ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that Dmitri Shostakovich's literary bias is not only expressed in the relatively superficial 'literary tendencies' of his music, but that the literary theories of the time affected the very structure and basis of his compositional techniques, and influenced his development as a composer. Thus Russian phenomenology is focused on the factual in language, rejecting any 'historicism' or 'psychologism' in literary criticism. Russian formalism was influenced by Husserl's phenomenology, particularly in its Russian interpretation, presented in the works of Gustav Shpet. Some of Viktor Shklovsky's works appeared in several anthologies, some about Russian formalism and others about other literary subjects. Mikhail Bakhtin knew the formalists' theories, and often argued with their main ideas. A connection of Bakhtin's ideas and personality with Shostakovich might have been through Maria Yudina, the concert pianist who was a fellow-student of Shostakovich, and who is often mentioned in his memoirs.
