Viktor Burenin
Viktor Petrovich Burenin | |
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Born | Moscow, Russian Empire | March 6, 1841
Died | August 15, 1926 Leningrad, USSR | (aged 85)
Education | Moscow College of Architecture |
Period | 1864-1920s |
Genre | Criticism, satire, drama |
Viktor Petrovich Burenin (
Biography
Viktor Burenin was born in Moscow, the twelfth child in the family of architect Pyotr Petrovich Burenin.
In the early 1860s Burenin drifted towards the in 1862 started contributing satirical poems to magazines Iskra and Zritel, writing under the pseudonym Vladimir Monumentov.
In 1863 Nekrasov, Burenin moved to
After
In 1876 Burenin joined
Personal tragedy, the death in 1884 of 20-year-old son Konstantin (a gifted poet and translator, known as K.Renin), made Burenin totally alienated from the outside world. The office of Novoye Vremya (which he lived nearby) for years became his real home. Highly detrimental to his reputation was the quarrel with dying Semyon Nadson. Having construed the latter's criticism towards himself as an 'ingratitude' (Burenin assisted Nadson's debut publication; the latter felt uneasy with the fact) he published fragments from Nadson's personal correspondence, then accused the poet of simulating his illness in order to receive financial support from friends. According to popular myth the shock Nadson received was fatal and in several days' time he died. "Since then Burenin's been treated [by the literary elite] so much more cruelly than he'd treated Nadson and [the latter's] fan Eleonora Obmokni," according to the theatre critic Alexander Kugel. So insistent was the liberal and left press in their obstruction that Burenin's name became a token one: Vladimir Lenin mentioned it regularly as a symbol of 'dirty' methods in leading the polemics.[3]
Burenin's "Critical Sketches" in Novoye Vremya were immensely successful: general readership loved his irreverent manner of ridiculing both authors and their works. Paradoxically, the Sketches did a lot to inform the readership about the new literary events. "Violating every norm of manner and behavior in his attacks on
Burenin's novels and novellas had considerable commercial success (mainly due to their sensationalist nature: the characters were easily recognizable real people) but, according to biographer Lepyokhin, hold little artistic merit. More substantial were Burenin's plays, based on
After the
Legacy
Viktor Burenin was one of the most controversial Russian authors of the early 20th century. The nature of his reputation was well described by Dmitry Minayev's epigram: "A dog runs down the street / Followed by Burenin, looking quite and nice / Watch out, the policemen, though / So as he won't bite the dog!"[10][11] According to the 1911 edition of the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, "Burenin’s literary character is defined... by the peculiar methods this critic used for his invectives, the methods that cannot be characterized in academic terms."[1]
Many of Burenin's parodies found their way into Soviet satirical poetry anthologies. Criticising Burenin’s methods ("what he does is looking for every possibility way to offend his opponent, by ascribing to him some kind of smut"),[12] Leskov still credited him for "great erudition, wit and cleverness".[13] "Objectively speaking, he was one of the most gifted authors of the literary right wing," wrote Korney Chukovsky.[citation needed]
According to biographer M.P.Lepyokhin, though, Burenin was not a right wing sympathizer, and his satires often clashed with Suvorin-dictated general line of the newspaper. Never motivated by corporative or ideological interests, he was relying totally on his own ideas and concepts, one of which was that all Russian writers (and the new generation of them, in particular) were charlatans tending to fool their readership with nonsense which had nothing to do with reality. Burenin "despised [Russian] literature and lampooned it," Alexey Suvorin maintained.[3][14]
Suvorin considered Burenin to be a victim of censorship which prevented him realizing his true potential. "Had we any freedom of the press, he'd have become the unique pamphleteer, using his wit to expose corrupt ministers, people like that. What he does now instead, is squander his gift on petty quarrels," he wrote.[15] "A critic of considerable gift, an incomparable pamphleteer and totally worthless dramatist,” was Suvorin's more general verdict on his ally and friend.[16] Yet, author and critic Nikolai Snessarev thought Suvorin (who reviewed his plays regularly and always negatively) might have been jealous of Burenin, a highly popular playwright.[17]
As a literary critic Burenin was credited with originality and wit by
Select bibliography
Novels
Plays
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Librettos
Compilations
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References
- ^ a b c d "Burenin, Viktor Petrovich". The Russian Biobibliographical Dictionary. 1911. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ a b "Burenin, Viktor Petrovich". znaniy.com (Biographies of Russian Writers). Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Lepyokhin, M.P. "Viktor Burenin". www.hrono.ru. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ The Saving of the Censorship in Moscow / Спасение цензуры в Москве. Колокол. 1861. Nos. 112, 113. - Anonymous.
- ^ a b Reitplath, A.I. "Viktor Petrovich Burenin". Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ "Burenin, Viktor Petrovich". The Great Soviet Enc. (English). 1979. Retrieved 2014-01-13.
- ^ I.A.Goncharov. Puskin House Yearly, 1976. Leningrad, 1978. P.212
- ^ Pertsov, P.P. Literary memoirs / Литературные воспоминания. 1890-1902. Moscow, 2002. Pp.172, 241.
- ^ Glinsky, P.P. Novoye Vremya: The History (1876-1916). Petrograd, 1916. P.61.
- ^ «По улице идет собака, / За ней Буренин тих и мил. / Городовой! Смотри, однако, / Чтоб он ее не укусил!»
- ^ Lepekhin, M.P., Reitblath А. И. Буренин Виктор Петрович // Russian Writers. Русские писатели. 1800—1917. Moscow, 1989. Pp. 365—367.
- ^ The Works by N.S. Leskov, Vol. 11. P.533
- ^ Works by N.S.Leskov, Moscow, 1958. Vol.11. P.337
- ^ A.S.Suvorin's letters to V.V.Rozanov //Письма А.С.Суворина к В.В.Розанову. Saint Petersburg, 1913. P.136.
- ^ The Diary of A.S.Suvorin. Moscow // Дневник А.С.Суворина. М., 1999. P.359.
- ^ The Diary of A.S.Suvorin, P.214
- ^ Snassarev, N. The Mirage of the New Time. Almost a Novel. // Мираж «Нового времени»: почти роман. Saint Petersburg, 1914. Pp. 27-28.
- ^ Anna G. Dostoyevskaya's letters. May 15, 1888. Baykal magazine, 1976. No.5, P. 140