Le cas Valentin Krivič

The aim of this paper is to define the specific, culturally meaningful situation of the not very well-known poet Valentin Annenskii-Krivich (1880–1936), the son of Innokentii Annenskii. Krivichʼs poetry can be studied for its “individual poetic style of a little-known author”, but also for questions such as celebrity and obscurity, the role of family relationship, literary heritage, originality and imitation. The article concentrates on the composition, motifs and stylistic devices of Krivichʼs anthology Flowers and Grass (Tsvetotravy, 1912). The analysis of the poem ‘From there’ (‘Ottuda’) reveals that deliberate and explicit imitation of Annenskii allowed Krivich to create one of his best and most original works.