Problems of culture in the works of Vsevolod Ivanov

Statement of the problem. The article is a continuation of our work devoted to the problems of the history of culture in the creative work of Vsevolod Ivanov in the 1940s-1960s. A new stage in the formulation of the problem, which makes it possible to trace the origins of the theme of culture in Ivanov's creative work, became possible thanks to the publication of unknown texts by the writer of his early Siberian period. The purpose of the article is to analyze the theme of culture in Ivanov's early work, to examine the evolution of the writer's views. Methodology. The article uses comparative historical textual methods, the method of historical and cultural commentary. Research results. The theme of culture is considered for the first time on the material of Ivanov's works of the 1910s, the evolution of his views is traced, which were formed in a dialogue with regional ideas and the concept of the East and West by A.M. Gorky. It is noted that the early works of the writer reflected anxiety for the fate of cultural values in the modern world. Particular attention is paid to the spiritual values of the culture of the East, understood by Ivanov in his own way and found embodiment in his work. The analysis of the story “The Return of the Buddha” and the third the edition of the novel “The Edessa Shrine” shows how the writer's attitude to the East changed. Conclusions. The analysis of Ivanov's works devoted to the theme of culture shows that this problem interested the writer from the very beginning of his creative path. Reflecting on the fate of the outgoing culture of Siberia in early works, dreaming of the possibility of the influence of the ancient East cultures on the historical choice of Russia and Europe in the 1920s, in the story “The Return of the Buddha”, the writer, by the end of the 1950s, obviously, comes to the conclusion that it is impossible for the forces of culture to resist the development of civilization.