Alexander Walentinowitsch Vampilow

Vampilov monument on Karl-Marx-Strasse in front of the Irkutsk Dramatic Theater

Alexander Valentinovich Wampilow ( Russian Александр Валентинович Вампилов ;. Scientific transliteration Aleksandr Valentinovič Vampilov , * 19th August 1937 in Cheremkhovo , Irkutsk Oblast ; † 17th August 1972 in Lake Baikal between Baikal and Listvyanka ) was a Soviet writer and playwright .

Life

Wampilow was born in Cheremkhovo in 1937 and grew up as the fourth and youngest son of a family of teachers in Kutulik . His mother worked as a math teacher and the father as the director of a school in Kutulik. A few months after his birth, the father was denounced , arrested and shot in early 1938. He was posthumously rehabilitated in 1957. Wampilow appeared in amateur play groups at a young age, wrote poetry and was the editor of the school newspaper. From 1955 to 1960 he studied at the Faculty of Philology and History at the University of Irkutsk . In 1958, while he was still a student, ten short humorous stories appeared for the first time in oblast and university newspapers under the pseudonym A. Sanin, which was made up of his first and nicknames (Alexander and Sanja). In October 1959 he began to work for the Irkutsk newspaper "Sovetskaya Molodjosch" in the field of literature and later headed a department. In addition to various reports on events in the vicinity, he wrote other stories. In 1961 his first book appeared under the title Стечение обстоятельств ( Entangled Circumstances ) with humorous stories and scenes. From September of the same year he took a one-year course at the Komsomol Central School and after his return became the editorial secretary. Besides working for the newspaper he started plays to write. There he created his first works , the story of the Metteur ( История с метранпажем ) and twenty minutes with an angel ( Двадцать минут с ангелом ), which later along the stage work province anecdotes ( Провинциальные анекдоты formed).

Vampilow left the newspaper "Sowjetskaya Molodjosch" in 1964 and devoted himself exclusively to his artistic work. In the same year two books with collected works by Irkutsk authors Ветер странствий ( Windwanderings ) and Принцы уходят из сказок ( The Princes Disappear from Fairy Tales ), which also contained stories from Vampilov, were published. In total he wrote about 70 short stories, plays, short stories , articles and anecdotes .

In 1964, the first one-act play The House with Windows to the Field ( Дом окнами в поле ) appeared in the magazine "Theater" . In the same year he published his first major stage work, a comedy called Das Staatsexamen or also known as Farewell in June ( Прощание в июне ). The piece advocates the dismantling of well-founded social barriers, youth, freedom, individuality and love. It was performed in 1966 as Vampilov's first work in Klaipėda , Lithuania . As a result of the Chitinsk Young Writers' Seminar, he was proposed for admission to the Union of Writers of the USSR in the fall of 1965 and was accepted on February 16, 1966. From 1965 to 1967 Vampilow studied in Moscow at the Maxim Gorky Literature Institute . In 1965 he completed the comedy The Elderly Son ( Старший сын ) and in 1968 the three-act tragicomedy Duck Hunt ( Утиная охота ). The rebellious work is about a social outsider who vacillates between the pressure to adapt and the desire for individuality.

At the beginning of 1971 he completed work on the drama Last Summer in Chulimsk ( Прошлым летом в Чулимске ). The stage work received positive reviews, but was only shown in provincial theaters. Vampilov's works were only performed in Moscow and Leningrad in the early 1970s. Lenfilm secured the film rights for Сосновых родников .

Vampilov died in August 1972, two days before his 35th birthday, in a boat accident on Lake Baikal. He drowned while his companion could be saved.

reception

Wampilov's pieces were among the most played in the Soviet Union from 1967 to 1970. In 1971 there were 1,028 performances in 28 theaters, in 1972 1,613 performances in 44 theaters. His works also reached an international audience (mainly in the ČSSR and the GDR ), some were made into films or appeared as radio plays; There were also performances on some German stages. Wampilow, as a representative of “village literature” and literary pioneer of the Soviet “ thaw period ” of the 1960s, dealt with contemporary problems that have not lost their relevance. He described the Soviet province and the cheerful and tragic sides of the everyday life of the residents with signs of social decline. The protagonists are often in confrontation with their fellow men and society. An exaggerated, grotesque main plot in Wampilow's plays disrupts the conflict structure that is common in drama. The predominantly positive reception of his work is due to the high artistic quality of the dramas, the demanding theatrical entertainment and the critical mood. The viewer does not find a “new person” who sets social norms in developed socialism. The style of the works often ran counter to the principles of socialist realism .

Honors

Memorial stone in Listvyanka

In November 1972 the playwright was posthumously awarded the Irkutsk Komsomol Prize for the play Abschied in June . The asteroid (3230) Vampilov , squares, parks and streets are named after him. In 1992 a memorial stone was erected not far from the site of the accident. In the early 2000s, monuments were erected in Irkutsk, Moscow, Cheremkhovo and Kutulik. There is a Vampilow Museum in Kutulik and the local library bears his name. Name bearers are also a theater, an oblast fund, a cultural center and since 1987 the "All-Russian Irkutsk Vampilov Theater Festival of Modern Dramaturgy".

Works (selection)

Dramas

Multi-act

• Farewell in June ( Прощание в июне , 1966)
• The elder son ( Старший сын , 1968)
• Duck hunting ( Утиная охота , 1970)
• Last summer in Chulimsk ( Прошлым летом в Чулимске , 1972)

One act

• The house with the windows facing the field ( Дом окнами в поле , 1963)
• Provincial anecdotes ( Провинциальные анекдоты ), 1970, consisting of two parts:

  First anecdote. The story with the butcher

  Second anecdote. Twenty minutes with an angel ( Двадцать минут с ангелом )

• Success ( Успех )
• The incomparable Nakonechnikow ( Несравненный Наконечников , unfinished play, 1972)

prose

• From notebooks ( Из записных книжек )
• Letters ( Письма )

Filmography (selection)

• Last summer in Chulimsk ( Прошлым летом в Чулимске , 1975 and 2014)
• The older son ( Старший сын , 1976 and 2006)
• The story with the butcher ( История с метранпажем , 1979)
• The house with the windows facing the field ( Дом окнами в поле , 1979)
• Vacation in September ( Отпуск в сентябре , 1979, based on duck hunting )
• The incomparable Nakonechnikov ( Несравненный Наконечников , 1981)
• Valentina ( Валентина , 1981, based on Last Summer in Chulimsk )
• Twenty minutes with an angel ( Двадцать минут с ангелом , 1989)
• Provincial anecdotes ( Провинциальный анекдот , 1990, based on a novella from provincial anecdotes )
• Farewell in June ( Прощание в июне , 2003)
• Paradise huts ( Райские кущи , 2015, based on duck hunting )

literature

• Wolfgang F. Schwarz: Alexander Wampilow: Test case of criticism. Observations on the production and reception situation of the newer Soviet Russian drama . Literature and language development in Eastern Europe in the 20th century. Ed .: E. Reissner. Berlin-Verl., Berlin 1982, p. 166-179 .
• Русская литература XX века. Прозаики, поэты, драматурги . In: Биобиблиографический словарь . tape 1 , p. 327-331 (Russian).

Web links

Commons : Alexander Walentinowitsch Wampilow  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Alexander Walentinowitsch Wampilow in the catalog of the German National Library
• Alexander Walentinowitsch Vampilow in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Yevgenia Korobkowa: 15 фактов, которые вы хотели узнать о драматурге Александре Вампилове. Vechernaya Moskva, August 18, 2013, archived from the original on January 15, 2017 ; accessed on August 6, 2020 (Russian). 
2. ↑ ^{a b} Биография Александра Вампилова. RIA Novosti, August 17, 2017, accessed January 30, 2018 (Russian). 
3. ↑ Alexander Wampilow - The state examination or farewell in June. JUSSENHOVEN & FISCHER, accessed on January 31, 2018 . 
4. ↑ Alexander Vampilow duck hunting. JUSSENHOVEN & FISCHER, accessed on January 31, 2018 . 
5. ↑ Fyodor Rassakov: Последние дни и часы народных любимцев . In: Как уходили кумиры . 2009, ISBN 5-699-10035-0 (Russian).
6. ↑ Schwarz, p. 168
7. ↑ Radio play: The older son. Deutschlandfunk , accessed on January 31, 2018 . 
8. ↑ Niklaus Hablützel: Don't be afraid of people. TAZ , accessed January 31, 2018 . 
9. ↑ playwrights: Alexander Wampilow. henschel SCHAUSPIEL, accessed on January 31, 2018 . 
10. ↑ Klaus Pfutzner: Tableau calm, sunk pain. Neues Deutschland , April 18, 1995, accessed January 31, 2018 . 
11. ↑ Schwarz, p. 172
12. ↑ Schwarz, pp. 173, 178-179