The 155th anniversary of Maxim Gorky’s birth was celebrated at KBSU

March 27 in the scientific and educational center of the Russian language and culture of the Kabardino-Balkarian State University named after H.M. Berbekov, with the information support of the Russian Society of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature, of which KBSU has been a member since December 2014, a scientific and educational seminar was held dedicated to the 155th anniversary of the birth of the outstanding Russian writer, playwright Maxim Gorky (real name — Alexei Maksimovich Peshkov).

The participants of the seminar were 3rd year students of the SGI in the direction «Native Philology (Russian Language and Literature)», as well as 3rd year students of the Pedagogical College of the direction «Primary Education». During the seminar, the special role of the writer in the formation of socialist realism, a new artistic trend widespread in the USSR, the main object of which was and remains the working man, was noted. It was emphasized that thanks to M. Gorky, the publishing house of the books of the series “The Life of Remarkable People” was resumed. The writer contributed to the founding of three book publishing houses — «World Literature», «Sail» and «Knowledge», which are known to this day. The participants discussed the works of the writer from different periods of his work. So, the stories “Chelkash”, “Makar Chudra”, “Old Woman Izergil”, “Song of the Petrel”, “Song of the Falcon” and many others are imbued with a romantic halo, suffering, selflessness, pathos of heroic struggle, readiness to defend bright ideals; ripening changes are felt in them, the expectation of something new is displayed. The students noted that the writer very sharply poses the problem of human freedom — freedom from circumstances, from conventions, from everyday life. His heroes are free, and this can be seen even in the landscape echoing their mood, they, in the words of the writer himself, have “the sun in their blood”.

The question of the relevance of M. Gorky’s play «At the Bottom» was also noted by the students. Most of the problems that are raised in the drama, about human dignity, about the value of human life as such, about the place of a person in this complex world, are urgent and topical. Philologists were interested in sharing their observations about the special language of the play, which very subtly conveys the moods of the characters and is an integral characteristic of them. The guys came to the conclusion that life is an undoubted and main value, a person should strive for truth and active creativity, not only for contemplation and “beautiful words”. The guys consider the phrase “A man sounds proud” as the culmination of the play, with which one cannot but agree. But still, modern youth believes that the title of a person should be supported not only by words, but also by deeds, constant search and movement, without this it is impossible to find yourself, it is impossible to understand who you really are.

During the scientific and educational seminar, the children learned that M. Gorky is also the author of wonderful works — fairy tales for the youngest readers: “Morning”, “Sparrow”, “Samovar”, etc. In them, he encourages children to take an active attitude towards life , love to work. Students of the Pedagogical College noted that such fairy tales are very important in psychological and pedagogical terms — they motivate children, help them develop and learn certain patterns (patterns) of behavior, which can contribute to their further successful socialization. The guys shared information about their favorite authors and works, told what attracts them to this or that writer. Such names as Alexander Pushkin, Mikhail Lermontov, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Olga Berggolts, Alexei Nikolayevich Tolstoy, Boris Pasternak, Evgeny Zamyatin, Agatha Christie, Ray Bradberry, Andrzej Sapkowski and others were mentioned.

The seminar participants concluded that Maxim Gorky is a very interesting and a peculiar writer, «singer of the revolution and the struggle for justice». The problems raised in his works are relevant to this day. The students promised to re-read the stories, novels and plays of M. Gorky again in order to better understand the creativity and aesthetics of an extraordinary and profound writer.