The Controversy Surrounding the Attempt to Publish the “Demons” Novel by F.M. Dostoevsky in 1935. Gorky’s Position

This article is a continuation of the article “Perception of the “Demons” Novel by F.M. Dostoevsky in Soviet Culture in the 1930s”. The main attention is paid to the controversy about the novel of the Soviet journalist and critic D.I. Zaslavsky, who opposed the publication of “Demons”, and the founder of socialist realism, the principle Soviet writer A.M. Gorky, who stood up for the publication. The article briefl y examines the history of Gorky's attitude towards Dostoevsky, the polemic that Gorky led against Dostoevsky throughout his creative life. The evolution of the studies and presentation of the “Gorky and Dostoevsky” issue in Soviet literary criticism is also briefl y considered with regard to the tendencies of philosophical and literary analysis of the correlation between the work o those writers depending on the ideological purpose and political situation in the country