"The Letter to Bossard" (1921) by Ivan Bunin: Autograph and Derived Texts

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https://doi.org/10.22455/Emigr.3034-3518-2024-1-253-288

https://elibrary.ru/SBLSAD

Abstract: The article is devoted to one of the little-known journalistic works of Ivan Bunin, which, having remained unpublished during the author’s lifetime, nevertheless formed the basis of a number of his other similar works. The article examines — from the point of view of textual and source studies — the “genetic” connection of the “Letter to Bossard” (1921) with these texts derived from it (to one degree or another), created in 1921–1952 in Russian and French — both by Bunin himself and by third parties (in particular, translators). The article emphasizes that in the case of the “Letter to Bossard”, researchers are dealing with a situation common to the creative manner of a writer, when not the same work has several texts (which is quite standard for textual studies), but, on the contrary, the same text is used as some kind of a literary material for creating different works, including relatively independent from each other and even from the ‘source’ text. The article uses archival materials from the Russian Archive in Leeds, the Department of Manuscripts of the University of Edinburgh and the State Archive of Russian Federation.

Keywords: Ivan Bunin, “The Letter to Bossard”, autograph, derived texts, main text, textual studies, source studies.

Information about the authors: Anton V. Bakuntsev, PhD in Philology, Associate Professor, Senior Researcher, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25А, bdg. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7087-3235

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Sergei N. Morozov, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25А, bdg. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4986-3291

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Anna V. Protopopova, PhD in Philology, Senior Researcher, А.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya St., 25А, bdg. 1, 121069 Moscow, Russia.

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4461-3349

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

For citation: Bakuntsev, A.V., Morozov S.N., and A.V. Protopopova. “‛The Letter to Bossard’ (1921) by Ivan Bunin: Autograph and Derived Texts.” Emigrantica. Issue 1: In memory of Oleg Korostelev, ed.-comp. E.R. Ponomarev, sci. ed. E.R. Ponomarev, M. Schruba, ed. M.S. Shchavlinskii, D.V. Zaitsev. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2024, pp. 253–288. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/Emigr.3034-3518-2024-1-253-288 

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Received: September 15, 2022
Approved: March 12, 2023
Date of publication: October 07, 2024

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