Yevgeny Kharitonov (poet)
Encyclopedia
Yevgeny Vladimirovich Kharitonov was a Russian
writer, poet, playwright, and theater director.
Born in Novosibirsk
, he graduated from the acting department of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
. After a brief career as an actor, he returned to university to study filmmaking as a graduate student, defending his graduate thesis on pantomime
. He wrote and directed a play, The Enchanted Island, for the Moscow Theater of Mimicry and Gesture. He led the pantomime studio of the Moskvorechye Workers' Club, and choreographed the rock band Last Chance. He died of a heart attack
on Pushkin Street in Moscow
, one day after completing the manuscript of his play Under House Arrest, which would not be published until seven years after his death. He was buried in Novosibirsk and posthumously awarded the Andrei Bely Prize
.
Among the few works Kharitonov published openly during his lifetime were several translations of contemporary German language
poetry, including that of the Austrian
Ingeborg Bachmann
. Most of his works were circulated in samizdat
periodicals such as Hours, Bypass Channel, 37, and Mitin Journal.
Kharitonov's work lies at the convergence of several currents in 20th century Russian prose. His emphasis on the distance between author and lyric subject anticipates Victor Erofeyev
and Vladimir Sorokin
; and he shares with Pavel Ulitin
(and with Proust
and Joyce
) a cryptographic, indirect approach to the encoding of emotion in events. He had a peculiarly acute awareness of the expressive properties of typewritten text. His preoccupation with typography, and his resulting mistrust of samizdat typists, may account for the fact that he typed all his manuscripts himself. It has also been conjectured that his frank descriptions of gay life
so offended the typists' sensibilities that they refused to copy his manuscripts.
Above all, Kharitonov is recognized as a founder of modern Russian gay literature, and arguably the most important gay Russian writer since Mikhail Kuzmin
. His work is inseparable from his sexuality, its legal and cultural prohibition, and its psychological dimension. As an underground writer and a gay man, he was doubly vulnerable to state repression, and had frequent encounters with the KGB
. In 1979, he was questioned as a suspect in the murder of a gay friend. As his literary star rose, the surveillance and harassment increased, and may have contributed to his fatal heart attack. Following his death, his apartment was sealed by the KGB. In order to preserve his writings, his friends broke in and stole whatever manuscripts they could, but most were later recovered by the KGB.
Russians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
writer, poet, playwright, and theater director.
Born in Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk is the third-largest city in Russia, after Moscow and Saint Petersburg, and the largest city of Siberia, with a population of 1,473,737 . It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of the Siberian Federal District...
, he graduated from the acting department of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography
The Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov), VGIK for short, is a film school in Moscow, Russia.-History:...
. After a brief career as an actor, he returned to university to study filmmaking as a graduate student, defending his graduate thesis on pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
. He wrote and directed a play, The Enchanted Island, for the Moscow Theater of Mimicry and Gesture. He led the pantomime studio of the Moskvorechye Workers' Club, and choreographed the rock band Last Chance. He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on Pushkin Street in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, one day after completing the manuscript of his play Under House Arrest, which would not be published until seven years after his death. He was buried in Novosibirsk and posthumously awarded the Andrei Bely Prize
Andrei Bely Prize
The Andrei Bely Prize is the oldest independent literary prize awarded in Russia. It was established in 1978 by the staff of Hours, the largest samizdat literary journal in Leningrad, to recognize excellence in three categories: prose, poetry, and theory...
.
Among the few works Kharitonov published openly during his lifetime were several translations of contemporary German language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
poetry, including that of the Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
Ingeborg Bachmann
Ingeborg Bachmann
Ingeborg Bachmann was an Austrian poet and author.-Biography:Bachmann was born in Klagenfurt, in the Austrian state of Carinthia, the daughter of a headmaster. She studied philosophy, psychology, German philology, and law at the universities of Innsbruck, Graz, and Vienna...
. Most of his works were circulated in samizdat
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
periodicals such as Hours, Bypass Channel, 37, and Mitin Journal.
Kharitonov's work lies at the convergence of several currents in 20th century Russian prose. His emphasis on the distance between author and lyric subject anticipates Victor Erofeyev
Victor Erofeyev
Victor Vladimirovich Erofeyev is a Russian writer. As son of a high-ranking Soviet diplomat Vladimir Erofeyev, he spent some of his childhood in Paris, which accounts for why much of his work has been translated from Russian into French, while comparatively little has reached English.Erofeyev...
and Vladimir Sorokin
Vladimir Sorokin
Vladimir Georgievich Sorokin is a contemporary postmodern Russian writer and dramatist, one of the most popular in modern Russian literature.-Biography:...
; and he shares with Pavel Ulitin
Pavel Ulitin
Pavel Pavlovich Ulitin was a Russian underground writer.-Life:Ulitin was born in Migulinsky, a Cossack village located on the Don. His father was a surveyor murdered in 1921 by White Army bandits. His mother was a doctor and highly educated, having completed the most advanced courses then...
(and with Proust
Marcel Proust
Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust was a French novelist, critic, and essayist best known for his monumental À la recherche du temps perdu...
and Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
) a cryptographic, indirect approach to the encoding of emotion in events. He had a peculiarly acute awareness of the expressive properties of typewritten text. His preoccupation with typography, and his resulting mistrust of samizdat typists, may account for the fact that he typed all his manuscripts himself. It has also been conjectured that his frank descriptions of gay life
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
so offended the typists' sensibilities that they refused to copy his manuscripts.
Above all, Kharitonov is recognized as a founder of modern Russian gay literature, and arguably the most important gay Russian writer since Mikhail Kuzmin
Mikhail Kuzmin
Mikhail Alekseevich Kuzmin was a Russian poet, musician and novelist, a prominent contributor to the Silver Age of Russian Poetry.Born into a noble family in Yaroslavl, Kuzmin grew up in St. Petersburg and studied music at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov...
. His work is inseparable from his sexuality, its legal and cultural prohibition, and its psychological dimension. As an underground writer and a gay man, he was doubly vulnerable to state repression, and had frequent encounters with the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
. In 1979, he was questioned as a suspect in the murder of a gay friend. As his literary star rose, the surveillance and harassment increased, and may have contributed to his fatal heart attack. Following his death, his apartment was sealed by the KGB. In order to preserve his writings, his friends broke in and stole whatever manuscripts they could, but most were later recovered by the KGB.
Works
- Pantomime in the Instruction of the Film Actor (Пантомима в обучении киноактера) - Dissertation, 1972.
- Tears on the Flowers (Слезы на цветах), 1993.
- Under House Arrest (Под домашним арестом), 1988.