The role of Russian literature in the formation of Yakut writer N.D. Neustroev

Nikolai Denisovich Neustroev (1895–1929) is one of the founders of Yakut literature, an educator, and a realist writer. Although he lived a short life, he dedicated it entirely to literature, becoming the originator of such genres as comedy and the short story in Yakutia. Russian literature, for which he had a great passion, and his friendship with the Russian educator N.A. Rubakin played a big role in his development as a writer. Having received Rubakin's blessing for his creative work, Neustroev followed his advice. The works of N.D. Neustroev were influenced by the writings of such Russian classics as A. Pushkin, M. Lermontov, N. Gogol, I. Turgenev, and others. The relevance of this article is due to the insufficient study of N.D. Neustroev's creative legacy. Neustroev's works are included in school textbooks and those of secondary and higher educational institutions. His comedies remain a staple of Yakut theaters, forming a core part of their repertoire. Nevertheless, his work has not received sufficient attention or scholar interpretation.The first study of the works of Yakut classics appeared during the harsh years of Soviet reality, when criticism was dominated by vulgar sociologism and a nihilistic attitude toward the literary heritage. The first Yakut writers were labeled bourgeois nationalists. In his book Three Yakut Realist Educators (1944), G.P. Basharin was the first to place N. D. Neustroev alongside his great predecessors – A.E. Kulakovsky and A.I. Sofronov – calling them the founders of Yakut literature. During the years of the so-called "Thaw" and the lull in literary debates, G.K. Boeskorov's monograph The Works of N.D. Neustroev (1967) was published posthumously. However, the writer's work has still not received an objective assessment, and long-standing debates continue regarding which literary tradition his work belongs to – pre-revolutionary or Soviet. Neustroev created his major works during the 1920s, in the Soviet period. Yet it is difficult to classify his works as Soviet literature, as he continued the artistic traditions of Russian critical realism and of the first Yakut writers, A. Kulakovsky and A. Sofronov. Thus, based on an examination of documents and the writer's creative path, this article sets out to examine a profound source of his creative quest: Russian literature, which influenced his development as a writer, founder, and classic of Yakut literature.

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