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Interview with V.A. Arkhipov, author of the recently published collection of poems “Russia Pushkin and Lyubov. My poetic lessons »

“Pushkin is our all” ... quite a worn out phrase. Pushkin is accepted to be respected and appreciated, because it is taught in school.
And what does Pushkin really mean to us? Do we understand him? What do we know about his life - not only “eventful”, but also inner, spiritual?

Arkhipov Vladimir Afanasyevich, a member of the Writers' Union of Russia, a graduate of the Moscow Literary Institute. Gorky, chairman of the poetry section of the Krasnodar Regional Branch of the Writers' Union of Russia, author of 16 books of poems, twice winner of the All-Russian Orthodox Literary Prize named after the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky, three times winner of the Moscow International Poetry Competition "Golden Pen", member of the Peter the Great Academy of Sciences and Arts, member correspondent of the International Academy of Poetry. The name of the poet is the library in his native Vyatka village. Honorary Citizen of the Zuevsky District of the Kirov Region. The initiator of the annual literary holidays "Vasnetsov Dali" on Vyatka. Chairman of the jury of the annual children's poetry contest "Winged Swings" in Krasnodar.

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- Vladimir Afanasyevich, now Pushkin is read a little - and this, of course, is bad. But was it really read more in the XIX century? What part of the population of the Russian Empire was familiar with the work of Pushkin?

- I think very small. Few have read Pushkin because of the illiteracy of the majority of Russian citizens. But, oddly enough, the name of Pushkin was then popular even among illiterate people and completely unfamiliar with his work.

- I wonder how did this popularity arise?

- It turns out that among the illiterate people in Russia there were various rumors about Pushkin as a national hero. According to one version, it was he who advised the king to free the peasants, since the king was very respectful of him and listened to his opinion. Another version of the same myth stated that Pushkin did not die in a duel, but. in prison, chained for what he sought again - to free the serfs.

People might not have known "Eugene Onegin" and "Boris Godunov," but they knew the name of Pushkin. How this acquaintance took place can be represented by the example of one of the works of the remarkable collector of Russian northern folklore Boris Shergin. At one time he lived among illiterate coast-dwellers and for the whole winter of 1934-1935 he read and explained Pushkin’s works to them, and then collected and wrote down their impressions. The result was a stunning tale "Pinezhsky Pushkin." So quantitatively, there were few people in Pushkin’s reading in the Russian Empire, but the spirit of Pushkin’s poetry penetrated even the most dense and illiterate strata of the Russian people.

- But in Soviet times, in the era of universal literacy, the situation has probably changed?

- Film director A. Konchalovsky in one of the TV shows once told about a curious sociological study of that time. The French peasants and Soviet collective farmers were asked: who is the most important poet of their people? The answers of the Russians were simple and obvious: the main poet is Pushkin. And the French did not manage to identify the main poet of the nation.

“But remember, in the 20th century, Pushkin was sometimes thrown off the ship of modernity, then almost canonized, declared“ our all. ” What did Pushkin become for our contemporaries?

- Yes, at the beginning of the 20th century, the futurists suggested “throwing Pushkin off the ship of modernity,” but at that time they were not trying to throw off Pushkin alone. Then there was a period of general cultural breakdown. But today no one is dumped from any ships. It is simply believed that Pushkin is outdated and does not meet the needs and aspirations of today's reader. But it is not. In 1999 Moscow streets were decorated with numerous banners with the most famous quotes from Pushkin's poems. Pushkin is not being dumped today from the ship of modernity, he is simply pushed aside from himself, as something useless, according to the principle: “Yes, of course, Pushkin is fine, but now is another time, and modern man can do without it.” “Is it necessary today to teach classical literature in schools?”
 

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Трещал мороз в лесном селенье,

Над школой – зарево снегов.

А мы писали сочиненье:

Россия, Пушкин и Любовь!

С послевоенною державой

Я рос и грелся от стихов.

На кончике пера дрожало:

Россия, Пушкин и Любовь!

Я жизнь люблю! Иду с надеждой!

Я за Отчизну встать готов!

Я повторяю, как и прежде:

Россия, Пушкин и Любовь!

But in high school, the teaching of serious works of Pushkin, and indeed of the Russian classics, should be predominant. Of course, you need to teach and masterpieces of literature of the XX century - this is indisputable. But if we lose the traditions of continuity of classical Russian literature, if the legacy of the great authors of the XIX century will be folded in a chest and safely forgotten, then - goodbye, Russia.

Maybe time will pass, and still change. It is a pity that modern boys and girls can deprive themselves of this priceless treasure - classical Russian literature, which our generation has managed to preserve and carry through all the horrors of the history of the 20th century.
I do not feel sorry for Pushkin today, but people who grow up and live without him: they lose such values, without which it is very difficult for a person to remain human.

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