Serapion Brothers: History and Photos

After the October and February revolutions, which launched a huge country in a completely opposite direction, Russia began a rapid flowering of all forms of modernism in art. The literary group "Serapion Brothers" did not last long, however, left a notable mark in the history of literature and in the personal life of each of its participants. The brand of "serapion" remained with them until the end of the day. In the early 1920s it was one of the most famous literary associations, writers such as Mikhail Zoshchenko, Veniamin Kaverin, Lev Luntz, Vsevolod Ivanov, Mikhail Slonimsky came out of his ranks. Flushing on the horizon of young Soviet prose and quickly burned, the "Serapion Brothers" managed to nevertheless illuminate new paths to many other writers.

Prehistory

In 1919, the publishing house "World Literature" created the Studio for artistic translation. However, soon the meetings of the youth, who came to master this art, began to be more comprehensive. Talks about literature, the skill of the writer and the essence of art were the main content of the meetings. Soon they were transformed into a Literary Studio. The initiator of her organization was N. Gumilev, and the leadership was assumed by K. Chukovsky. Andrei Bely, N. Zamyatin, K. Chukovsky, N. Gumilev, V. Shklovsky held seminars at the meetings and gave lectures. The number of followers expanded and by 1920 was 350 people. Literators, who became closely in the framework of this studio, separated and created the group "Serapion Brothers". Members of this union insisted that they are not a literary school, but only a commonwealth of critics, prose writers and poets bound by common views on the content of art.

Poetics of the name of the literary association

If it were not for the book of short stories "The Serapion Brothers" (Hoffmann), which for a long time lay on the publisher's table, the name of the friendship of young writers could be different. However, it was in tune with the main principle of the group. In the book Hoffmann, containing 22 stories, tells of a group of friends who met after a long separation. One of them talks about his meeting with the insane earl, who is convinced of the illusory nature of the surrounding reality. Refusal of reality, withdrawal to the world of free creativity, which constitute the main idea of this work, could not better characterize the aspirations of young writers.

Who are the writers? "Serapion Brothers": the composition of the participants

Almost immediately after the creation, admission to the literary grouping of new members stopped. The first - and the last composition of the participants was immortalized in a photo of 1921. It depicts Lev Luntz, Nikolai Nikitin, Mikhail Slonimsky, Ilya Gruzdev, Konstantin Fedin, Vsevolod Ivanov, Mikhail Zoshchenko, Veniamin Kaverin, Elizaveta Polonskaya, Nikolai Tikhonov. Approximately in this order they were accepted into the group. Some researchers attributed Viktor Shklovsky to the list of participants, although he himself considered his work to be incompatible with any associations.

The content of meetings of the Serapions

The literary group "Serapion Brothers" chose Slonimsky's room as the venue for his meetings. His image even became the emblem of the group. Literary critics agree that meetings took place on Saturdays, although in fact, like-minded people could gather on another day of the week. At the meetings the works of the members of the group were read, which were then discussed in detail and disciplined. Writers argued about art, considered new ways of developing literature. One can guess that the discussions were hot and emotional.

The output of the almanac

The only joint collection of the Serapions was released in 1922. He left in Russia, and then in Berlin, supplemented by I. Gruzdev's article "Face and Masks". Even before the release of the almanac, the works of the members of the group "Serapion Brothers" were well known in literary circles. Among the admirers of their work was M. Gorky, which is evident from his correspondence with Shklovsky. He was keenly interested in the release of new works and gave them very high marks.

Y. Tynyanov was much more restrained. In his article "Serapion Brothers. Almanach I "he characterizes the collection as the first step that is not completely complete, where there are not completely completed stories (and the ones made are not always better). The champion of "fine clarity" M. Kuzmin and did disapprovingly said about this almanac, writing that the stories of the Serapions of 1920 in 1922 are already outdated.

Nicknames of brothers

Initially, the meetings of the "Serapion Brothers" strongly resembled the meetings of the "Arzamas Society of Unknown People", which united the writers of the Pushkin circle. From there was taken the idea of comic nicknames, which remained for writers for the rest of their lives. Some of them are mentioned by V. Posner in a letter to AM Remizov. I. Gruzdev received the nickname "brother-superior", N. Nikitin - "brother-canonarch", L. Lunts - "brother-buffoons", V. Posner - "young brother", V. Shklovsky - "brother-brawler". Without a nickname there were Zamyatin, Zoshchenko and N. Chukovsky. Often A. Akhmatova, B. Annenkov, I. Odoyevtseva and others visited the meetings. They also participated in discussions and disputes, although they were not part of the group. In addition, there was also the "institution of the Serapion maidens", which included M. Alonkina, L. Sazonova, Z. Gatskevich (later Nikitin's wife), I. Kaplan-Ingel (later Slonimsky's wife).

Lev Luntz and the Serapion Brothers

Young 20-year-old Lev Luntz became the group's undisputed leader. Clever, always lively, incredibly talented - in the first meetings of the serapions he was the one who "warmed up" his colleagues. Lunts lived only 23 years, but managed to leave a notable mark in the hearts of writers. Obituary Luntz wrote M. Gorky, N. Berberova, Yu. Tynyanov, K. Fedin. He was called the "youth faun", the splashing over the edge of the energy of this guy filled all the meetings of the group called "Serapion Brothers". The literary association elected him his ideological leader. The young man even wanted to devote a whole collection, however, did not have time to do it.

By the end of the 1920s, Lunts's work received an indelible stamp as deeply anti-Soviet and reactionary, and was no longer published. The reason for such an attitude can be understood if you read Lunts's article "Why we are the Serapion Brothers", which became the manifesto of the group. In it he proclaims the principles of freedom of creativity, life without statute and regulations.

The Fate of Unification

For the Soviet state, the existence of an independent group of writers was very undesirable. In 1922 in the journal "Literary Notes" appeared autobiographical sketches of serapions. After that, a whole campaign began to disunite the writers, headed by Lunacharsky and Trotsky. The task was clearly set: to subordinate the group to its will. Those who agree to cooperate with the authorities were promised that their works will be printed. For the Soviet writer, this has already been a huge success. Some of the Serapions entered the "Circle" artel, which existed with the money of the party.

Gradually the meetings became less and less. Officially, the group was not dissolved, friendly relations between its members were maintained throughout life. However, on the anniversary evening in 1926, Zoscheko did not come. Until 1929, the association "Serapion Brothers" still smoldered in the literary environment. With the advent of the Writers' Union, the existence of any kind of independent association, in general, became impossible.

Despite its short history, the group "Serapion Brothers" was of great importance for Russian literature of the 20th century. A whole series of remarkable writers came out of her environment, but the fact that in 1946, in the famous decree of Zhdanov, its members were again mentioned, how much noticeable trace it left us. So, many years after the breakup, the Soviet punitive hand took out recalcitrant writers, bringing down on Zoshchenko, Tikhonov and Slonimsky a series of prohibitive sanctions.