The Problems of Illustrating Fiction in Theoretical Discussions of the First Third of the 20th century

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Abstract:
The article examines the discussions of figures of national culture of the first third of the last century regarding book illustration: is it needed in fiction publications for an adult audience? What should it be, what are its tasks and possibilities, how should it relate to a literary text so as not to interfere with the reader’s perception of it? All these questions were of great interest to writers, art- ists, cholars, but they were solved in completely different ways. Along with the famous article by Yu.N. Tynyanov, much less well-known remarks in this dispute are analyzed, first of all, statements by principled opponents of illustrating fiction. Among them are poets M.I. Tsvetaeva and S.P. Bobrov, art critic P.P. Muratov, literary critics Yu.N. Tynyanov and V.B. Shklovsky. Their judgments, which are of un- doubted interest from the point of view of today’s science, of course, did not destroy or abolish the art of book graphics, but significantly influenced its evolution, helped illustrators to rethink their work in a new way, to master unexpected approaches to the literature of reality.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22455/CM.2949-0510-2025-6-238-263
EDN:
https://elibrary.ru/SYTOVH
Author: Dmitry V. Fomin
About the author: Dmitry V. Fomin, PhD in History, Leading Research Fellow, Russian State Library, Vozdvizhenka St., 3/5, 119019 Moscow, Russia; Research Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts, Russian Academy of Arts, Prechistenka St., 21, 119034 Moscow, Russia. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9931-6288 E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Received: December 4, 2024
Date of Publication: February 21, 2025
Approved after reviewing : November 11, 2025
Publication Type: Research Article
For citation: Fomin, D.V. “The Problems of Illustrating Fiction in the Theoretical Discussions of the First Third of the 20th century.” Codex manuscriptus, issue 6. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2025, pp. 238–263. (In Russian) https://doi.org/10.22455/CM.2949-0510-2025-6-238-263
Keywords: illustration, book art, book graphics, theoretical discussions, literary text, word and image, interpretation.

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