Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin

Many researchers, including the author of this article, repeatedly examine the influence of Leo Tolstoy on Ivan Bunin’s works. The article significantly expands the traditional view, for the first time including within the sphere of this influence Bunin’s earliest prose, starting with the first two...

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Main Author: Evgeny R. Ponomarev
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Russian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature 2024-12-01
Series:Studia Litterarum
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Online Access:https://studlit.ru/images/2024-9-4/11_Ponomarev.pdf
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author Evgeny R. Ponomarev
author_facet Evgeny R. Ponomarev
author_sort Evgeny R. Ponomarev
collection DOAJ
description Many researchers, including the author of this article, repeatedly examine the influence of Leo Tolstoy on Ivan Bunin’s works. The article significantly expands the traditional view, for the first time including within the sphere of this influence Bunin’s earliest prose, starting with the first two published stories. The research demonstrates the process of “being ahead of Tolstoy”: it means that Bunin writes stories on some characteristically Tolstoy’s topics a little earlier than Tolstoy himself and then reads with delight what Tolstoy wrote on the same matter. “Being ahead” represents a crucial moment in Bunin’s awareness of his creative affinity with Tolstoy. The second part of the article examines Bunin’s use of Tolstoy’s “tone” in some of his works, as well as the use of Tolstoy’s theme and the theme of Tolstoyism in early stories as a technique for actualizing dialogues, as well as a moral assessment of characters. The article demonstrates that Tolstoy’s influence on Bunin’s prose began with the first opuses and continued throughout all his early work.
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spelling doaj-art-917f94d3a13948ddaccfa3f50d7c80bd2025-08-20T03:19:42ZengRussian Academy of Sciences, A.M. Gorky Institute of World LiteratureStudia Litterarum2500-42472541-85642024-12-019420622110.22455/2500-4247-2024-9-4-206-221Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan BuninEvgeny R. Ponomarev0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5508-6532A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RussiaMany researchers, including the author of this article, repeatedly examine the influence of Leo Tolstoy on Ivan Bunin’s works. The article significantly expands the traditional view, for the first time including within the sphere of this influence Bunin’s earliest prose, starting with the first two published stories. The research demonstrates the process of “being ahead of Tolstoy”: it means that Bunin writes stories on some characteristically Tolstoy’s topics a little earlier than Tolstoy himself and then reads with delight what Tolstoy wrote on the same matter. “Being ahead” represents a crucial moment in Bunin’s awareness of his creative affinity with Tolstoy. The second part of the article examines Bunin’s use of Tolstoy’s “tone” in some of his works, as well as the use of Tolstoy’s theme and the theme of Tolstoyism in early stories as a technique for actualizing dialogues, as well as a moral assessment of characters. The article demonstrates that Tolstoy’s influence on Bunin’s prose began with the first opuses and continued throughout all his early work.https://studlit.ru/images/2024-9-4/11_Ponomarev.pdfbuninearly worksleo tolstoypoeticsliterary influence
spellingShingle Evgeny R. Ponomarev
Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin
Studia Litterarum
bunin
early works
leo tolstoy
poetics
literary influence
title Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin
title_full Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin
title_fullStr Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin
title_full_unstemmed Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin
title_short Ahead of Leo Tolstoy: Tolstoy’s Themes and Tolstoy’s “Tone” in the Early Prose of Ivan Bunin
title_sort ahead of leo tolstoy tolstoy s themes and tolstoy s tone in the early prose of ivan bunin
topic bunin
early works
leo tolstoy
poetics
literary influence
url https://studlit.ru/images/2024-9-4/11_Ponomarev.pdf
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