Reading and Worshiping Nikolai Rubtsov. Evolution of a Literary Cult

This chapter explores the literary cult of Nikolai Rubtsov (1936–1971) focusing on the increasing number of memory sites in the poet’s native region (house museums, busts, statues) and the creative appropriation of his work by ‘ordinary’ readers and fans. Particular attention is paid to readers’ textual production (poems, biographical dramas) and the sometimes heated discussions to which these texts give rise. Drawing on the insights developed by reception and fandom studies, the chapter argues that if, in the 1990s, Rubtsov’s troublesome life and lack of official recognition were interpreted as signifiers of Russia’s uprootedness as a nation, he has now become a canonical figure who is worshiped in considerably more defiant and ‘patriotic’ tones. Similarly, the ‘alternative social community’ of Rubtsov connoisseurs that was active in the 1990s has given way to a much larger conglomerate of reader communities and organizations that rely on state support and even practice the confrontational rhetoric that is coming from the Kremlin today.