Destinies of reemigrants: Dmitry Kobyakov in the diary and letters of Yuri Sofiev

Abstract

Destinies of reemigrants: Dmitry Kobyakov in the diary and letters of Yuri Sofiev The article explores the fate of re-emigrants Yu. Sofiev and D. Kobyakov based on the materials of the diary and letters of Yu. Sofiev, in which the figure of D. Kobyakov acquires volume and features of an ambiguous original personality. Dmitry Kobyakov and Yuri Sofiev belong to the same group of emigrant writers. They are called returnees, re-emigrants, because after many years of living in a foreign land, they returned to their homeland. After returning between Yu. Sofiev and D. Kobyakov, correspondence was restored, and the meeting after a long separation of two re-emigrants took place in Alma-Ata in the summer of 1962. Recognizing that D. Kobyakov has no outstanding poetic talent, Yuri Sofiev argues with a scathing assessment by the emigrant criticism of his early poems, justifying imitation by natural discipleship. In the diary entries (despite the recognition of many of Kobyakov’s many unpleasant personal qualities), one can feel the warmth and cordiality of Sofiev’s attitude to his old friend. However, this does not prevent the author of the diary from critically treating the memoirs of D. Kobyakov, in which Y. Sofiev sees “literary uncleanliness”. The diary and letters of Yuri Sofiev are a reliable documentary source for further research on the fate and work of D. Kobyakov and other representatives of the Russian emigration.

Keywords

• remigration
• diary
• letters
• memoirs
• authenticity