Andrei Bely literary prize is awarded to poets and prose writers for achievements in the field of Russian literature. It was established in 1978 by the editorial board of the magazine "Clock", which was a literary samizdat.
Historical context
The award was established in honor of the outstanding Soviet poet, prose writer and essayist, critic, poet Andrei Bely. Boris Nikolaevich Bugaev - this is the real name of a famous follower of symbolism and modernism in Russian literature, - wrote in the poem "First Date" in 1921:
Twenty Years Secret
Twenty years old blackened, I hear a call of love
Today, Trinity Day, -
And under the birch lace, With a prostrate good hand
I'm washed away by a sighing wave
Into undying calm.
Andrei Bely liked to call himself a seismograph, who sensitively picked up the first signs of the impending European cultural crisis, revolution, wars and burning forests. Like the Bely seismograph, a prize of his name was also created with the aim of recognizing new movements and currents in modern Russian literature.
According to the critic and poet Grigory Dashevsky:
Since its establishment in 1978, the prize has always performed a dividing function, but at different periods it laid different borders. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the award drew a line between official and independent literature and saved independent literature from the threat of clandestine literature, since any award (even if its material equivalent is a sacramental apple, bottle, ruble) is always aimed at the laureate light, anti underground by definition.
Funny characters
The founders of the award were the editors of the magazine "Watch", and Boris Ivanov, Arkady Dragomoshchenko, Boris Ostanin and other writers are considered to be the founders.
Initially, the works submitted for the competition were evaluated in three categories: Russian poetry, Russian prose, and achievements in the field of humanitarian research.
The prize awarded to the winner is expressed in the following original and symbolic items:
- a bottle of vodka, popularly "white" (namesake of the poet, one might say);
- one ruble, so that the winner would not be bored;
- green apple, as a symbol of ripe, but young talent.
First winners
Regardless of the comic material background, the literary prize of Andrei White almost immediately became an unusual and noticeable phenomenon in the cultural life of the country. The competition for the award was accompanied by the discovery of new names, especially in the first decade of its development.
For example, among those who were awarded the Andrei Bely Prize for Literature during this period were such subsequently known authors as the “Russian Salinger” - Sasha Sokolov, writer, poet, essayist; postmodernist, creator of the uncensored metropol anthology Andrei Bitov; anticipating conceptualism by Yevgeny Kharitonov.
In the poetic nomination, the laureates of these years were: lyric and open to new poetry by Olga Sedakova; Chuvash avant-garde player Gennady Aigi; Leningrad poetess, bright representative of informal culture Elena Schwartz.
Among the researchers in the field of humanities, the following were awarded: philosopher and publicist Boris Groys; culturologist, linguist, literary critic Mikhail Epstein, scientist in the field of ancient Chinese philosophy, doctor of historical sciences Vladimir Malyavin.
New nomination
Difficult nineties experienced the whole country, touched these years and the prize of Andrei Bely. A forced pause from the beginning of the nineties and a length of almost ten years, it would seem, put an end to the unusual prize.
But since 1997, the competition for the award receives a new development and format. A fourth nomination appeared, which significantly expanded the circle of participants. It was called "For Merit to the Literature", it was reviewed by the jury regularly and awarded to the most worthy laureates.
Among the winners of the zero years were not only young authors or those who created at that time, but also writers who worked actively in the previous decade.
During these years, the winners of the Andrei Bely Prize (literature) were: the romantic and futurist Viktor Sosnor; philologist and historian of literature Mikhail Gasparov; philologist and scientist, academician Vladimir Toporov; Specialist in Russian modernism, literary critic Alexander Lavrov; poet-translator of English, Spanish, French, Latin American literature Boris Dubin; writer and playwright Vladimir Sorokin; writer, essayist Alexander Goldstein; historian of philosophy and translator of philosophical literature Natalia Avtonomova; poet, one of the founders of "Moscow conceptualism" Vsevolod Nekrasov and other authors.
Among the laureates were young talents: writers and journalists Margarita Meklina, Yaroslav Mogutin; poet and philologist Mikhail Gronas, poet and priest Sergei Kruglov, as well as bright authors of the past - poet Vasily Filippov, translator and poet Elizabeth Mnatsakanova.
Compromise or raiding
During 2009, disagreements and contradictions appeared among the participants of the award committee. There is a statement or action of the “four” on limiting the powers of the founders to only one nomination “For Merits to the Literature”.
Boris Ivanov and Boris Ostanin were accused of being isolated from a real understanding and appreciation of modern literature. The answer to this challenge was a compromise with some changes among the committee members. Ivanov and Ostanin retained their powers, the composition included the poet Mikhail Aizenberg and the essayist Alexander Sekatsky.
But in 2014, the jury was dissolved and a new one was formed, in which the prize winners of past periods appeared. It was stated that in its previous form, the Andrei Bely Prize ceased to exist.
As a result of the updates, on September 24, 2014, a short list of laureates based on the changes made was published.
