“Children’s Case” by Vsevolod Nekrasov in the memory of a witness

Abstract

The collection of poems “Children’s Case” (2008) is the last book by Vsevolod Nekrasov published during his lifetime. It has a special status within Nekrasov’s legacy, including as it does poems from various periods: from the earliest (late 1950s - early 1960s) to texts that were finalized when the proofs were being checked. “Children’s Case” can be viewed as “a service of literary memory”, perceived as a deeply meaningful gesture. Since the reader naturally perceives this book as an integral work by Nekrasov himself, it seems essential to clarify certain features of the history of its creation that directly influenced its character and possible audience. These clarifications, which constitute the subject matter of the article, are made on the basis of personal memories of its authors and materials preserved in the personal archive of one of the authors, E. N. Penskaya. The book was compiled with the active participation of the poet’s wife, A. I. Zhuravleva, as well as S. V. Miturich (head of the “Three Squares” publishing house) and E. N. Penskaya. Miturich proposed a structure that was partly implemented in the publication. Zhuravleva and Penskaya influenced the selection of the poems, seeking to aim the book at the widest audience possible, including children; compared to the author’s original plans, some obviously “adult” poems were removed. The book was thus the fruit of teamwork, and Nekrasov had mixed feelings about the result (as manifested in interviews given after the book was published, and also in notes preserved in Nekrasov’s personal archive). The article presents the poet’s original plan for the book. Its subtle artistic logic, that is connected not only with essential features of Nekrasov’s poetics, but also with some important principles of construction of authorial poetic books in the 20th century, is described here in the most general terms and is yet to become the subject of philological reflection.