A.S. PUSHKIN AND MIKHAILOVSKOYE IN CRITICAL ARTICLES BY V.YA. KURBATOV

The article is the first registered attempt to comprehend the perception of A.S. Pushkin and the role of Mikhailovskoye in Pushkin’s inner spiritual life by V.Ya. Kurbatov (1939–2021), the well-known literary critic. The material for research is the critic’s articles and notes from the period of 1990–2010 collected in his book “Pushkin for Every Day” that make up his myth about the national poet. In this article the author demonstrates that it is the national idea that becomes the background for the interpretative angle of Kurbatov’s critical reflection in the epoch of self-identification. Being the unconditional value reference point for the critic, Pushkin is perceived by him as the benchmark for integrity and completeness as well as Mikhailovskoye is seen as the place where the comprehensiveness of the Russian life can be found yet at the same time being the reproach to the contemporaries for their duality and spiritual “emigration”. The specifics of V.Ys. Kurbatov’s position is conditioned by his triune religious, philosophic and literary approach to the phenomena of the Russian culture, on one hand, and by his subjective method together with his personal, individual view and his search for self-identity, on the other hand. In this article the author makes the conclusion that the articles and notes of V.Ya. Kurbatov about A.S. Pushkin written in line with the religious and philosophic interpretations of the national poet in XIX–XX centuries, reveal the deep and unique personality, ethical standpoint and aesthetic views of our famous contemporary.