Serapion Brothers

Serapion Brothers

▪ Russian literary group
Russian  Serapionovy Bratya,  

      group of young Russian writers formed in 1921 under the unsettled conditions of the early Soviet regime. Though they had no specific program, they were united in their belief that a work of art must stand on its own intrinsic merits, that all aspects of life or fantasy were suitable subjects, and that experiments in a variety of styles were desirable.

      The writers were admirers of E.T.A. Hoffmann, the German Romantic storyteller who wrote a series of exotic tales supposedly exchanged by a group gathered around a hermit, Serapion. Consequently, the Brothers adopted this name as indicative of their interest in the art of storytelling. Though they could not entirely eliminate social themes from their work, the Serapion Brothers introduced to them a fresh use of intricate plots, surprise endings, and techniques of mystery and suspense. They regarded much of the escapist literature of the West, such as the romantic adventure stories of Alexandre Dumas, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Rider Haggard, as superior in technical artistry to traditional Russian realism.

      The Serapion Brothers met in the House of Arts, a cultural institute established in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) by Maksim Gorky. They learned their craft in the literary workshop of the innovative elder writer Yevgeny Zamyatin (Zamyatin, Yevgeny Ivanovich). The members, most of whom were in their early 20s, included Mikhail Zoshchenko (Zoshchenko, Mikhail Mikhaylovich), Vsevolod Ivanov (Ivanov, Vsevolod Vyacheslavovich), Veniamin Kaverin, Konstantin Fedin (Fedin, Konstantin Aleksandrovich), Lev Lunts, Nikolay Nikitin, Nikolay Tikhonov (Tikhonov, Nikolay Semyonovich), Vladimir Pozner, Mikhail Slonimsky, and Viktor Shklovsky (Shklovsky, Viktor Borisovich). Their influence extended beyond their nuclear group and affected most of the other writers who remained aloof from political orthodoxy and dominated the literary scene in the early Soviet period.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Serapion Brothers — Nikolai Tikhonov, Elisaveta Polonskaya, Nikolay Nikitin, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Ilia Gruzdev,Veniamin Kaverin ] The Serapion Brothers (or Serapion Fraternity, ru. Серапионовы Братья) was a group of writers formed in St. Petersburg, Russia in 1921.… …   Wikipedia

  • Frères Sérapion — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Sérapion. Les Frères Sérapion. De gauche à droite : Konstantin Fedin, Mikhaïl Slonimski, Nikolaï Tikhonov, Elisaveta Polonskaïa, Nikolaï Nikitine, Mikhaïl Zochtchenko, Ilya Gruzdev, Benjamin Kaverine. Les… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of works by E. T. A. Hoffmann — This is a chronological list of works by E. T. A. Hoffmann.1809 18251809*“Ritter Gluck [‘Chevalier Gluck’] ” (1st ed. 1809; final ed. 1819) *:First appeared with the byline “ ndash; ndash; ndash; ndash; nn” in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung …   Wikipedia

  • Mikhail Slonimsky — For other people with the same last name, see Slonimsky. Mikhail Slonimsky Mikhail Leonidovich Slonimsky (Russian: Михаил Леонидович Слонимский; 1 August [O.S. 20 July] 1897 8 October 1972) was a Soviet writer, member of the Serapion Brothers… …   Wikipedia

  • Mikhail Zoshchenko — Born August 10, 1895(1895 08 10) Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) Died July 22, 1958( …   Wikipedia

  • Nikolai Tikhonov (writer) — Nikolai Tikhonov Tikhonov (l) 1950 Born Nikolai Semenovich Tikhonov December 4, 1896 St. Petersburg, Russian Empire …   Wikipedia

  • Society and culture in Saint Petersburg — Music in St. Petersburg, were principal stars of the Mariinsky ballet.Dmitri Shostakovich was born and brought up in St. Petersburg, and dedicated his Seventh Symphony to the city, calling it the Leningrad Symphony. He wrote the symphony while in …   Wikipedia

  • List of Russian people — The Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, featuring the statues and reliefs of the most celebrated people in the first 1000 years of Russian history …   Wikipedia

  • Léninegrad — Saint Pétersbourg Pour les articles homonymes, voir Saint Pétersbourg (homonymie). Saint Pétersbourg Санкт Петербург …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Léningrad — Saint Pétersbourg Pour les articles homonymes, voir Saint Pétersbourg (homonymie). Saint Pétersbourg Санкт Петербург …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”