V.F. Khodasevich, “Gulliver” and the Soviet myth of Gorky

Abstract

The paper discusses the polemics between the leading columnist of the Parisian newspaper “Vozrozhdenie” Gulliver (V.F. Khodasevich) and Soviet memoirists of the 1920–1930s, whose memoirs canonized Gorky's personality. V.F. Khodasevich debunked mythical ideas about Gorky, established by Soviet ideology: pre-revolutionary social activism, friendship with Lenin and Stalin, the Tolstoyan genesis of creativity, the “perfect” marriage to Andreeva, sincerity, soulfulness, humanity of his spiritual appearance as a whole.

Keywords

• maxim gorky
• v.f. khodasevich
• source study method
• the history of the russian émigré criticism
• memoirs