“A deep source of memory”: Vasyl Stus and the rethinking of Russian literature

Abstract

The monograph offers a look at the prominent Ukrainian writer of the 20th century, Vasyl Stus, through the prism of his interest in Russian literature, which was inevitable for the Soviet period in which he had to live. Based on the rich material, it is analyzed what he read, how he read, and how (on the example of numerous intertextual connections) what he read affected his own literary work. In addition to poetry, prose and translations of V. Stus, also were studied his epistolary, memories about him, literary and critical articles and manuscript materials of the writer. Russian literature, in particular, is considered in three aspects: as part of Stus’s lecture (from Alexandr Pushkin to Valentin Rasputin, Andriy Bitov, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and other contemporaries of the Ukrainian poet), as part of his translation work and as a possible source of influence and object of reinterpretation (rereading) in his own creative works. Accordingly, the book consists of three sections. In the first, the state of studying the literary heritage of V. Stus in the context of intertextual connections is outlined and a wide range of echoes of many writers in his works (Ukrainian, Russian, German, etc.) is presented. Based on the facts of the biography of V. Stus, it is suggested to look at the strategies of his choices as a reader through the prism of hard work, education and sacrifice. Thanks to the analysis of the epistolary of V. Stus, literary and critical works and manuscript materials, as well as numerous memories of his relatives, friends and acquaintances, a list of texts by Russian writers that he read is indicated, his reading impressions and evaluations are described, and the place of Russian literature in his lectures is determined. The second section highlights the translation activity of V. Stus, where special attention is paid to translations from Russian literature (poems by Ivan Bunin, Valery Bryusov, Nikolay Zabolotsky and Marina Tsvetaeva). Comparing the originals with the translations allows us to reveal the translation principles that guided the poet. The interweaving of the biographies and works of the famous triad: Rainer Maria Rilke—Boris Pasternak—Marina Tsvetaeva is also taken into account, in particular their importance in the life of the Ukrainian poet. In the third chapter, Russian literature in the work of V. Stus is considered as an object of reinterpretation. In other words, it is investigated how V. Stus — “one of the greatest Ukrainian poets of our century” (M. Kotsyubynska) — read Russian literature and how this reading affected his own work. Thus, his Russian-language script “Expectations” and Andrii Platonov’s prose are compared. Features of revealing the topic of childhood are made on the basis of a comparison of the poems of V. Stus and Ivan Bunin, the similarities and the differences between them are presented. Thematic echoes and compositional echoes are revealed in the comparison of the poetry of V. Stus with the poems of Aleksandr Blok and Vladimir Mayakovsky. Biographical and artistic parallels can be traced in connections with the works of Osip Mandelshtam and Boris Pasternak. The phenomenon of Hamletism in the work of V. Stus in its connections with the works of Pasternak and William Shakespeare is separately considered. Similarities and differences between Stus’s texts and the works of Russian writers are outlined at the thematic, image-motive, compositional, as well as phonic, lexical, and syntactic levels.