From “The Life of Arsenyev” by I. Bunin
to “The Gift” by V. Nabokov. Part 1
Bunin’s novel “The Life of Arsenyev” is a completely new model, different from the classics
of the 19 th century. In the novel “The life of Arsenyev” several themes are developed in a new
way, in particular, the theme of aristocratic genealogy, it is deliberately deployed in all the
richness of its cultural and historical semantics. The compositional rhythm of Bunin’s novel is
subject, as often in the stories of this author, to elegiac laws with alternating and contrasting
semantics of death, breakage, failure and rebirth, connection, love, life and creativity.
Nabokov reproduces in the novel “The gift” many features of the model developed by Bunin:
poetic name and literary genealogy of the character. Expansion of literary and cultural subtexts through the development of genealogical and travel motifs; the elegiac alternation of the
theme of death, rebirth and its connection with the eventual Nabokov plot.
Anisimova E. E. Tvorchestvo V. A. Zhukovskogo v retseptivnom soznanii russkoy
literatury pervoy poloviny XX veka [V. A. Zhukovsky’s creativity in the receptive consciousness of Russian literature of the first half of the 20 th century]. Krasnoyarsk, Siberian Federal University Press, 2016, 467 p. (in Russ.)
Ashukina-Zenger M. O vospominaniyakh V. V. Boborykina o Lermontove [About
V. V. Boborykin’s memories of Lermontov]. In: Literaturnoe nasledstvo [The Literary
heritage]. Moscow, USSR Academy of Sciences Publ., 1948, vol. 45–46, p. 749–754.
(in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Vospominaniya [Memories]. Paris, Renaissance, 1959, 274 p. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Bunin v svoikh dnevnikakh [Bunin in his diaries]. Moscow, Book on
demand, 2011, 188 p. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Ustami Buninykh: dnevniki Ivana Alekseevicha i Very Nikolaevny
i drugie arkhivnye materialy [Through the mouth of the Bunins: the diaries of Ivan
Alekseevich and Vera Nikolaevna and other archival materials]. Frankfurt am Main,
Posev Publ., 2005, vol. 2, 431 p. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Istoki dney [The Life of Arseniev. The origins of the
days]. Paris, Publishing house “Contemporary Papers”, 1930, 264 p. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Kn. 1 [The Life of Arseniev. Book 1]. Sovremennye
zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1928, vol. 34, p. 5–75. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Kn. 2 [The Life of Arseniev. Book 2]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1928, vol. 35, p. 5–72. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Kn. 3 [The Life of Arseniev. Book 3]. Sovremennye
zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1928, vol. 37, p. 5–56. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Kn. 4 [The Life of Arseniev. Book 4]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1929, vol. 40, p. 5–63. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Kn. 5, gl. I–XIV [The Life of Arseniev. Book 5, chapters I–XIV]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1933, vol. 52, p. 5–65.
(in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Zhizn’ Arsenieva. Kn. 5, gl. XV–XVI] [The Life of Arseniev. Book 5,
chapters XV–XVI]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1933, vol. 53, p. 5–
26. (in Russ.)
Bunin I. A. Collected works. In 9 vols. Moscow, Fiction, 1966, vol. 6. (in Russ.)
Gershteyn E. Sud’ba Lermontova [Lermontov’s Fate]. Moscow, Fiction, 1986,
351 p. (in Russ.)
Dolinin A. A. Kommentariy k romanu Vladimira Nabokova “Dar” [The commentary on the novel “The Gift” by Vladimir Nabokov]. Moscow, New Publishing House,
2019, 648 p. (in Russ.)
Dvinyatina T. M. Ivan Bunin: zhizn’ i poeziya [Ivan Bunin: life and poetry]. In: Bunin I. A. Stikhotvoreniya [Poems]. In 2 vols. Intr., comp., prep. of the text, notes by
T. Dvinyatina. St. Petersburg, Pushkin House Publ., Vita Nova, 2014, vol. 1, p. 5–91.
(in Russ.)
Kapinos E. V. Poeziya primorskikh Al’p: rasskazy I. A. Bunina 1920-kh godov [Poetry of the coastal Alps: the stories of I. A. Bunin of the 1920s]. Moscow, Languages of
Slavic Cultures, 2014, 340 p. (in Russ.)
Kuznetsova G. N. Grasskiy dnevnik [Grasse diary]. Moscow, Olympus, AST Publ.,
2001, 416 p. (in Russ.)
Letopis’ zhizni i tvorchestva I. A. Bunina [Тhе сhronicle of the life and work
of I. A. Bunin]. Comp. by S. N. Morozov. Moscow, Institute of World Literature RAS,
2011, vol. 1 (1870–1909), 944 p. (in Russ.)
Nedumov S. I. Lermontovskiy Pyatigorsk [Pyatigorsk of Lermontov]. Grozny, Book
Publishing House, 2011, 264 p. (in Russ.)
Sirin V. Dar [The Gift]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1937, vol. 63,
p. 5–87. (in Russ.)
Sirin V. Dar [The Gift]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1937, vol. 64,
p. 98–150. (in Russ.)
Sirin V. Dar [The Gift]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1937, vol. 65,
p. 5–70. (in Russ.)
Sirin V. Dar [The Gift]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1938, vol. 66,
p. 5–42. (in Russ.)
Sirin V. Dar [The Gift]. Sovremennye zapiski [Contemporary Papers], 1938, vol. 67,
p. 69–146. (in Russ.)
From “The Life of Arsenyev” by I. Bunin
to “The Gift” by V. Nabokov. Part 1 // Сюжетология и сюжетография. 2020. № 2. Pp. 393–406. DOI: 10.25205/2410-7883-2020-2-393-406.