Self-refl ection and the Search for Identity in Unoffi cial Literary Criticism (Based on the Samizdat Journal “Obvodny Kanal”)

The literary-critical journal “Obvodny Kanal” (1981–1993), one of the key samizdat publications of late-Soviet Leningrad, functioned not only as a chronicler of the intellectual life of the underground milieu, but also as a platform for deep self-refl ection and the purposeful formation of the identity of Soviet unoffi cial culture. Its critical discourse encompassed not only uncensored and offi cial literature, but also current socio-cultural events, the internal contradictions of the community itself, and philosophical and ethical orientations. Within the journal, a multifaceted critical standard emerged, combining attention to literary heritage with openness to aesthetic experimentation. Particular importance was attached to internal polemics, which contributed to the development of new value boundaries, ideological positions, and cultural responsibility. The conducted analysis of the journal’s texts makes it possible to identify four key strategies of self-refl ection: methodological refl ection, the conceptualisation of current events, counter-identifi cation, and the reconstruction of ethical values. Taken together, these represent a complex process of the formation of a morally autonomous subject under conditions of artistic isolation and cultural transformation. Thus, “Obvodny Kanal” can be understood as a comprehensive intellectual project, within which literary criticism evolved into a form of public philosophy and an instrument of self-determination for the unoffi cial community, striving for cultural legitimacy, inner purifi cation, and intergenerational continuity.