Boris Eikhenbaum

{{Short description|Russian historian (1886–1959)}} {{Use dmy|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Boris Eikhenbaum | honorific_suffix = | image =  | image_upright = | landscape =  | alt =  | caption = | native_name = Борис Эйхенбаум | native_name_lang = ru | pronunciation = | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date|1886|10|16|df=y}} | birth_place = Voronezh, Russian Empire | baptised =  | disappeared_date =  | disappeared_place = | disappeared_status = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1959|11|02|1886|10|16|df=y}} | death_place = Leningrad, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union | death_cause =  | body_discovered = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | burial_place = Bogoslovskoe Cemetery | burial_coordinates =  | monuments = | other_names = | siglum = | citizenship =  | education = Saint Petersburg State University | alma_mater = | occupation = Literary critic, historian | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = OPOJAZ | agent =  | known_for = | notable_works =  | style = | height =  | television = | title =  | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | otherparty = | movement = Russian formalism | opponents = | boards = | criminal_charges =  | criminal_penalty = | criminal_status = | spouse =  | partner =  | children = | parents =  | mother =  | father =  | relatives = Jacob Eichenbaum (grandfather)<br>Vsevolod Eikhenbahum (brother) | family = | callsign =  | awards = | website =  | module = | module2 = | module3 = | module4 = | module5 = | module6 = | signature = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | footnotes = }} '''Boris Mikhailovich Eikhenbaum'''<ref>Also transliterated '''Eichenbaum'''.</ref> ({{lang-rus|Борис Михайлович Эйхенбаум|p=ɨjxʲɪnˈbaʊm}}; 16 October 1886 – 2 November 1959) was a Russian and Soviet literary scholar and historian of Russian literature. He is a representative of Russian formalism.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sini |first=Stefania Irene |url=https://www.academia.edu/36304171/CONTRASTI_DI_FORME_Boris_%C3%88jchenbaum_teorico_della_letteratura |title=CONTRASTI DI FORME Boris Èjchenbaum teorico della letteratura}}</ref>

== Biography == Eikhenbaum was born in Voronezh, the grandson of Jewish mathematician and poet Jacob Eichenbaum.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Eichenbaum (Gelber), Jacob|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/eichenbaum-gelber-jacob|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Judaica}}</ref> His childhood and adolescence were spent there. After finishing elementary school in 1905, Eikhenbaum went to Petersburg and enrolled in the Military Medical Academy, soon thereafter in 1906, he enrolled in the biological faculty of the Free High School of P. F. Lesgaft. In parallel he studied music (violin, piano, voice). In 1907 Eikhenbaum left this school and enrolled in the Musical school of E. P. Raprof and the historical-philological faculty of Saint Petersburg State University. In 1909, Eikhenbaum abandoned professional aspirations in music, choosing in favor of philology. In this same year after two years of study in the Slavic-Russian department, Eikhenbaum transferred to the Romance-Germanic department; however, in 1911, he returned to the Slavic-Russian department. In 1912, Eikhenbaum finished his university studies. From 1913 to 1914, Eikhenbaum published in a number of periodicals, and conducted reviews of foreign literature in the newspaper «Русская молва». In 1914, Eikhenbaum began his pedagogical activities, and became a teacher in the school of Y. G. Gurevich.<ref>Carol Joyce Any, ''Boris Eikhenbaum: Voices of a Russian Formalist,'' Stanford University Press, 1994, pp. 11-16, {{ISBN|0-8047-2229-3}}</ref><ref>Николай Мельников, [http://www.lechaim.ru/ARHIV/174/d2.htm ''Борис Эйхенбаум. Жизнь в слове''] Лехаим, Октябрь 2006</ref><ref>Электронная Еврейская Энциклопедия, [https://eleven.co.il/article/15034 ''Эйхенбаум Борис'']</ref><ref>Энциклопедия Кругосвет, [http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/72/1007284/1007284a1.htm ''Эйхенбаум, Борис Михайлович'']</ref>

A key moment in the biography of Eikhenbaum was his involvement with other members of the Society for the Study of Poetic Language (OPOJAZ), which was formed in 1916. In 1918, Eikhenbaum joined OPOJAZ and participated in their research until the middle of the 1920s. Eikhenbaum provided definition and interpretation for the group,<ref>Victor Erlich, ''Russian Formalism: History, Doctrine,'' Walter de Gruyter, 1980, p. 66, {{ISBN|90-279-0450-2}}</ref> with essays such as ''Theory of the "Formal Method"'' he helped outline their approach to literature.<ref>Peter Brooks et al., ''The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism,'' Cambridge University Press, 1995, v. 8. pp 11-14, {{ISBN|0-521-30013-4}}</ref> From 1947 to 1949, Eikhenbaum was victimized by the campaign against "rootless cosmopolitanism",<ref>Hugh Mclean, [https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/books/two-decades-of-a-russian-giant.html ''Two Decades of a Russian Giant,''] The New York Times, 18 April 1982</ref><ref>Any, p. 195</ref> along with Viktor Zhirmunsky, Grigorii Gukovskii, and Mark Azadovsky, but was able to continue his science. Eikhenbaum died at the age of 73 in Leningrad, now St. Petersburg, in 1959.

== Literary works == * Pushkin as Poet and the 1825 Revolt (An Attempt at Psychological Investigation) / Пушкин-поэт и бунт 1825 года (Опыт психологического исследования), 1907. * How Gogol's ''Overcoat'' Was Made / Как сделана "Шинель" Гоголя, 1919.[http://opojaz.ru/manifests/kaksdelana.html] * Melody of Russian Lyric Poetry / Мелодика русского лирического стиха, 1922.[http://ruthenia.ru/tiutcheviana/publications/eihenbaum.html] * Young Tolstoy / Молодой Толстой, 1922. * Anna Akhmatova: An Attempt at Analysis / Анна Ахматова Опыт анализа, 1923.[http://www.akhmatova.org/articles/eikhenbaum.htm] * Lermontov. A Study in Historical-Literary Evaluation / Лермонтов. Опыт историко-литературной оценки, 1924. * Leskov and Contemporary Prose / Лесков и современная проза, 1925. * O. Henry and the Theory of the Short Story / О. Генри и теория новеллы, 1925.[http://www.opojaz.ru/ohenry/ohenry_intro.html] * Literature and Cinema / Литература и кино, 1926. * Theory of the "Formal Method" / Теория "формального метода", 1925.[http://opojaz.ru/method/method_intro.html] * Literary Mores / Литературный быт, 1927. * Leo Tolstoy: The Fifties / Лев Толстой: пятидесятые годы, 1928. * Leo Tolstoy: The Sixties / Лев Толстой: шестидесятые годы, 1931. * Leo Tolstoy: The Seventies / Лев Толстой: семидесятые годы, 1940.

== Notes == {{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading== * {{citation |last=Horowitz |first=Brian |year=2015 |title=Battling for Self-Definition in Soviet Literature: Boris Eikhenbaum's Jewish Question |journal=Znanie. Ponimanie. Umenie |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=379–392 |doi=10.17805/zpu.2015.2.41 |doi-access=free }}.

==External links== * {{Librivox author |id=15182}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eichenbaum, Boris}} Category:1886 births Category:1959 deaths Category:20th-century Russian historians Category:Burials at Bogoslovskoe Cemetery Category:Historians from the Russian Empire Category:Jewish historians Category:Jewish Russian writers Category:Literary critics from the Russian Empire Category:Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Category:Russian formalism Category:Russian literary critics Category:Russian literary historians Category:Mikhail Lermontov scholars Category:Soviet Jews Category:Soviet literary critics Category:Soviet literary historians