The paper considers the questions related to the influence of V. G. Belinsky on the works of V. M. Shukshin. Taken as research material were Shukshin’s working notes, because, according to the author of the paper, it was in them that some of the great Russian critic’s ideas were reflected and developed. The author’s analysis convincingly shows that Shukshin not only creatively reinterprets Belinsky’s ideas, but in some cases, enters into polemics with «the furious Vissarion». This manifests itself primarily in the way Shukshin represents the process of the historical development of Russian literature. Also, the appeal to the name of Belinsky in the publicistic and other non-fiction works of the writer and filmmaker is frequently used as a method of sacralizing his own ideas and statements.