“Genre as a memory of culture”: an essay by A.M. Gorky about Garin-Mikhailovsky and Teitel

The author of the article relies on the formula of M.M. Bakhtin: Genre is the memory of. Genre memory is one of the most important representatives of culture influencing society. The structure of the genre captures and conveys the values and horizons of culture. In this methodological context, a specific essay by A.M. Gorky, written back in the 1930s, however, which had a retrospective, and at the same time, relevant character to this day. The essay by the already famous writer and architect of Soviet culture is dedicated to two representatives of the Samara intelligentsia. In their circle, the novice journalist Maxim Gorky was back in 1895-1896. “Doublethink”, “double meaning”, “externality” permeate the content of the essay, the heroes of which were Gorky's pre-revolutionary acquaintances: engineer and writer N.G. Garin-Mikhailovsky, as well as lawyer Ya.L. Teitel. While still a novice writer, Gorky communicated with them when he lived briefly in Samara and worked in Samara Newspaper. Gorky presents his old acquaintances as people of high culture and professionalism. He compares them with the most outstanding figures of world culture: the righteous and the founders of new socio-cultural institutions. An essay dedicated to old acquaintances from Samara was written in 1925, and subsequently placed in Volume 17 of Gorky's. This volume was published only in 1952. The belief of the “Soviet classic No. 1” in a culture capable of transforming the people played a significant role in his worldview. According to the author of the article, all the activities of A.M. Gorky of the late period.He created unique cultural projects, including the academic edition of World Literature, the Life of Remarkable People series popular to this day, the Children's Literature publishing house, and the creation of creative Unions of writers, composers, and artists. In the same row is the concept of a relatively small essay dedicated to Garin-Mikhailovsky and Teitel. It is typical of the later writings and cultural projects of the writer. The meaning and structure of this essay (representing two intelligent people of the Russian province) resembles a hologram - a tiny fragment that reflects the general understanding of the role of culture by a mature writer and a global builder of culture.