Наследие Кристофера Марло в русской и мировой культуре (введение в проблему)

The article comprises an outline of the research project aimed at the development of a new approach to the works of Christopher Marlowe, a writer who has had a significant influence on Russian and world culture, and one of Shakespeare’s greatest contemporaries. Studying Marlowe’s legacy requires a complex interdisciplinary analysis not only from the standpoints of comparative literary studies, but also those of cultural and art studies (in the context of theatre, music, fine arts, cinematography, etc.). The project will help trace connections between Marlowe’s works and medieval and Renaissance intellectual practices, as well as to show his role in the mid-16th century English literature, the impact of his artistic ideas and concepts on the culture and literature of Europe and Russia in the 18th–21st centuries. Within the framework of the project, the first Russian translation of “Dido, Queen of Carthage” by C. Marlowe and T. Nashe will be made. This will complete  the full corpus of “Russian Marlowe”. The other crucial task is to study the history of reception of Marlowe’s poetic heritage in the world and Russian culture, the rise of the phenomenon of “Russian Marlowe” and its evolution from the 19th century to the present day. Marlowe’s literary legacy is original, distinctive and seminal in the cultural context of not only the 16th century, but also of subsequent ages. This can be confirmed by the critical reception of the English writer’s works by his contemporaries (in particular, by the university wits and Shakespeare), by his influence on the succeeding literary traditions, his role in the formation of the Russian translation school from the late 1850s onwards and the development of the creative and research thought of scholars both abroad and in Russia.