Reception of Igor Savitsky in 20th-21st Century Literature

This article examines the figure of Igor Vitalyevich Savitsky (1915–1984), an artist, collector, art historian, and founder of the Nukus Museum. The study aims to decode historical and cultural allusions to Savitsky's personality and activities within literary texts. To this end, the analysis focuses on David Markish’s novel “The White Circle”, Hamid Ismailov’s novella “Georgy Chegodaev: A Second Soul, or a Letter to London”, and Suhbat Aflatuni’s short story “Vozrozhdenie Island”. The paper provides a survey of non-fiction literature concerning Savitsky, including memoirs by Militsa Zemskaya, Galina Uspenskaya, and Marinika Babanazarova. For the first time, the unpublished play “Karasinoye Ozero” (Crucian Carp Lake, 1982) by Enna Alennik is introduced into scholarly discourse; the manuscript is held at the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. The analytical framework relies on hermeneutic and historic-literary methodologies. An analysis of Savitsky's literary persona reveals his function as a savior of the Russian avantgarde heritage. Examination of the subtext in Karasinoye Ozero demonstrates that the “oasis in the desert” motif functions as an allegory for Savitsky himself, a reading substantiated by the play's historical context and specific local details. Particular attention is paid to the title of Alennik's previously unstudied work: the contextualized “Crucian Carp Lake” is juxtaposed with the precedent, metatextual “Swan Lake”. It is argued that the play's title constitutes a reminiscence of Nikolay Oleinikov's poem. The findings are intended for scholars in cultural studies, history, and philology.

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