Bringing to the discussion unreprinted and uncollected articles and essays of Vladislav Khodasevich, in addition to the existing editions of his literary criticism, this dissertation explores the phenomenon of Khodasevich as the poet-critic and his role in Russian émigré culture between the world wars. By spotlighting the points, at which Khodasevich’s poetry intersects with his literary criticism and by demonstrating the ways in which his creative and deeply original critical work goes beyond the interpretation or elucidation of meaning and points to the key issues of Russian emigration, this study refines and complicates the received perception of Khodasevich. The first chapter discusses Russian diasporic culture from the perspective of Khodasevich’s criticism, highlighting the developments in Russian émigré poetry and prose against the background of the émigré polemics. The second chapter concerns the genesis and evolution of Soviet literature and its reception by Khodasevich and Russians abroad. The third chapter examines the primacy of language in exile as a key factor in the diaspora’s creative existence and indicates Khodasevich’s engagement in the Franco-Russian dialogue. Taken together, the chapters of this dissertation make a partial contribution to the assessment of the role and place of Khodasevich’s criticism in his oeuvre and in the larger context of Russian émigré culture in interwar Europe.
Selemeneva, Anastasiia,
"V.F. Khodasevich: Russia's Poet-Critic"
(2016).
Slavic Studies Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0B56H5M
