|Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
V. Shalamov’s ‘Cherry Brandy:’ First overseas editions
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2023-6-106-124
Abstract
The article examines the history of the overseas publication of Shalamov’s short story ‘Cherry Brandy.’ The first edition appeared in Roman Gul’s NewYork-based journal Noviy Zhurnal, vol. 91 in 1968. In the period from 1966 to 1976, when fifty of Shalamov’s stories were published by Gul, the latter felt unconstrained as their sole editor. The author details Gul’s editing method that reveals the goal to ensure that the text appears smooth and adheres to the narrative tradition of realism — a style very much at odds with Shalamov’s ‘new prose.’ Gul failed to appreciate Shalamov’s structuring of text and his mastery of composition — in short, he did not see it for what it was: a poet’s prose. Mikhail Geller, then working in London, realized how big a blow it was to Shalamov to see his short stories published in a random, unsystematic manner. In 1978, Geller oversaw the publication of Kolyma Tales [Kolymskie rasskazy] by OPI and supplied his foreword to the book, in which he offered an accurate characteristic of Shalamov’s creative method. Comparison of several editions of the short story collection (Gul’s, Geller’s, and later Shalamov’s Collected works) cannot but convince of the importance of addressing the persistent textological issues of Kolyma Tales.
About the Author
L. V. Egorova
Vologda State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Lyudmila V. Egorova - Doctor of Philology
15 Lenin St., Vologda, 160000
References
1. Braun, K. (2015). Reminiscences of N. Y. Mandelstam and talks with her. Translated by V. Litvinov. In: P. Nerler, ‘Let’s see who is more stubborn…:’ Nadezhda Yakovlevna Mandelstam in letters, reminiscences, testimonies. Moscow: AST: Redaktsiya Eleny Shubinoy, pp. 434-483. (In Russ.)
2. Essipov, V. (2013). Commentary. In: V. Shalamov, Kolyma Tales [Kolymskie rasskazy]: Selected works. St. Petersburg: Vita Nova, pp. 538-560. (In Russ.)
3. Gefter, V. (2011). How it started… Notes on the history of the first О. Mandelstam’s commemoration meeting in the USSR. In: S. Vasilenko, A. Eskova, O. Lekmanov et al., eds., ‘Save my speech forever...’ Issue 5 [Part 1]. Moscow: RGGU, pp. 646-652. (In Russ.)
4. Geller, М. (1978). Foreword. In: V. Shalamov, Kolyma Tales [Kolymskie rasskazy]. London: Overseas Publications Interchange, pp. 5-16. (In Russ.)
5. Glad, J. (1991). Conversations in exile: Russian writers abroad. Moscow: Knizhnaya palata. (In Russ.)
6. Glad, J. (2017). Artistic translation: Theory and practices of the last prohibited art (based on ‘Kolyma Tales’ [‘Kolymskie rasskazy’]). In: S. Solovyov, V. Essipov, Y. Makhonin et al., eds., ‘The law of decay resistance.’ Features of Varlam Shalamov’s prose and poetry, and their reception in the early 21st c.: A collection of papers. Prague: National Library of the Czech Republic — the Slavonic Library; Мoscow: Shalamov.ru, pp. 319-336. (In Russ.)
7. Klots, Y. (2017). Shalamov, as seen by Russian émigrés: ‘Kolyma Tales’ [‘Kolymskie rasskazy’] in ‘Noviy Zhurnal.’ In: ‘The law of decay resistance.’ Features of Varlam Shalamov’s prose and poetry, and their reception in the early 21st c.: A collection of papers. Prague: National Library of the Czech Republic — the Slavonic Library; Мoscow: Shalamov.ru, pp. 231-257. (In Russ.)
8. Nerler, P. (2010). Words and ‘the case’ of Osip Mandelstam. A book of denunciation, interrogation and indictment documents. Moscow: Petrovskiy park. (In Russ.)
9. Savoeva, N. (1996). I chose Kolyma. Magadan: MAOBTI. (In Russ.)
10. Shalamov, V. [n. d.] Cherry Brandy. [manuscript] Russian State Archive of Literature and Art, coll. 2596, inv. 2, item 4. Available at: https://shalamov.ru/manuscripts/text/14/1.html [Accessed 22 Aug. 2023]. (In Russ.)
11. Shalamov, V. (1966). Maxim [Sententsiya]; The Parcel [Posylka]; Pushover [Kant]; Field Rations [Sukhim paykom]. Noviy Zhurnal, 85, pp. 5-34. (In Russ.)
12. Shalamov, V. (1968). Cherry Brandy. Noviy Zhurnal, 91, pp. 5-8. (In Russ.)
13. Shalamov, V. (1978). Cherry Brandy. In: V. Shalamov, Kolyma Tales [Kolymskie rasskazy]. London: Overseas Publications Interchange, pp. 87-93. (In Russ.)
14. Shalamov, V. (2001). Memoirs. Moscow: Olimp; Astrel; АSТ. (In Russ.)
15. Sirotinskaya, I. (1992). Varlam Shalamov’s life and death. Interviewed by John Glad. Vremya i My, 115, pp. 204-220. (In Russ.)
16. Sirotinskaya, I., ed. (1998). The collected works of V. Shalamov (4 vols). Vol. 1. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, Vagrius. (In Russ.)
17. Sirotinskaya, I., ed. (2005a). The collected works of V. Shalamov (6 vols). Vol. 5. Moscow: Terra — Knizhniy klub. (In Russ.)
18. Sirotinskaya, I., ed. (2005b). The collected works of V. Shalamov (6 vols). Vol. 6. Moscow: Terra — Knizhniy klub. (In Russ.)
19. Solovyov, S. (2015). Varlam Shalamov on Osip Mandelstam: ‘Allow not the name to be concealed...’ In: P. Nerler, A. Pomorsky and I. Surat, eds., Roots, shoots, fruit... Mandelstam days in Warsaw. Part 2. Moscow: RGGU, pp. 571-586. (In Russ.)
20. Yurgenson, L. (2005). Duality in Shalamov’s stories. In: N. Bux and F. Comte, eds., Semiotics of fear: A collection of articles. Moscow: Russkiy institut: Evropa, pp. 329-336. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Egorova L.V. V. Shalamov’s ‘Cherry Brandy:’ First overseas editions. Voprosy literatury. 2023;(6):106-124. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2023-6-106-124
Views:
125
Email this article 
