The media and journalistic context of A.A. Blok’s essay “The Last Days of Imperial Power”

UDC 821.161.1-4 

DOI  10.20339/PhS.1-24.132 

Kolesnikova Elena I.,

Doctor of Philology, Leading Researcher

Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of the Russian Academy of Sciences

e-mail: ekolesn@mail.ru

The article examines the media background on which A. Blok’s essay “The Last Days of Imperial Power” was created, which was the result of his work as part of the Extraordinary Commission of Inquiry. Structural and meaningful similarity with the book by S.Ya. Streich “The Last Days of Nicholas II. Official Documents. Eyewitness accounts”, written in 1917, remained out of sight of the researchers. An analysis of the concepts of chronotope, beginning, architectonics is given. The documents presented in both essays are considered. The style differences between Streich and Blok’s essays are described. Streich is a publicist. Blok’s essay has the perspective of an art-documentary genre that will spread widely in the 20th century. Excerpts from Blok’s diary are given, in which what he saw while working in the Peter and Paul Fortress develops into sketches, and artistic images are outlined. A source is being established that A. Blok used when publishing a letter from Grand Prince Alexander Mikhailovich is being established. The origins of the original title of Block’s essay and the reason for its change are considered. A hypothesis has been proposed about the origin of phraseologism ‘old mode’. It is concluded that Blok’s essay was formed in an active information environment saturated with journalism, genuine documents and testimonies of contemporaries. Many works of this time echo meaningfully. There was a mutual influence — both materials and methods of their submission were used. But regardless of the direct influence of specific works on each other, the authors lived in a significant turning point, generating typological forms of reflection of what is happening.

Keywords: A. Blok, essay “The last days of imperial power”, Streich, revolutionary journalism, architectonics, beginnings, chronotope, title.

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