This paper, through the lens of the censorship proceedings conducted by the Committee on April 2, 1848, concerning Ostrovsky’s comedy «Svoi lyudi – sochtyomsya», explores the attempt by censors to intervene as co‑authors, thereby encroaching upon the author’s creative intent. By framing this pre‑revolutionary work, produced during the era of pre‑publication censorship, as a collective product and process – interpreted through Roger Chartier’s theory of “reading practices” – the author argues that publishing “classical” texts alongside their “censored biographies” alters the reader’s perception of both the work itself and the functions of censorship and self‑censorship, the latter understood as a form of indirect co‑authorship.
censorship; censorship biography of a books; Committee of the April 2nd 1848; theater of bureaucracy; A.N. Ostrovsky.