LITERARY CANONIZATION AND ITS MECHANISMS WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE SAMIZDAT JOURNAL “OBVODNY KANAL”

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the study of literary canonization in Soviet samizdat, using the literary-critical journal Obvodny Kanal as a case study. The journal was one of the key platforms for shaping the unofficial literary canon in the 1980–1990s. Thanks to its flexible editorial policy and thoughtful organization of publications, the journal played an important role in the canonization of authors such as L.L. Aronzon, D.V. Bobyshev, I.A. Brodsky, and D.Y. Dar. The research identifies the main methods of selecting and representing significant figures, including the creation of specialised sections where the works of canonised authors were accompanied by critical articles, biographical materials, and memoirs. The canonisation process in Obvodny Kanal is characterised by both a scholarly and systematic approach, focusing on in-depth philological analysis of the works, and a tendency to mythologise authors by using cultural codes to create a specific image of them. The main factors of canonisation include the uniqueness of these authors’ poetic style, the alignment of their creative resources with the aims of samizdat, and their significant role in the cultural life of the underground community. The influence of samizdat canonisation on the broader cultural dynamics of the post-Soviet literary process is evident in how these canonised writers became widely recognised as classics. Thus, the article confirms the importance of samizdat as a key instrument in integrating unofficial literature into the contemporary literary canon and preserving cultural memory.