Genre uniqueness of literary-critical books by Alexander Izmaylov

The article deals for the first time with the problem of genre originality of literary-critical books of Alexander Alekseevich Izmaylov, one of the leading representatives of feuilleton criticism of the early 20th century. The article consists of two interrelated parts. The first provides a theoretical and historical-literary comprehension of the phenomenon of the critical book within the framework of an interdisciplinary approach on the borders of literary history, literary criticism and book studies. It is proposed to approach the editions of critical articles, which became widespread in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as attempts to create a special integral form, reflecting the culture of book writing in the Silver Age. In this regard, the reasons for the rise of critical books in this period are due to the expansion of the scope of the institution of criticism, the tendency to strengthen its independent role, criticism as creativity, and the problem of the book in the early twentieth century, which was topical for the generation of Symbolists. The author believes that one should also take into account the connection between genreforming factors in the lyrical cycle and in critical books. The second part characterizes the features of the genre poetics of Izmaylov's three books and also emphasizes some aspects of their creative history and reception. Unlike the critical publications of modernists addressed to a limited circle of connoisseurs, Izmaylov's books are initially addressed to the widest range of readers, which, in turn, determines their genre uniqueness. The title complex, including the titles of individual articles, the title of the book itself, the subtitle, and the sections, is analyzed. Titles of all levels, as a rule, carry a significant expressive load expressing the author's attitude to the writer, the work, the raised problem through sound, metaphorical titles. The whole trilogy is addressed not to the past, but to the transitional era of the turn of the 20th century, replenishing a number of editions devoted to modernity, which together form a kind of critical history of the latest Russian literature. It is substantiated that it is the attention to the problem of created writers' reputations that becomes one of the most important binding motives of all three books. In Literary Olympus, a peculiar dual hierarchy of those writers' names that should be included in the pantheon of contemporary literature is built up. The degree of importance of this or that figure is reflected in the compositional order of the articles. The books Literary Olympus and Variegated Banners are typologically on a par with the so-called "genre" books, i.e., they include articles of a certain genre. The conclusion is made that Izmaylov's books, which became a kind of a result of his observations on contemporary literature, are not just a reprint of previously published articles, but represent a formal-content integrity, which became a result of the author's purposeful efforts. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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