The category of “spirituality” in V. Krivulin’s articles

Abstract

With the emergence of regular samizdat periodicals in the mid-70s. for the members of the “second culture” became aware of the need of conceptual understanding of the goals and objectives of the Leningrad uncensored poetry and its place in the cultural context. One of the literary-critical strategies that describe the specifics of the Leningrad unofficial poetry in the 1970s was proposed by V. Krivulin in a number of the articles published in the journals Chasy, Obvodniy kanal, Thirty-Seven (37) and others. This article discusses the main critical thoughts of Krivulin about the concept of “spirituality” which combines the aesthetic and religious connotations. Krivulin’s critical articles are analyzed in the context of his participation in the religious and philosophical section organized by the poet together with T. Goricheva, within which the terminological language of self-representation of members of unofficial culture was formed. This language also included ethical models, through which Krivulin analyzed the works of uncensored authors. In his article on I. Brodsky, the poet’s work after emigration is regarded as a rejection of the “prophetic” function, which is the most characteristic feature of Leningrad poetry and also the main concept of the aesthetic program of Krivulin itself during this period. This article also raises the question of Krivulin’s passeism, his “retro-modern” desire to re-establish connection with the culture of the Silver Age by expanding the status of the poet and endowing him with prophetic properties. Partially examined the transformation of Krivulin’s views on the Leningrad unofficial poetry of the 1970s in the post-Soviet period, which was characterized by a focus on the adogmatism and independence of the worldview of the authors of that period.