About the author:
Sergey R. Fedyakin, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Maxim Gorky Institute of Literature and Creative Writing, Tverskoy bd, 25, 123104 Moscow, Russia.
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8900-7967
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Abstract:
An analysis of alteration of the text of even small fragments of the work can tell a lot about the main idea of the writer. Bunin’s novel “The life of Arseniev” as a complete work started its way in print in 1928 in the magazine “Modern Notes”. The last pages of the magazine version of the work were published in the magazine “Illustrated Russia” in 1937. During preparational works on the full text of the novel for a separate edition in 1952, the author noticeably shortened the text and made numerous corrections to it. The article is devoted to comparing the first and last pages of different editions of the novel. Analysis of the changes the writer made makes it possible to see the main goal that Bunin set for himself. The author’s task was not only to recreate the past, but also to reflect the very process of writing.