"I'm Waiting for Changes in my Fate": on V. V. Vinogradov's Vyatka Letters to his Wife (to the 130th Anniversary Since the Scientist's Birth)

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Abstract

The article analyzes archival materials about the life and work of V. V. Vinogradov during the Vyatka exile of 1934–1936. Attention is drawn to the relief and richness of the philological issues of the letters, contrasting with the description of everyday life. An important place in the epistolary is occupied by the precedent name of Pushkin. Many events and individuals related to the scientist's work are evaluated. It is emphasized that V. V. Vinogradov's wife, N. M. Malysheva, who supported the scientist during his exile, occupied a special place in his correspondence. The author shows how V. V. Vinogradov overcame domestic troubles, giving himself up to philological plans and immersing himself in reading Russian and world classics ("I read all Turgenev's plays"). It is noted that the image of V. V. Vinogradov as reader is one of the most picturesque from the point of view of characterization of his linguistic personality. The author emphasizes the encyclopedic knowledge of V. V. Vinogradov, his passion for scientific research in the following spheres: Pushkin studies, Gogol's language, "literary phraseology", a textbook on modern Russian literary language, Lev Tolstoy, Saltykov-Shchedrin, research on linguistics, newspaper journalism, etc. Letters show the features of the linguistic personality of the unbroken scientist: exceptional diligence ("...I work very hard. Even to the point of exhaustion"), attention to details, sharp, critical mind, cognitive thinking, aphorism, self-irony. His linguistic and philosophical meditations, observations on the events that took place in the scientific community and on himself are a mirror of the worldview and value attitudes of a talented person who is an exponent of high truth in contrast to the momentary context of reality. The letters provide rich material for compiling a psycholinguistic portrait of V. V. Vinogradov. They allow us to reconstruct previously unknown facts from his biography and include them in the context of the annals of Russian science.

About the authors

O. V. Nikitin

Petrozavodsk State University

Email: olnikitin@yandex.ru
Petrozavodsk

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