Карпов и Зощенко: к самоопределению русской эмигрантской литературы
Karpov and Zoshchenko: Towards Self-Determination of Russian Émigré Literature

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to what I believe is one of the few most important developments which are to be explored within the history of Russian émigré literary culture in Bulgaria in future. Russian émigré perception of Soviet reality (its social-economical and mentality aspects) is studied through the lens of anecdotic and humoristic literature, and/or factual reportage partly recoded as anecdote, republished in the émigré newspapers of Sofia in 1924–1934. I discern correlativity between changes in the mentioned perception and a process of emancipation on behalf of the receiving agency, in other words, of an emerging émigré (humoristic) literary discourse appropriating the topics and the language (style) of the Soviet sources. I suggest conceptualising the process in the terms of a transition from ‘literary diglossia’ to ‘literary bilingualism’. I show that the core target of emulation turned to be the literary style of Michail Zoshchenko and his literary personality, and that the main means to achieve the goal was to create and promote an ‘émigré Zoshchenko’ who, besides being modelled as a doppelganger ostensibly replacing the original, is presented as a successor of authoritative non-Soviet humoristic tradition (emblematised by Anton Chekhov, and also Sasha Chorny). The ‘promoters’ are shown to be Piotr Bicilli and the journalist and literary critic Gleb Voloshin, the ‘promotee’ – one of the most prolific belletrists of the émigré community in Bulgaria, Michail Karpov, and the culmination – in early 1933. The article provides a full list of Zoshchenko’s short stories republished in the émigré newspapers of Bulgaria/Sofia.

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