The problems of biography studies in reconstruction of P.M. Bitsilli's life by Bulgarian researchers

L.A. Sychenkova

Kazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

E-mail: l.sichenkova@yandex.ru

Received October 5, 2019

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DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2020.1.216-222

For citation: Sychenkova L.A. The problems of biography studies in reconstruction of P.M. Bit­silli’s life by Bulgarian researchers. Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2020, vol. 162, no. 1, pp. 216–222. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2020.1.216-222. (In Russian)

Abstract

Tanya Nedelcheva Galcheva’s contribution to the study of the biography and legacy of P.M. Bitsilli (1879–1953), a famous historian who emigrated from Russia, was analyzed. The journal “Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki” was suggested as a new international platform where Bulgarian, Russian, Israeli, and Ukrainian researchers would elaborate and discuss new approaches to studying the life of P.M. Bitsilli, who turns out to be indirectly connected with Kazan University through his mentors, followers, and researchers of his works. The publication of M.A. Birman’s book “P.M. Bitsilli (1879–1953). Life and Legacy” (Moscow, Vodolei, 2018. 444 p.) provoked an intense interest in the role of Bulgarian researchers investigating P.M. Bitsilli’s life. A tense discussion on the methodology was initiated by T. Galcheva, who draws particular attention to the ethical standards in biography studies. Her emotional review of M.A. Birman’s book is driven by the desire to refrain from any mythologization and fabrication while reconstructing P.M. Bitsilli’s life that can become widely used in historiography. It was concluded that T. Galcheva’s review encourages further discussion of an important problem regarding the possibility of applying the systemic cultural method in biography studies.

Keywords: Tanya Galcheva, P. Bitsilli, biography studies, legacy, studies of P.M. Bitsilli’s life, Kazan University, systemic cultural method

References

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