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Abstract:

The main subject of consideration is Platonov’s articles “Pushkin is Our Comrade” and “Pushkin and Gorky,” written in connection with the anniversary events of 1937. Some of the provisions of these articles are interpreted through contextual comparison with the literary polemics that unfolded between Russian writers in 1880 at the celebrations dedicated to the unveiling of the Pushkin monument in Moscow. In addition to the well-known speeches by Dostoevsky and Turgenev, the analysis also includes A.A. Fet’s poetic invective “On May 26, 1880. To Pushkin’s Monument.” The fundamental debate about Pushkin and modernity is still ongoing half a century later, allowing us not only to observe the dynamic of understanding of the poet’s place in Russian national existence and consciousness, but also to examine Platonov’s anniversary articles from a specific historical and literary perspective, highlighting the “power lines” of the confrontation between different socio-cultural “parties” in the late 19^th century.