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The Soviet Concise Literary Encyclopedia: Its Evolution and Achievement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 January 2017

Barry Lewis  and
Michael Ulman
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Type
Review Essay
Information
Slavic Review , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , March 1980 , pp. 104 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies. 1980

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References

1. The only other comprehensive Soviet reference work on world literature, the incomplete Literatumaia entsiklopediia of the 1930s, was hopelessly out of date by this time.

2. Originally, the first volume was to have covered the first four letters of the Russian alphabet (three thousand entries), but eventually it was reduced to only three letters (twenty-three hundred entries).

3. In a single day (October 8, 1964), on KGB orders, Oksman was expelled from the Institute of World Literature and the Writers’ Union, and stripped of all his editorial posts.

4. See, for example, Andrievskii, A, “Entsiklopediia … oshibok” Oktiabr1, 1963, no. 5, pp. 198–200.Google Scholar

5. The increasing length of articles is illustrated by the progressive decrease in the total number of articles contained in individual volumes: 2,185 (vol. 1), 1,791 (vol. 2), 1,626 (vol. 3), 1,456 (vol. 4), 1,434 (vol. 5), 1,285 (vol. 6), 1,302 (vol. 7), 1,723 (vol. 8), 2,014 (vol. 9). It should be noted that the figure for volume 8 does not imply a sudden decline in the length of entries. The last volume proper in the set, it is one hundred pages longer than other volumes. Volume 9 is the supplementary one described above, and as such contains many short addenda.

6. See Ivanov, V, “Metodologicheskie zigzagi Literaturnoi entsiklopedii” Kommunist, 1969, no. 14 (September 1969), pp. 117–28Google Scholar; Samarin, R, “Bez chetkikh orientirov” Pravda, June 30, 1969 Google Scholar; Astakhov, I. and Volkov, A., “V krivom zerkale Literaturnoi entsiklopedii” Oktiabr1, 1969, no. 2, pp. 202–14.Google Scholar

7. The thirty-seven are: G. Abdullo, L. L. Averbakh, D. Al', S. A. Auslender, Sh. Aiushi, A. V. Bagrii, G. T. Barakov, I. A. Batrak, Ch. D. Bedzhizaty, G. G. Belykh, K. P. Bogatyrev, K. A. Bol'shakov, B. M. Buachidze, S. F. Budantsev, A. S. Bukhov, I. B. Vardin, I. M. Vasilevskii, A. I. Vvedenskii, E. Venskii, D. A. Gatuev, M. I. Gettuev, M. I. Gillel'son, Iu. O. Dombrovskii, L. N. Zavadovskii, A. I. Zonin, la. O. Zundelovich, V. Z. Ivanov-Paimen, P. I. Karpov, Ts. I. Kin, G. M. Kosynka, M. P. Kudinov, M. S. Kul'bak, M. P. Likhachev, I. S. Makar'ev, G. G. Maliev, la. Nemanskii, and P. A. Florenskii. See also the cryptic note on the Hungarian writer T. Deri's imprisonment: “During the counterrevolutionary rebellion in Hungary Deri took up an erroneous position; from 1961 he returned to active creative work.”

8. The following list contains the names of Soviet writers included in KLE (vols. 1-8) who are known to us to have suffered repressions, but are not mentioned in this context: D. I. Abramovich, V. V. Agrba, V. N. Azhaev, Z. M. Aksel'rod, A. I. Aleksandrovich, K. N. Altaiskii, N. S. Angarskii, M. Armen, S. A. Arsanov, P. A. Arskii, S. la. Baranovykh, B. B. Basangov, Ch. D. Begizov, O. F. Berggol'ts, P. N. Berkov, R. Iu. Bershadskii, A. P. Bibik, V. F. Bokov, S. S. Borshchevskii, F. Burnash, B. Kh. Valikov, la. E. Virtanen, G. Galiev, S. G. Galimov, K. S. Gamsakhurdia, V. Z. Gzhitskii, A. Gidash, B. V. Gimel'farb, A. K. Gladkov, T. G. Gnedich, A. E. Gorelov, M. I. Goretskii, I. M. Gronskii, Kh. L. Davletshina, M. Demin, Kh. Der'iaev, N. L. Dilaktorskaia, V. I. Dmitrevskii, V. D. Dneprov, E. S. Dobin, I. I. Doronin, A. M. Drozdov, V. N. Dubovka, I. E. Efimov, V. M. Zhirmunskii, M. Zaretskii, A. Zvonak, A. N. Zuev, M. E. Zuev-Ordynets, V. E. Zyrianov, R. V. Ivanov-Razumnik, N. V. Ignat'ev, I. V. Iz'iurov, A. la. Kagan, A. la. Kapler, I. V. Kerler, I. U. Kirilenko, P. I. Kolesnik, N. I. Konrad, L. Z. Kopelev, N. K. Koz'min, M. Z. Kuliev, A. G. Lebedenko, F. M. Levin, P. I. Levchaev, D. S. Likhachev, G. Maari, S. A. Makashin, M. B. Makliarskii, S. I. Malashkin, M. A. Mamakaev, Makhmud-Galiau, I. M. Mashbits-Verov, E. M. Meletinskii, S. M. Mumtaz, V. A. Mysik, G. Nazarly, A. Nazim, V. T. Norents, Iu. G. Oksman, P. F. Okhrimenko, Kh. D. Oshaev, P. Panch, F. A. Petrovskii, L. E. Pinskii, V. F. Pletnev, V. L. Polishchuk, N. P. Popov, V. V. Portugalov, I. S. Postupal'skii, B. Prankus-2alionis, L. N. Radishchev, A. D. Radlova, I. S. Rakhillo, S. A. Rodov, N. I. Sats, G. I. Serebriakova, I. Z. Serman, A. A. Slisarenko, S. D. Spasskii, A. I. Startsev, B. L. Suchkov, F. K. Tuikin, A. D. Khatkov, M. Khvedorovich, Sh. L. Tsvizhba, G. F. Tseretely, E. A. Charents, B. D. Chetverikov, B. F. Chirskov, Cho Men Khi, G. I. Shelest, E. A. Shem'i-zade, F. P. Shiller, S. S. Shilov, K. G. Shil'dkret, A. V. Eisner, N. R. Erdman, B. E, Erdniev, and K. E. Erendzhenov. Others who have just come to our attention include G. S. Aikuni, V. Alazan, M. I. Al'tman, A. M. Amur-Sanan, B. D. Antonenko-Davidovich, Kh. A. Appaev, G. D. Bekov, V. Kh. Darsalia, Kh. Esenzhanov, B. I. Gurtuev, R. M. Gvetadze, I. N. Kipnis, N. A. Pankov, E. S. Shabliovskii, and E. I. Zhurbina.

9. Among entries for the group listed under footnote 8, see the following sequences: in G. I. Serebriakova's biography, “She was one of the first in Soviet literature to create a picture of the founding father of scientific communism, K. Marx, in the novel ‘Marx's Youth’ (books 1-2, 1933-34). After a twenty-year interval she returned to literary activity.” Similarly, the entry on A. Zvonak states: “after a break in his creative activity (1936-56) he published a book of verse ‘To You Alone’ ”; emphases added.

10. Volume 9 of KLE provides a list of critical articles which refer to omissions i (columns 11-12). See also Morozov, A. A., “Sushchestvennye nedostatki spravochnogo j izdaniia (Russkaia literatura v pervom tome ‘Kratkoi literaturnoi entsiklopedii’)” Russkaia literatura, 1962, no. 4, pp. 226–39Google Scholar; and Morozov, A. A., “Tsena spravki (k vykhodu vtorogo itret'ego toma ‘Kratkoi literaturnoi entsiklopedii’)” Russkaia literatura, 1967, no. 4, I pp. 232–47.Google Scholar

11. A number of contributors to KLE have emigrated during the last ten years, in- i eluding A. V. Belinkov, A. M. Belov, G. E. Ben, Iu. la. Glazov, M. L. Gel'tser, A. B. Dolgopol'skii, M. I. Zand, N. M. Zand, A. P. Kazhdan, I. V. Kerler, V. D. Levin, S. P. Markish, I. A. Mel'chuk, V. B. Matusevich, R. E. Nudel'man, A. M. Piatigorskii, N. M. Perlina, I. Z. Serman, A. D. Siniavskii, L. N. Chertkov, L. A. Shur, S. A. Shuiskii, E. G. Etkind, la. Iakir, M. G. Al'tshuller, and M. M. Blinkova. ‘

12. For example, Iu. O. (Iu. G. Oksman), E. E. (E. G. Etkind), G. B. (G. E. Ben), M. G. (M. G. Gel'tser). ]

13. The articles signed “Iu. Grigor'ev” belong to Iu. G. Oksman, and the article j “Epigonstvo,” signed by E. F. Zvorykina, was written by E. G. Etkind.