The collection of research papers “Russian Literature of the 20th–21st Centuries: Issues of Modern Reception” has been published. It was prepared by the Department of Russian Literature of XX–XXI Centuries, the Theory of Literature, and Humanities. The collection is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Polina Borozdina (1921–2017), Associate Professor of the Faculty of Philology, whose life and work were entwined with Voronezh State University. Her husband, a well-known historian, Professor Ilya Borozdin, also worked at the university for many years.
Polina Borozdina meticulously collected all the materials related to him, kept unique books and journals of the early 20th century. Her scientific interest in the literature of the peoples of the East is due to the role Professor Borozdin played in the development of Soviet Oriental studies. The collection includes the last long article by Polina Borozdina “On the Origins of New Orientalism. Professor I.N. Borozdin”. Letters of Ilya Borozdin to his wife from the private archive of the family were published for the first time.
A section of the collection is dedicated to the activities of Polina Borozdina. In this section, her colleagues and students described the “phenomenon of Polina Borozdina”: her research works related to the creation of a unique history of national literatures of the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, the university colloquiums held by Polina Borozdina, which have been memorable for many generations of graduates from the Faculty of Philology. In memory of the scholar, Borozdina readings have been held for a number of years in Lyceum No. 8 in Voronezh. It is the result of the efforts of Vera Timofeeva, one of the lyceum teachers, and the staff of the Department of Russian Literature of XX–XXI Centuries, the Theory of Literature, and Humanities. The event aims to attract the attention of schoolchildren to the study of literature and history.
The collection also includes research papers and materials by scientists, postgraduate students, and students, who presented at the All-Russian Scientific Conference with International Participation “Russian Literature and Culture of the Post-Soviet Period” (October 14–15, 2021). The authors are united by their desire to comprehend the works of Russian literature of the 20th century from the perspective of our time, to assess the most controversial phenomena of the contemporary literary process “sine ira et studio”.
