From a Crow Feather to a Peacock’s: On the History of the Creation of the Mongolian Cycle of Legends and Fairy Tales by Aleksey Remizov

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2024-34-32-59
EDN:

https://elibrary.ru/ADNBDP
УДК / UDK: 821.161.1.0
Issue:

2024. no. 4 (34) 
Author: Alla M. Gracheva
About the author:

Alla M. Gracheva, DSc in Philology, Director of Research, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) of Russian Academy of Sciences, Makarov Emb., 4, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4708-098X

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Abstract:

The article is devoted to the analysis of archival documents from the homemade folder Crow Feather (1947) preserved in the archive of A.M. Remizov at the State Museum of the History of Russian Literature named after V.I. Dahl (GLM). They record the milestones of the initial stage of the writer’s work on source texts from Legends and Fairy Tales of Central Asia, the book by traveler A.P. Bennigsen (1912). The materials show the movement of the creative process from extracts of individual words, expressions, and terms to the creation of a full-fledged artistic retelling. The original editions of Remizov’s legends and fairy tales are still closely related to their sources. The processing of the original materials consisted of the “translation” of texts from the standard literary language into spoken and of the gradual transformation of folklore records into individually authored works. The next stage was publishing part of the revisions in the mini-cycle Peacock Feather (1955). A comparison of the published editions with the original ones presented in the Crow’s Feather complex indicates Remizov’s further significant transformation of the source texts. In the tales “Chutkur” and “Tiger,” the writer destroyed the original genre structure, abandoning the “happy ending” inherent in the folklore tale. In the tale “Tiger,” the writer used the literary technique characteristic of the later period of his work to interpret the wonderful adventures of the character as an unfolded dream. Later, the mini-cycle Peacock Feather was included by Remizov in a collection that was never published during his lifetime, made up of texts of legends, fairy tales, and parables and called With Peacock Feather. The Appendix contains the original texts of Remizov’s legends and fairy tales with auto-illustrations.
Keywords: Alexey Remizov, Russian avant-garde, fairy tale, Crow Feather, Peacock Feather.
For citation:

Gracheva, A.M. “From a Crow’s Feather to a Peacock’s: On the History of the Creation of the Mongolian Cycle of Legends and Fairy Tales by Aleksey Remizov.” Literaturnyi fakt, no. 4 (34), 2024, pp. 32–59. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2024-34-32-59
References:
  1. Bennigsen, A.P. Neskol’ko dannykh o sovremennoi Mongolii [Some Information About Modern Mongolia]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiia A.S. Suvorina Publ., 1912. 103 p. (In Russ.)
  2. Gracheva, A.M. Teoriia russkogo lada Alekseia Remizova: Genezis. Praktika. Refleksy [The Theory of the Russian Literary Style by Alexey Remizov: Genesis. Practice. Reflexes]. St. Petersburg, Rostok Publ., 2023. 495 p. (In Russ.)
  3. Griakalova, N.Iu. “Ocharovannyi slovom (O A.M. Remizove i ego knige ʽPavlin’im perom’)” [“Fascinated by the Word (About A.M. Remizov and His Book ʽPeacock Feather’)”]. Remizov, A. Pavlin’im perom [Peacock Feather]. St. Petersburg, Logos Publ., 1994, pp. 5‒18. (In Russ.)
  4. Kodrianskaia, N. Aleksei Remizov [Alexey Remizov]. Paris, [S. n.], 1959. 331 p. (In Russ.)
  5. Legendy i skazki Tsentral’noi Azii, sobrannye grafom A.P. Bennigsen [Legends and Fairy Tales of Central Asia Collected by Count A.P. Bennigsen]. St. Petersburg, Tipografiia A.S. Suvorina Publ., 1912. 168 p. (In Russ.)
  1. Nikitin, V.P. “Kukushkina: (Pamiati A.M. Remizova): Vospominaniia” [“Kukushkina: (In Memory of A.M. Remizov): Memoirs”], publ. and introd. article by N.Iu. Griakalova. Ezhegodnik Rukopisnogo otdela Pushkinskogo Doma na 1990 god [The Yearbook of the Manuscript Department of the Pushkin House for 1990]. St. Petersburg, Dmitrii Bulanin Publ., 1993, pp. 268‒306. (In Russ.)
  2. Pamiatniki starinnoi russkoi literatury, izdavaemye grafom Grigoriem Kushelevym- Bezborodko: v 4 t. [Monuments of Ancient Russian Literature, Published by Count Grigory Kushelev-Bezborodko: in 4 vols.], vol. 3. St. Petersburg, Tipografiia Kulisha Publ., 1860. [6], 180 p. (In Russ.)
  3. Remizov, A.M. Dnevnik myslei 1943‒1957 gg. [Diary of Thoughts, 1943‒1957], vol. 3: Mart 1947 ‒ fevral’ 1950 [March 1947 ‒ February 1950], ed. by A.M. Gracheva. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2017. 731 p. (In Russ.)
  4. Remizov, A.M. Pavlin’im perom [With Peacock Feather], text prep. and comm. by N.Iu. Griakalova. St. Petersburg, Logos Publ., 1994. 275 p. (In Russ.)
  5. Remizov, A.M. Povest’ o dvukh zveriakh: Ikhnelat [A Tale of Two Beasts: Ikhnelat]. Paris, Opleshnik Publ., 1950. 62 p. (In Russ.)
  6. Remizov, A.M. Rukopisnye knigi [Handwritten Books], ex. ed. A.M. Gracheva. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., 2008. 351 p. (In Russ.)
  7. Remizov, A.M. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works], vol. 1‒10; 11‒18, ex. ed. A.M. Gracheva. Moscow, St. Petersburg, Russkaia kniga Publ., Rostok Publ., 2000‒2003, 2015‒2023. (In Russ.)
  1. Rossiiskoe zarubezh’e vo Frantsii. 1919‒2000. Biograficheskii slovar’: v 3 t. [Russians Abroad in France. 1919‒2000. Biographical Dictionary: in 3 vols.], vol. 1: A–K [A–K], ed. by L. Mnukhin, M. Avril’, and V. Losskaia. Moscow, Nauka Publ., The Memorial House and Museum of Marina Tsvetaeva Publ., 2008‒2010. (In Russ.)
  2. Serkov, A.I. Russkoe masonstvo. 1731‒2000. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ [Russian Freemasonry. 1731‒2000. Encyclopedic Dictionary]. Moscow, ROSSPEN Publ., 2001. 1222 p. (In Russ.)