The Role of Historical Sources  in Commenting on A. N. Tolstoy’s Novel Peter the Great

Occupation: Senior Researcher
Affiliation: A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Address: Russian Federation, Moscow

Journal name

Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka

Edition

Volume 82 Issue 5

Pages

109-114

Abstract

The article is devoted to the review of the main historical sources for A.N. Tolstoy’s novel Peter the Great. Textual comparison of the text of the novel with the corresponding documentary materials might solve one of the most important problems of commenting on the novel, which is how and to what extent a documentary source could influence the writer, how he used a specific source and how he changed it. A.V. Alpatov wrote that Tolstoy borrowed the outline of events and factual material from the works of historians I.I. Golikov, N.G. Ustryalov, S.M. Solovyov. The most challenging thing to establish is to what extent these works were reflected in the novel. For instance, the sixth chapter (the First Azov Campaign) makes evident the use of works by Golikov and Solovyov, but not those by Ustryalov (contrary to what Alpatov believed). This judgement might be supported by the comparison of the texts of the novel and historical sources, as well as marginalia on the publications of Golikov and Solovyov from Tolstoy’s personal library.

Keywords

Aleksey N. Tolstoy, historical novel, Peter the Great, historical sources, real-historical commentary, the role of the document in literature

Acknowledgment

This study was carried out at the A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IWL RAS) with a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 23-28-00802).

Received

22.01.2024

Publication date

29.01.2024

Number of characters

13559

Cite

GOST	Akimova A. The Role of Historical Sources in Commenting on A. N. Tolstoy’s Novel Peter the Great // Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka – 2024. – V. 82. – Issue 5 C. 109-114 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://izv-oifn.ru/S160578800028331-0-1 (circulation date: 20.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S160578800028331-0
MLA	Akimova, Anna S. "The Role of Historical Sources in Commenting on A. N. Tolstoy’s Novel Peter the Great." Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 82.5 (2024):109-114. DOI: 10.31857/S160578800028331-0
APA	Akimova A. (2024). The Role of Historical Sources in Commenting on A. N. Tolstoy’s Novel Peter the Great. Izvestiia Rossiiskoi akademii nauk. Seriia literatury i iazyka 82(5), pp.109-114 DOI: 10.31857/S160578800028331-0

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