The October Revolution of 1917 as a cultural turning point in the journalism of M. Gorky and I.S. Shmelev

UDC 821.161.1-4

DOI  10.20339/PhS.6-23.101

Cintula Igor,

Doctor of Philosophy,

Senior Lecturer of the Slavic Languages Department

University named after Mateja Bela (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia)

ORCID ID: 0000-0001-6740-9669

e-mail: igor.rudolfovic.c@gmail.com

The October Revolution marked the beginning of colossal changes in the Russian state, which could not by pass the cultural life of the people. The role of writers at that time acquired some specific features, for example, a move a way from artistic activity towards more realistic works. That is why this article is devoted to the journalistic work of writers of that time who stood on opposite sides of the civil war after the October Revolution of 1917: the future emigrant I.S. Shmelev and the first chair man of the Union of Soviet Writers M. Gorky. The author of the article analyzed their journalistic texts, in which both writers reacted vividly to there volutionary events, put forward hypotheses for the further development of events and identified those responsible for the deplorable state of the country. Analysis of the journalistic texts of both writers reveals a number of common positions, but also differences due to their opposite world views. Comparison of common and opposing points of view is the main core of the article and allows the author to identify the views of writers, which at that time were partly either desire or just personal hypotheses. Correctness can only be determined today with a time delay of more than a hundred years. As a result of the analysis, it was revealed that both writers understood the need for changes in Russian society, but they perceived the process it self and the desired result (i.e., the salvation of the Motherland) in completely different realities.

Keywords: I.S. Shmelev, M. Gorky, revolution of 1917, Civil War, journalistic texts, Russian literature.

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