(A. A. Blok in the reception of A. A. Izmailov)
This paper is devoted to the critical evaluation of the works of Alexander Blok in the satires
and reviews of the leading critic of his time, novelist, parodist A. Izmailov. The work deals with
the relationship of two contemporaries and clarifies the aesthetic position of Izmailov. His skeptical attitude toward the work of modernist writers is studied. His response to the work of the Bloc
“Iz gazet” (“Vstala v siyan’i. Krestila detey...”), published in the “Yezhemesyachniy zhurnal dlya
vsekh” (1904, no. 4, p. 196) is considered to be the example of such an attitude to the works of
representatives of the “new art.” Izmailov’s reaction involves a categorical rejection of the metric
composition of the work, deliberate repetition, the negation of the hyperrealism of the poem. Consideration is given to the evolution of Izmailov’s general views on the work of modern writers
A. Blok, Vyach. Ivanov, M. Kuzmin, D. Merezhkovsky. The critical responses of Izmailov to
Blok’s works are studied. The analysis is made of the unknown interpretation of Blok’s poem
“Devushka pela v tserkovnom khore...”, proposed during the life of the poet by Izmailov and
supplemented by the prose writer and editor of the magazine “Niva” Tikhonov-Lugov. Also, the
article “Tsvety novoy romantiki” about the creativity of Block in the 1910s, placed by of Izmailov
in his book about modern writers “Pestryye znamena: Literaturnyye portrety bezvremen’ya” is
considered. The work analyzes the correspondence of two contemporaries. The Block’s correspondence can help trace the critic’s appeals to the poet. In 1918, Izmailov’s last comment on
Blok was published in the “Petrogradskiy listok.” This response to the poem “Dvenadtsat’” is
analyzed in the context of time and connection with other responses to Blok’s famous work. This
paper is based on the rarely quoted and archival materials.
A. A. Izmaylov: Perepiska s sovremennikami [A. A. Izmailov: Correspondence with contemporaries]. A. S. Aleksandrov (Comp., intr. art.); A. S. Aleksandrov, E. K. Alexandrova,
N. Yu. Gryakalova (Intr. art., prep. of the text, comm.). St. Petersburg, Pushkinskiy Dom, 728 p.
Aleksandr Blok: Pro et contra: Lichnost’ i tvorchestvo Aleksandra Bloka v kritike i memuarakh sovremennikov [Personality and creativity of Alexander Blok in the criticism and memoirs
of contemporaries]. N. Yu. Gryakalova (Comp.). St. Petersburg, 2004, 535 p.
Aleksandrova E. K., Aleksandrov A. S. “...Dostavit’ minutu dobrogo nastroeniya v revansh
prezhnikh ogorcheniy” (A. A. Izmaylov i V. Y. Bryusov: Po arkhivnym materialam) [“...Deliver
a moment of good humor to the revenge of former sorrows” (A. Izmaylov and V. Brusov. On the
basis of archival materials)]. In: Bryusovskie chteniya 2016 g.: Sb. st. [Bryusov readings 2016:
Coll. of art.]. G. R. Gasparyan et al. (Eds.). Erevan, 2017, pp. 136‒149.
Aleksandrov A. S., Aleksandrova E. K. K. D. Bal’mont i A. A. Izmaylov: Iz istorii vzaimootnosheniy [K. D. Balmont and A. A. Izmailov: From the history of interrelations]. In: Russkie
poety 20 veka: Materialy i issledovaniya. Konstantin Bal’mont (1867–1942) [Russian poets of the
20th century: Materials and research. Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942)]. G. V. Petrova (Ed.
in Ch.). Мoscow, 2018, pp. 412–227.
Aleksandrov A. S., Aleksandrova E. K. Maska professora: K istorii odnoy mistifikatsii [Mask
of the professor: (To the history of a mystification)]. Vestnik of St. Petersburg State University
of Technology and Design. Series 2. Art criticism. Philological sciences. 2013, no. 3, pp. 57‒61.
Aleksandrov A. S., Aleksandrova E. K. Pozitivisty vs. Simvolisty: (K istorii vospriyatiya
odnogo blokovskogo stikhotvoreniya) [Positivists vs. Symbolists: (On the history of perception
of a single Blok poem)]. Philological Sciences. 2015, no. 5, pp. 33‒41.
Aleksandrova E. K. K istorii vzaimootnosheniy A. A. Izmaylova i V. Y. Bryusova (Po materialam perepiski 1909‒1917 gg.) [To the history of the relationship of A. Izmajlov and
V. Brjusov (Based on materials of their correspondence 1909–1917)]. REOSIAHAG. Journal
of Institute for Russian and Altaic Studies. Chungbuk National University. 2017, no. 2,
pp. 203‒228.
Aleksandrov A. S. Vyacheslav Ivanov v kriticheskoy otsenke A. A. Izmaylova [Vyacheslav
Ivanov in the critical evaluation of A. A. Izmailov]. In: Vyacheslav Ivanov: Materialy i issledovaniya [Vyacheslav Ivanov: Materials and research]. K. Yu. Lappo-Danilevskiy, A. B. Shishkin
(Eds). St. Petersburg, 2009, iss. 1, pp. 417‒429.
Blok A. A. Poln. Sobr. soch. i pisem: V 20 t. [Complete works and letters: In 20 vols]. Moscow, 1997.
Dolgopolov L. K. Poemy Bloka i russkaya poema kontsa 19 – nachala 20 vekov [Poems
of Blok and Russian poem of the end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries]. Moscow,
Leningrad, 1964, 189 p.
Ivanova E. V. Aleksandr Blok: Poslednie gody zhizni [Alexander Block: The last years
of life]. St. Petersburg, 2012, 608 p.
Ivanov-Razumnik R. V. Ispytanie v groze i bure [Test in the Thunderstorm and the Storm].
Nash put’: Literaturno-politicheskiy zhurnal Revolyutsionnogo Sotsializma. 1918, no. 1 (April),
pp. 131‒158.
Izmaylov A. A. “Dvenadtsat’” [“The Twelve”]. Petrogradskiy golos. 1918, July 5, (no. 122),
p. 2.
Izmaylov A. Literaturnye besedy: (Poslednie mody v literature. Spor starogo i novogo. Real’naya proza i poludremotnye nastroeniya. “Nechayannaya radost’” A. Bloka. Neoarkhaizm,
Derzhavin, Vyach. Ivanov i Vil’gel’m Kyukhel’beker) [Literary talks: (Recent fashion in literature. Controversy old and new. Real prose and half-demented mood. “Unexpected Joy” by
A. Blok. Neoarchaism, Derzhavin, Vyach. Ivanov and Wilhelm Kuchelbecker)]. Russkoe slovo.
1907, 15 May (no. 110), p. 2.
Izmaylov A. Literatura za 1907 god [Literature for 1907]. Slovo. 1908, 1 Jan. (no. 343), p. 4.
Izmaylov A. A. Literaturnye zametki [Literary notes]. Birzhevye vedomosti. 1901, 26 May
(no. 140), p. 2.
Izmaylov A. A. Literaturnye zametki: O novom vremeni i novykh pesnyakh [Literary notes:
On the new time and new songs]. Birzhevye vedomosti. Morning iss. 1905, 8 Apr. (no. 8764),
p. 2.
Izmaylov A. A. Na perelome (Literaturnye razmyshleniya) [At the turn (Literary reflections)].
Biblioteka “Teatra i iskusstva”. 1908, no. 1, pp. 32‒71.
Izmaylov A. A. Pestrye znamena: (Literaturnye portrety bezvremen’ya) [Colorful banners:
(Literary portraits of timelessness)]. Moscow, 1913, 231 p.
Izmaylov A. A. Pomrachenie bozhkov i novye kumiry: Kniga o novykh veyaniyakh v literature [A defilement of the gods and new idols: A book about new trends in literature]. Moscow,
1910, 251 p.
Izmaylov A. A. Temy i paradoksy: O pisatele russkom i inozemnom. Perepiska Flobera. Byli
li druzhny Pushkin i Gogol’? [Themes and paradoxes: About the writer of Russian and foreign.
Flaubert's correspondence. Were Pushkin and Gogol friends?]. Birzhevye vedomosti. Morning iss.
1915, 9 Nov. (no. 15199), p. 2.
Neblagosklonnyy chitatel’ (Izmaylov A. A.). Shifrovannaya poeziya (novye veyaniya v poezii. – Gorodetskiy, Blok) [Ungrateful reader (Izmailov A. A.). Encrypted poetry (New trends
in poetry – Gorodetsky, Block)]. Slovo. 1908, 22 February, (no. 387), pp. 2‒3.
Pervye literaturnye shagi: Avtobiografii sovremennykh russkikh pisateley [The first literary
steps: Autobiographies of contemporary Russian writers]. F. F. Fiedler (Comp.). Moscow, 1911,
267 p.
Pis’ma A. A. Bloka (1909‒1916) k A. A. Izmaylovu [Letters from A. A. Blok (1909‒1916) to
A. A. Izmailov]. E. K. Aleksandrova, A. S. Aleksandrov (Comp., intr. art., comm.). In: A. A. Izmaylov: Perepiska s sovremennikami [A. A. Izmailov: Correspondence with contemporaries].
A. S. Aleksandrov (Comp., intr. art.); A. S. Aleksandrov, E. K. Alexandrova, N. Yu. Gryakalova
(Intr. art., prep. of the text, comm.). St. Petersburg, Pushkinskiy Dom, 2017, pp. 598–616.
Pis’ma Aleksandra Bloka k rodnym: V 2 t. [Letters from Alexander Blok to his relatives:
In 2 vols]. M. A. Beketova (Pref., comm.). Moscow; Leningrad, 1927, vol. 1, 370 p.
Plyukhanova M. B. “Kipеnie svеta”: Russkie Odigitrii v liturgicheskoy poezii i v istorii
[“Kipеnie svеta”: Russian Odigitrii in liturgical poetry and in history]. St. Petersburg, 2016,
628 p.
(A. A. Blok in the reception of A. A. Izmailov) // Сибирский филологический журнал. 2020. № 1. Pp. 122–134. DOI: 10.17223/18137083/70/9.