The concept of “overcoming symbolism” and how it was mirrored in V.M. Zhirmunsky's evaluation of the literary studies of Russian symbolists

The theoretical heritage of Russian symbolists affected not only the establishing of formalism in Russia, but also V.M. Zhirmunsky’s blossoming idea of viewing poetics as a scholarly discipline. Zhirmunsky, along with other Russian symbolists, helped nurture the view of poetics as a scholarly discipline in Russia. If the article “Those who overcame symbolism” can be called the manifesto of acmeism, then “The goals of poetics” can be called an equally brilliant manifesto of the new literary studies of the 1920s. This is why this article helps track the transformation of Zhirmunsky’s view of Russian symbolism and the context in which it took place. In his early years, and even more so in his mature works, Zhirmunsky already pointed out the impact Russian symbolists had made on the Russian literary studies. The studies show that in evaluating the scholarly ideas of Russian symbolists, as well as in evaluating symbolists’ heritage in general, Zhirmunsky maintained a critical attitude despite praising them. However, much later, in the 1960s, he outlined the great importance of symbolists’ ideas. This change mirrored the change in Zhirmunsky’s attitude towards symbolism in general. For example, in his later works Zhirmunsky pointed out the similarities in the poetics of A.A. Blok and A.A. Akhmatova, unlike his earlier works where he used to point out the differences. It was established that the concept of “overcoming symbolism” influenced Zhirmunsky’s evaluation of the Russian symbolists’ literary heritage. They intertwine and develop simultaneously by mirroring each other. The author of the article sheds light on the fact that in Zhirmunsky’s latest works