Литературный факт (Mar 2024)
Vasily Avenarius. “An Evening in the Editorial Office (From the Memoirs of a Sixtier)”
Abstract
The presented publication introduces the sketch “An Evening in the Editorial Office” by Vasily Avenarius into scientific circulation. The sketch reveals the literary life of the editorial office of the journal “Vsemirny Trud” (“World Labor”). This journal, published by Emmanuil Khan, was supposed to become the “successor” of “Otechestvennye Zapiski,” uniting critics and fiction writers who had previously published with Andrey Kraevsky. However, the general level of the journal and Khan’s dubious literary reputation prevented the realization of this plan: “World Labor” became just an episode in the history of Russian journalism in the 1860s. The work of V.P. Avenarius is in many respects a typical phenomenon, reflecting the tendencies of the entire journal: the second part of the dilogy “Povetrie” and the story “Do You Know the Edge?” were received with hostility by literary critics and characterized as “Herculean pillars of vulgarity.” However, forty years after the journal’s closure, Avenarius returns to the past on the pages of his biographical notes (having witnessed the events described, Avenarius never wrote literary memoirs, and his notes are sketchy). A small episode subtitled “From the Notes of a Sixtier” is connected with the editorial staff meeting in the house of Emmanuil Khan. The portraits of Alexey Pisemsky, Vsevolod Krestovsky, and especially Nikolay Leskov are of particular interest to the reader. The introductory article attempts to reconstruct the relationship between Leskov and Avenarius and outline the pragmatics of the essay in question. The format of the text in the appendix complies with modern orthography and punctuation rules. The publication is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Avenarius’ death, whose literary and journalistic heritage still requires commentary and research reflection.
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