Ivan Bunin Ivan Alekseyevich Bunin ( or ; rus, Ива́н Алексе́евич Бу́нин, p=ɪˈvan ɐlʲɪkˈsʲejɪvʲɪdʑ ˈbunʲɪn, a=Ivan Alyeksyeyevich Bunin.ru.vorb.oga; – 8 November 1953) 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 Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (; 14 December 1862 – 19 January 1887) was a Russian poet and essayist. He is noted for being the first Jewish poet to achieve national fame in the Russian Empire. Biography Nadson's father was a Jew who converted to ...

. 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 y the literary eliteso much more cruelly than he'd treated Nadson and he latter'sfan Eleonora Obmokni," according to the theatre critic

Alexander Kugel Alexander Rafailovich Kugel (, born Avraam Rafailovich Kugel; 1864, — 5 October 1928) was a Russian and Soviet theatre critic and editor, founder of the False Mirror (Krivoye Zerkalo), a popular theatre of parodies.

. So insistent was the liberal and left press in their obstruction that Burenin's name became a token one:

Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

mentioned it regularly as a symbol of 'dirty' methods in leading the polemics. 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

Merezhkovsky Dmitry Sergeyevich Merezhkovsky ( rus, Дми́трий Серге́евич Мережко́вский, p=ˈdmʲitrʲɪj sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪtɕ mʲɪrʲɪˈʂkofskʲɪj; – December 9, 1941) was a Russian novelist, poet, religious thinke ...

, Volynsky, Gippius... Burenin has done more than anybody else to popularize the new trends he slagged each Fridays in his brilliant buffoonery," argued critic

Pyotr Pertsov Pyotr Petrovich Pertsov (Пётр Петрович Перцов, 16 June 1868 — 19 May 1947) was a Russian poet, publisher, editor, literary critic, journalist and memoirist associated with the Russian Symbolist movement. Biography Pyotr Pet ...

. "While in the liberal circles to read ''Novoye Vremya'' was considered mauves ton, Berenin's feullietons were read by everybody, clandestinely," wrote author and publisher Boris Glinsky. 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

antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

and

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

plots (''Medea'', with Suvorin as co-author, 1883; ''Messalina'', 1885; ''The Death of Agrippina'', 1887; ''The Comedy of Princess Zabava Putyatishna and Boyar-lady Vasilisa Mikulishna'', 1889), all staged by Maly and

Alexandrinsky theatre The Alexandrinsky Theatre () or National Drama Theatre of Russia is a theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Alexandrinsky Theatre was built for the Imperial troupe of Petersburg (Imperial troupe was founded in 1756). Since 1832, the theatre ...

s. Burenin translated several plays, by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

Niccolò Machiavelli Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527) was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise '' The Prince'' (), writte ...

Alexander Dumas Alexandre Dumas (born Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas , was a French novelist and playwright. His works have been translated into many languages and he is one of the mos ...

Karl Gutzkow Karl Ferdinand Gutzkow ( in Berlin – in Sachsenhausen) was a German writer notable in the Young Germany movement of the mid-19th century. Life Gutzkow was born of an extremely poor family, not proletarian, but of the lowest and most menial ...

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of Naturalism (literature), literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into h ...

, among others. For many years Burenin was taking an active part in the life of Maly Theatre before founding (again with Suvorin) The Literary and Arts' Society Theatre. After the

1917 Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social change in Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government following two successive revolutions and a civil war. It ...

Burenin stayed in

Soviet Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and fared relatively well despite the false obituary published in 1921 by

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

-based ''Novoye Vremya'', re-newed by Suvorin's son. He was helped a lot by Maxim Gorky whom he mercifully lampooned in the 1900s.

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 Dmitry Dmitriyevich Minayev (, 2 November 1835, — 22 July 1889) was a Russian poet, parodist, journalist, translator and literary critic. Biography Minayev was born in Simbirsk to the poet Dmitry Ivanovich Minayev, best known for his transla ...

'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!"Lepekhin, M.P., Reitblath А. И. Буренин Виктор Петрович // Russian Writers. Русские писатели. 1800—1917. Moscow, 1989. Pp. 365—367. According to the 1911 edition of the

Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary The ''Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopaedic Dictionary'' (35 volumes, small; 86 volumes, large) is a comprehensive multi-volume encyclopaedia in Russian. It contains 121,240 articles, 7,800 images, and 235 maps. It was published in the Russian Em ...

, "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." 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"), Leskov still credited him for "great erudition, wit and cleverness". "Objectively speaking, he was one of the most gifted authors of the literary right wing," wrote

Korney Chukovsky Korney Ivanovich Chukovsky ( rus, Корне́й Ива́нович Чуко́вский, p=kɐrˈnʲej ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ tɕʊˈkofskʲɪj, a=Kornyey Ivanovich Chukovskiy.ru.vorb.oga; 31 March NS 1882 – 28 October 1969) was one of the most p ...

. 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 ussianliterature and lampooned it," Alexey Suvorin maintained. 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 A pamphleteer is a historical term used to describe someone who creates or distributes pamphlets, unbound (therefore inexpensive) booklets intended for wide circulation. Context Pamphlets were used to broadcast the writer's opinions: to articu ...

, using his wit to expose corrupt ministers, people like that. What he does now instead, is squander his gift on petty quarrels," he wrote. "A critic of considerable gift, an incomparable pamphleteer and totally worthless dramatist,” was Suvorin's more general verdict on his ally and friend. 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. As a literary critic Burenin was credited with originality and wit by

Lev Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

, Nikolai Nekrasov and Nikolai Leskov.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian literature, Russian and world literature, and many of his works are consider ...

even argued that Burenin "understood him better than any other man" who wrote about him.Anna G. Dostoyevskaya's letters. May 15, 1888. ''Baykal'' magazine, 1976. No.5, P. 140 According to biographer M.Lepyokhin, Burenin has launched "a genre reform" which changed radically the face and the nature of Russian feuilleton. "With his arrival for the first time

n Russia N, or n, is the fourteenth Letter (alphabet), letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is English alphab ...

a highly detailed, sharp satire aimed at concrete targets superseded some abstract moralization," argued the critic.

Select bibliography

Novels

*''The Dead Leg'' (Мертвая нога, 1889) *''The Romance in Kislovodsk'' (Роман в Кисловодске, 1889) *''From the Notes of a Suicide'' (Из записок самоубийцы, 1875) *''A Strange Case'' (Странный случай, 1878)

Plays

*''Medea'' (Медея, 1884, with Alexey Suvorin) *''Messalina'' (Мессалина, 1885) *''The Death of Agrippina'' (Смерть Агриппины, 1886) *''The Comedy of Zabava Putyatishna and Boyarynya Vasilisa Mikulishna'' (Комедия о княжне Забаве Путятишне и боярыне Василисе Микулишне», 1890) *''The Byzantine Captive'' (Пленник Византии, drama, 1893) *''Diana Fornari'' (Диана Форнари, drama, 1894) *''All Is Well That’s Ended Well'' (Все хорошо, что хорошо кончилось, comedy, 1893) *''Aphrodita’s Necklace'' (Ожерелье Афродиты, drama, 1896) *''The Sunken Bell'' (Потонувший колокол, the translation of

’s Die versunkene Glocke, 1897) *''Princess Ozra's Heart'' (Сердце принцессы Озры, 1898)

Librettos

*''Angelo'' by Cesar Cui (1875) *''Mazepa'' by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1883 ) *''Matron of Ephesus'' (Матрона Эфесская), operetta by Mikhail Ivanov *''Zabava Putyatishna'' (Забава Путятишна), opera by Mikhail Ivanov, 1897

Compilations

*''Sketches and Parodies'' (Очерки и пародии, 1874; 1895) *''From the Past'' (Былое, poems, 1880) *''Arrows'' (Стрелы, poems, 1880; 1889) *''Songs and Caricatures'' (Песни и шаржи, 1886) *''From the Modern Life'' (Из современной жизни, 1879) *''Critical Sketches and Pamphlets'' (Критические очерки и памфлеты, 1884) *''Critical Etudes'' (Критические этюды, 1888) *''The Tail'' (Хвост, a collection of parodies, 1891; 1893) *''Pipa and Pusya. Humorous stories'' (Пипа и Пуся. Юмористические рассказы. 1894) *''Blue Sounds and White Poems'' (Голубые звуки и белые поэмы, parodies, 1895) *''Woe by Stupidity'' (Горе от глупости, 1905) *''The Works of V.P.Burenin'' (Saint Petersburg, 1912—1917). Vols. I-V (unfinished)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burenin, Viktor 1841 births 1926 deaths Literary critics from the Russian Empire Male poets from the Russian Empire Russian male poets Writers from Moscow Novelists from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Theatre critics from the Russian Empire Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire Russian male dramatists and playwrights Satirists from the Russian Empire Opera librettists from the Russian Empire Russian male novelists Russian parodists