“Protecting the Russian Cultural Heritage in Times of Historical Change Through the Prism of Literature”.

‘The collector dreamed that he was in a world which was not only far–off in distance and time, but which was also a better one, in which to be sure people were just as poorly provided with what they needed as in the world of everyday, but in which things were free from the bondage of being useful”. Walter Benjamin’s words (Charles Baudelaire: a Lyric Poet in the Era of High Capitalism, 1973) enlighten the nature of collections, which are meant to create a utopian space in present times. As 2017 marks the hundredth anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the question of the preservation of cultural heritage becomes of crucial importance. This is why the present paper is devoted to the theme of collections as a means of defence of cultural continuity. The focus will be on literary representations of collections, with a particular reference to the life and works of Konstantin K. Vaginov.