In 1927 issues seven and eight of the well-known literary journal

[

] caused a sensation. They introduced Iurii Olesha’s novel

[

] to the Soviet reading public. Positive reviews followed from both specialized periodicals like

[

] and mass circulation newspapers such as

. Reviewers initially saw

as an attack on outdated bourgeois values, but Olesha was soon under fire because readers sympathized more with the characters who embodied, in the eyes of Soviet officials, those very “negative” values. Charged with “formalism”, in other words with focusing on form at the expense of content (meaning the Party line), Olesha found himself in an ambiguous, and potentially dangerous, position…

1907 words

Citation: Rowley, Alison. "Zavist'". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 April 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=24344, accessed 21 November 2024.]

• View recommended reading for this article