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- “To drive a cow in” or “to hoop a barrel”: on Leo Tolstoy’s work on the short story “Kornei Vasiliev”
- Andreeva V.G. “To Drive a Cow” or “to Fill a Barrel with a Hoop”: On Leo Tolstoy’s Work on the Story “Kornei Vasiliev”. Vestnik of Kostroma State University, 2026, vol. 32, no. 3, pp. 108–115. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.34216/1998- 0817-2026-32-3-108-115
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.34216/1998-0817-2026-32-3-108-115
- УДК: 821.161.1.09«19»
- EDN: VHBRIE
- Publish date: 2026-09-10
- Annotation: This article focuses on Leo Tolstoy’s short story “Kornei Vasiliev” (included in the book “Circle of Reading”), analyzing it as a standalone, complete work with its own creative history. Motifs, details, and particulars presented in drafts of the story are explored, either condensed, relegated to the subtext of the final work, or, conversely, transformed and developed in light of Tolstoy’s later ideas. Analysis of these drafts, both previously published in the Jubilee Complete Works and those held in the Manuscript Department of the Leo Tolstoy State Museum, allowed for a more thorough and in-depth analysis of Tolstoy’s conception, drawing parallels between the story’s episodes and scenes and key themes in the writer’s later work. Important connections are made between the story and “Hadji Murat”, which highlight the significance of memories in an individual’s life.
- Keywords: L.N. Tolstoy, “Kornei Vasiliev”, creative history, concept, memories, idea of improvement, motive of forgiveness.
- Literature list: Andreeva V.G. «L.N. Tolstoi ob usadbe XX v.: ot ‘tsivilizatsii mashin’ k novomu prirodnomu domu vostochnogo tipa” [“L.N. Tolstoy on the 20th-Century Estate: From the ‘Civilization of Machines’ to a New Natural House of the Eastern Type”]. Dva veka russkoi klassiki [Two Centuries of Russian Classics], 2025, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 298–327. https://doi.org/10.22455/2686-7494-2025-7-3-298-327. (In Russ.) Andreeva V.G. Khudozhestvennoe vremia v povesti L.N. Tolstogo «Khadzhi-Murat» [Artistic Time in L.N. Tolstoy’s Story “Hadji Murat”]. Filologicheskie nauki. Nauchnye doklady vysshei shkoly [Two Centuries of Russian Classics], 2023, no. 2, pp. 62–71. https://doi.org/10.20339/PhS.2-23.062. (In Russ.) Dubova M.A. Kontseptualnoe soderzhanie rasskaza L.N. Tolstogo «Kornei Vasilev» [Conceptual Content of L.N. Tolstoy's Story “Kornei Vasiliev”]. Nasledie L.N. Tolstogo v paradigmakh sovremennoi gumanitarnoi nauki [The Heritage of L.N. Tolstoy in the Paradigms of Contemporary Humanities]. Tula, TGPU Publ., 2018, pp. 208–213. (In Russ.) Kocheshkova L.E. «Gomerovskoe» v rasskaze L.N. Tolstogo «Kornei Vasilev»: k probleme poetiki pozdnikh proizvedenii pisatelia [“Homericˮ in L.N. Tolstoy’s Short Story “Kornei Vasilievˮ: On the Problem of the Poetics of the Writer's Late Works]. Materialy nauchnykh sessii 2022 g. v gosudarstvennom muzee L.N. Tolstogo [Proceedings of the 2022 Scientific Sessions at the L.N. Tolstoy State Museum]. Moscow, RG-Press Publ., 2023, pp. 165–172. (In Russ.) Nikolaeva S.Iu. F.I. Tiutchev i I.S. Turgenev v vospriiatii L.N. Tolstogo (kniga «Krug chteniia») [F.I. Tyutchev and I.S. Turgenev in the Perception of L.N. Tolstoy (the book “Circle of Reading”)]. Vestnik Tverskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Ser.: Filologiia [Bulletin of Tver State University. Series: Philology], 2019, no. 1 (60), pp. 41–50. (In Russ.) Romanov D.A. Put’ geroia v rasskaze L.N. Tolstogo «Kornei Vasilev» [The Hero's Journey in L.N. Tolstoy's Short Story “Kornei Vasiliev”]. «Malaia proza» L.N. Tolstogo nachala XX veka: iazyk i stil [L.N. Tolstoy's “Short Prose” of the Early 20th Century: Language and Style]. Tula, Tulskii poligrafist Publ., 2025, pp. 6–12. (In Russ.) Sedov A.V. Osmyslenie problem sotsialnoi spravedlivosti v «Kruge chteniia» L.N. Tolstogo [Understanding the Problems of Social Justice in L.N. Tolstoy's “Circle of Reading”]. Problemy sotsialnoi spravedlivosti i sovremennyi mir [Problems of Social Justice and the Modern World]. Cherepovets, Cherepovets State University Publ., 2016, pp. 24–29. (In Russ.) Serebrovskaia E.S. «Kornei Vasilev» L.N. Tolstogo [“Korney Vasilievˮ by L.N. Tolstoy]. Tolstoi L.N. Poln. sobr. soch.: v 90 t. T. 42 [Complete Works: in 90 vols., vol. 42]. Moscow, Art Literature Publ., 1957, pp. 599–604. (In Russ.) Tuliakova A.A. Chitatel na raspute: «dubletnye siuzhety» v «Kruge chteniia» L.N. Tolstogo [Reader at a Crossroads: “Double Plots” in L.N. Tolstoy’s “Circle of Reading”]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Tver State University. Series: Philology], 2018, no. 430, pp. 39–44. (In Russ.) Zhdanov V.A. Ktvorcheskoi istorii rasskaza L.N. Tolstogo «Kornei Vasilev» [On the Creative History of L.N. Tolstoy’s Short Story “Kornei Vasiliev”]. Ot «Slova o polku Igoreve» do «Tikhogo Dona»: sb. st. k 90-letiiu N.K. Piksanova [From “The Tale of Igor's Campaign” to “And Quiet Flows the Don”: a Collection of Articles for the 90th Anniversary of N.K. Piksanov]. Leningrad, Nauka Publ., 1969, pp. 150–159. (In Russ.)