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Abstract:

The article examines the semantic and stylistic features of D.S. Merezhkovsky’s “Notebook. 1919–1920.” The order and content of the entries demonstrate the intention of the author’s publicistic and critical statement. Most of the entries are excerpts from early works. Notes evaluating political events appear next to evidence-based ones and those with elements of journey notes. Notes about the disruption of city life, the eradication of the intelligentsia, pressure imposed on writers, lawlessness, and the flight from Russia are all addressed to the European reader. Unlike other writers, who captured everyday horrors and recorded evidence of the destruction of the old world and the onset of chaos in their notebooks, Merezhkovsky sought to comprehend these processes on a spiritual and philosophical level and to derive patterns from this chaos. Therefore, his notebook is not so much a documentary as a critical one. By choosing the notebook format for his journalistic statements, Merezhkovsky utilized the potential advantages of this ego-document, which can be informal, intimate, fragmented, and includes writings of various kinds. Considering his departure from his homeland and the need to inform their audience about life in Bolshevik Russia, this was the most suitable format for the task.

Кeywords: D.S. Merezhkovsky, Z.N. Gippius, notebooks, journalism, journey notes, fragmentedness.