Alexey Slapovsky’s prose in the perception of Andrey Nemzer

A literary critic Andrei Nemzer was one of the fi rst to draw attention to the work of Alexei Slapovsky, a writer inextricably linked with Saratov. Responses to his works have been published in newspapers and “thick” journals since the early 1990s. The list of the main characters of literature, which Nemzer compiled annually, is not complete without the name of the prose writer, and the mass of reviews is ostentatiously apologetic. Despite the fact that biased attention to the writer sparked the indignation of literary critics, Nemzer continued to popularize Slapovsky’s work. The analysis of literary-critical publications allows us to say that, as a rule, the characters of literary works fi gure as the subjects of critical refl ection. The articles feature journalistic conclusions and generalizations. Nemzer’s main message is that readers can fi nd their refl ection in Slapovsky’s characters, a prose writer vital to the new Russia. Nemzer strengthens the authority of the writer, drawing a connection between his works and the works of N. V. Gogol, L. N. Tolstoy, F. M. Dostoevsky, Z. K. Gareev, M. G. Uspensky. Nemzer intentionally deprives the review texts of evaluation. A positive opinion about the writer is not manifested in an open praise the reader is accustomed to. It is implicitly imbedded in the basis of the review and becomes visible at points of emotional tension. The critic often draws attention to the light style of Slapovsky, to his heartfelt attachment to the characters and to the city in which he grew up. For the critic the name of the writer becomes a symbol of hope in people and faith in the future.

Nemzer, prose, literature, literary criticism, newspaper criticism, journal criticism