergof — hold unquestionable scholarly value and deserve special attention. The book is sadly missing a biographical article with a description of the writer’s life and work, otherwise a permanent feature of every publication in the publisher’s Manuscripts [Rukopisi] series. The commentary included in the book provides a satisfactory, if disputable, overview of the research published by literary scholars of Vaginov’s oeuvre in the last twenty-five years.