Information about the author:
Marina A. Arias-Vikhil
Marina A. Arias-Vikhil, DSc in Philology, Leading Research Fellow, Archive A.M. Gorky IWL RAS, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciencies, Povarskaya 25 a, 121069 Moscow, Russia.
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Abstract:
The article analyzes the preface by A.M. Gorky to the first collected works of R. Rolland in the USSR. Gorky highly appreciates the personality of Rolland and his work, protecting him from the attacks of official criticism in the person of A.V. Lunacharsky, who accused Rolland of “quixoticism” and misunderstanding of the political situation in the USSR. At the same time, Gorky declares Rolland as a writer “obsolete”, belonging to “yesterday”. Gorky’s position testifies to the evolution of his attitude to the work of the “humanist and pacifist” Rolland in the light of future changes in the life of Gorky himself, preparing for his return to the USSR and no longer separating himself from the participants in the “great cause of renewal” taking place in his homeland.
Keywords: Gorky, Rollan, Vremya publishing house, Lunacharsky, Rolland’s reception in the USSR.