Sergei Yesenin in the Encyclopedic Format. Part 1. From the Complete Works and Chronicles to the Yesenin Encyclopedia

The series of articles are devoted to the scientific project “Yesenin Encyclopedia” carried out at the IWL RAS. It is a collection of information about the life and work of S.A. Yesenin and his role in Russian and world culture, based on the fundamental academic works, i. e., the Complete Works of S.A. Yesenin: in 7 vols. (9 books) (1895–2001), Chronicles of Life and Work S.A. Yesenin: in 5 vols. (7 books) (2003–2018), and recent studies. The issues of the concept, composition and structure of this work and the ways to solve them are considered. Attention is being paid to the issue of the Yesenin Encyclopedia. 1895–1925. Memorable Places. Literary Geography, which was published on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of his birth and is being prepared for republication, related to the biography and work of the poet and the memory of him in Russia and the world (357 articles on 442 toponyms were included). The author shows the uniqueness of articles about real and literary toponyms of various types, the meaning of which is to reveal their meaning and functions, semantics, sources, historical and literary context, perception by contemporaries and interpretation by researchers. The article gives typical examples of articles about real and literary, including biblical, religious, philosophical, and place names created by the poet himself (Inonia, The Land of Scoundrels, etc.). The article analyzes the second issue of the Yesenin Encyclopedia. 1895–1925. Works (about 450 articles, 200 figures), equipped with a bibliography of scientific papers on these works and a multi-level commentary: textual, real, poetical, and general cultural. The composition and structure of articles about the work are substantiated, and an appendix is provided with an expanded textual commentary (autograph (manuscripts), dating, publications, translations, etc.). A separate section of the article is devoted to the bibliography of S.A. Yesenin’s translations, which for the first time provides a list of lifetime and first posthumous translations of S.A. Yesenin’s works (1920–1927), and in some cases their characteristics. The article reflects the dynamics of the poet’s entry into the world literary world.