Boris Mikhailovich Eikhenbaum ( rus, Борис Михайлович Эйхенбаум, p=ɨjxʲɪnˈbaʊm; 16 October 1886 – 2 November 1959) was a Russian and Soviet literary scholar and historian of
Russian literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia, its Russian diaspora, émigrés, and to Russian language, Russian-language literature. Major contributors to Russian literature, as well as English for instance, are authors of different e ...
. He is a representative of
Russian formalism
Russian formalism was a school of literary theory in Russia from the 1910s to the 1930s. It includes the work of a number of highly influential Russian and Soviet scholars, such as Viktor Shklovsky, Yuri Tynianov, Vladimir Propp, Boris Eikhenbaum ...
.
Biography
Eikhenbaum was born in
Voronezh
Voronezh ( ; , ) is a city and the administrative centre of Voronezh Oblast in southwestern Russia straddling the Voronezh River, located from where it flows into the Don River. The city sits on the Southeastern Railway, which connects wes ...
, the grandson of
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish mathematician and poet
Jacob Eichenbaum. His childhood and adolescence were spent there. After finishing elementary school in 1905, Eikhenbaum went to Petersburg and enrolled in the
Military Medical Academy, soon thereafter in 1906, he enrolled in the biological faculty of the Free High School of
P. F. Lesgaft. In parallel he studied music (violin, piano, voice). In 1907 Eikhenbaum left this school and enrolled in the Musical school of E. P. Raprof and the historical-philological faculty of
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the university from the be ...
. In 1909, Eikhenbaum abandoned professional aspirations in music, choosing in favor of
philology
Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
. In this same year after two years of study in the Slavic-Russian department, Eikhenbaum transferred to the Romance-Germanic department; however, in 1911, he returned to the Slavic-Russian department. In 1912, Eikhenbaum finished his university studies. From 1913 to 1914, Eikhenbaum published in a number of periodicals, and conducted reviews of foreign literature in the newspaper «Русская молва». In 1914, Eikhenbaum began his pedagogical activities, and became a teacher in the school of Y. G. Gurevich.
A key moment in the biography of Eikhenbaum was his involvement with other members of the Society for the Study of Poetic Language (
OPOJAZ), which was formed in 1916. In 1918, Eikhenbaum joined OPOJAZ and participated in their research until the middle of the 1920s. Eikhenbaum provided definition and interpretation for the group, with essays such as ''Theory of the "Formal Method"'' he helped outline their approach to literature. From 1947 to 1949, Eikhenbaum was victimized by the campaign against "
rootless cosmopolitan
"Rootless cosmopolitan" ( ) was a pejorative epithet that was mostly applied to intellectuals and Jews with ties to the West during the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union. It became especially prevalent during the country's anti-cosmopolitan c ...
ism",
[Any, p. 195] along with
Viktor Zhirmunsky
Viktor Maksimovich Zhirmunsky (; 2 August 1891 – 31 January 1971; also ''Wiktor Maximowitsch Schirmunski, Zirmunskij, Schirmunski, Zhirmunskii;'' ) was a Soviet and Russian literary historian and linguist.
Life
Born in Saint Petersburg in 1891 t ...
,
Grigorii Gukovskii
Grigory Alexandrovich Gukovsky ( rus, Григо́рий Алекса́ндрович Гуко́вский, p=ɡʊˈkofskʲɪj; 1 May 1902, in Saint Petersburg – 2 April 1950, in Moscow) was a Russian Formalist literary historian and scholar who ...
, and
Mark Azadovsky
Mark Konstantinovich Azadovsky (; 18 December 1888 in Irkutsk – 24 November 1954 in Leningrad) was a Soviet scholar of folk-tales and Russian literature. As the head of the Folklore department at Leningrad State University during Stalin's a ...
, but was able to continue his science. Eikhenbaum died at the age of 73 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in 1959.
Literary works
* Pushkin as Poet and the 1825 Revolt (An Attempt at Psychological Investigation) / Пушкин-поэт и бунт 1825 года (Опыт психологического исследования), 1907.
* How Gogol's ''Overcoat'' Was Made / Как сделана "Шинель" Гоголя, 191
* Melody of Russian Lyric Poetry / Мелодика русского лирического стиха, 192
* Young Tolstoy / Молодой Толстой, 1922.
* Anna Akhmatova: An Attempt at Analysis / Анна Ахматова Опыт анализа, 192
* Lermontov. A Study in Historical-Literary Evaluation / Лермонтов. Опыт историко-литературной оценки, 1924.
* Leskov and Contemporary Prose / Лесков и современная проза, 1925.
* O. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story / О. Генри и теория новеллы, 192
* Literature and Cinema / Литература и кино, 1926.
* Theory of the "Formal Method" / Теория "формального метода", 192
* Literary Mores / Литературный быт, 1927.
* Leo Tolstoy: The Fifties / Лев Толстой: пятидесятые годы, 1928.
* Leo Tolstoy: The Sixties / Лев Толстой: шестидесятые годы, 1931.
* Leo Tolstoy: The Seventies / Лев Толстой: семидесятые годы, 1940.
Notes
Further reading
* .
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eichenbaum, Boris
1886 births
1959 deaths
20th-century Russian historians
Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery
Historians from the Russian Empire
Jewish historians
Jewish Russian writers
Literary critics from the Russian Empire
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour
Russian formalism
Russian literary critics
Russian literary historians
Mikhail Lermontov scholars
Soviet Jews
Soviet literary critics
Soviet literary historians