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The Habitat and Habitus of the Soviet Writer: Doma tvorchestva pisatelei

Sat, November 14, 8:00 to 9:30am, Virtual Convention Platform, Room 11

Abstract

This paper discusses Soviet Doma tvorchestva pisatelei – ‘Houses of Creativity for Writers’ – as a crucial institutional context for the formation of writers. These Houses offered multiple advantages to developing writers: access to publication, translation, and publicity opportunities through social networks. (This was especially important for non-Russophone and peripheral writers). The enclosed nature of Doma tvorchestva, taken together with their highly regimented daily routine, facilitated novel contacts and interactions between establishment notables and nonconformists, as well as senior editors and burgeoning writers. Second, aspiring writers witnessed the distinctive social and professional habits of esteemed literary figures. Shoulder-to-shoulder living offered practical lessons in how to be a writer in the field of Soviet literature. In these Houses, patterns of writerly behavior could be observed, learned, emulated, and corrected, if needed, on a daily basis.

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