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Mironov A. S. |
Value of Active Compassion in the Heroic Epic: Russian Epic Concept
PhD (Philology), rector, Abstract:Moscow State Institute of Culture, (Khimky, Moscow Region, Russian Federation) arsenymir@yandex.ru The article uses the comparative historical method to analyze epic folklore from around the world with regard to the functioning of the concept of active compassion. Proceeding from extensive factual material, the author demonstrates that different national and civilizational traditions imply various interpretations of this concept. While The Epic of Gilgamesh, Homer’s Iliad, and medieval Western European epic songs don’t treat mercy as an axiologically important principle, the folk epics created by the Orthodox peoples maintain its value in accordance with the Christian ideal of sacrificial love. This interpretation is clearly presented in the Byzantine epic poem Digenes Akritas, in Serbian heroic songs, and, especially, in Russian bylinas, where one of the main heroes, Ilya Muromets, is very often motivated precisely by compassion. The author’s observations suggest that the concept of mercy, organically inherent in Russian folk epics, influenced the subsequent literary tradition as well, being reflected, for instance, in the poetics of the Russian psychological novel. Keywords: folklore, axiology, heroic epics, bylinas, love, mercy, Ilya Muromets Views: 1296; Downloads: 75; | 7 - 32 |
Nikolaev N. I., Bezrukova M. V. |
A Picture of the World in the Spiritual Odes by Mikhail Lomonosov
PhD (Philology), Professor, Head of the Department of Literature and Russian Language, Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, (Severodvinsk, Russian Federation) n.nikolaev@narfu.ru Postgraduate Student, Abstract:Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov, (Severodvinsk, Russian Federation) bezrukova.m@edu.narfu.ru The research is based on the analysis of Mikhail Lomonosov’s poetic works, which he himself designated as the general genre of ‘Spiritual Odes.’ In the beginning of the work, the authors reveal the differences in the interpretation of the “benefits of sciences” by the great Russian poet and scientist and his European predecessors (Francis Bacon, René Descartes). The originality of Lomonosov’s response to this question becomes evident when compared with the prior assessments that had emerged in the Russian literary discourse. All these differences are explained by the conceptually new solutions offered by Mikhail Lomonosov in the world modeling process. A detailed analysis of his spiritual odes from the viewpoint of the spatial organization of their artistic world indicates the emergence of a completely new subjective position, which is absent in the works of both his literary predecessors and contemporaries (Vassiliy Trediakovskiy, Alexander Sumarokov). This is the position of a scientist, the emergence of which leads to significant adjustments to the artistic description of the spatial positions of God and man (an ordinary “mortal”). This results in a radical change of the artistic view of the world itself, presented in Mikhail Lomonosov's spiritual odes. This event is considered to be one of the most important in the Russian literary history of the 18th century. Keywords: Russian literature, Lomonosov, psalms, spiritual odes, worldview Views: 1349; Downloads: 87; | 33 - 55 |
Esaulov I. A. |
Kamennoostrovsky Cycle of Alexander Pushkin as Easter Text: Mimesis, Paraphrasis, Catharsis. Article 2
PhD (Philology), Professor, Professor of the Department of Russian Classical Literature and Slavic Studies, Abstract:The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, (Moscow, Russian Federation) jesaulov@yandex.ru The article is the second part of a dilogy devoted to the interpretation of Pushkin’s Kamennoostrovsky cycle. Pushkin's last cycle is a kind of testament of the poet. Essentially, as already noted in scientific literature, this “testament” has not yet been adequately read or understood. The first part of the work presented my reading of this “testament,” while the second article proposes the completion of the work based on a new understanding of “I have erected a monument not made by hands,” the last ode in the Kamennoostrovsky cycle. The catharsis that the lyrical hero of Pushkin already experienced in the very first work of the cycle, “trembling joyfully in the raptures of emotion,” can also be experienced by the reader as he goes through the trials of the Passion Week before Easter. This can happen if the reader, enriched with spiritual experience, consistently overcomes his own temptations on the path to liberation from the old (sinful) part of himself, together with the author of the Kamennoostrovsky cycle. This would be a true catharsis for the reader, following the author of the cycle, a kind of poetic mimesis of Easter Sunday, conveyed in this case as a paraphrastic “overcoming” of the Horatian (classical) attitude by Pushkin’s rootedness in the Russian spiritual tradition. This kind of pilgrimage becomes possible for the reader if Pushkin's cycle is considered in the larger context of Russian Christian culture. In cases when the dominant values of this culture are improper for the reader and the researcher, or their significance for understanding Pushkin’s poetics is ignored or underestimated, one can hardly count on an adequate understanding of the poet’s artistic world. Keywords: Pushkin’s lyrics, poetics, cyclization, Kamennoostrovsky cycle, Easter nature, Easterness, paskhalnost, mimesis, paraphrasis, catharsis, Christian tradition, reader’s position Views: 1525; Downloads: 234; | 56 - 80 |
Bagautdinova G. G. |
The Semantic Structure of the "God's Fool" Concept in the Essay "Pepiniere" by I. A. Goncharov
PhD (Philology), Associate Professor of the Department of Russian Language, Literature and Journalism, Faculty of History and Philology, Abstract:Mari State University, (Yoshkar-Ola, The Mari El Republic, Russian Federation) gbagautdinova@yandex.ru The article attempts to analyze the semantic structure of the “God’s fool” concept in the essay Pepiniere by I. A. Goncharov. As a term, this concept is interpreted from the point of view of culturology. The essay reveals the basic structural components of the “God's fool” concept, as well as its core and additional semantic features. The author of the article believes that the religious component is embodied in the structure of the concept one way or another, but is not reflected directly in the word usage. The “God's fool” lexeme mainly comprises various secular meanings that are expressed via metaphors, repetitions and comparisons. The specific nature of the “God's fool” concept in I. A. Goncharov's Pepiniere is revealed in its periphery, which is formed by certain artistic techniques and categories (intertextual exchanges, comic elements). For instance, the function of the quote of Friday's nomination from Daniel Defoe's The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe; Written by Himself, as well as the comparative quote from Boris Godunov by A. S. Pushkin are considered in this article. Furthermore, quoting is an artistic technique that creates the game motive, to which I. A. Goncharov resorts indirectly. The gaming component not only creates and emphasizes the comical element, but also serves as one of the writer's artistic principles that contributes to the creation of the harmonious, negentropic worldview. The study of I. A. Goncharov's sphere of concepts allows to identify not so much the variability of the writer's worldview as its invariability. Keywords: I. A. Goncharov, concept, God’s fool, pepiniere, authobiographism, religious, secular, intertextual, comic element, stylistic methods, language game Views: 1228; Downloads: 56; | 81 - 91 |
Zakharov V. N. |
The Poetics of Madness in Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky (Polemic Notes)
PhD (Philology), Head of the Department of Classical Philology, Russian Literature and Journalism, Abstract:Petrozavodsk State University, (Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation) vnz01@yandex.ru Madness in life, philosophy, and art are different phenomena. In medicine, a madman is an insane person and a patient, in philosophy he is a sage, in literature — a poet. Doctors treat the patient, philosophers and poets admire the freedom of his thought and creativity. Problems arise when doctors turn into literary critics, and critics diagnose literary heroes. An absurd situation emerges when doctors diagnose those who are inherently unable to express a complaint, answer questions, undergo tests or pass a clinical examination. The article offers a critical analysis of the topic of insanity in the St. Petersburg-themed short novels by Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoevsky, and offers a response to the question of which parts of their works belong to the poetic sphere, and which — to psychiatry. Pushkin and Gogol contributed to the poetic development of the theme of insanity, Dostoevsky revealed insanity as a mental illness where “higher meaning” manifests itself. All of these authors clearly defined the boundaries of troubled and healthy consciousness. Dostoevsky completed the transition from the poetic to the realistic interpretation of madness in Russian literature. A variety of concepts of insanity has been recognized in art, and there has been a creative competition between individual interpretations of this subject. Keywords: Pushkin, Gogol, Dostoevsky, poetics, madness, insanity, pathology, psychiatry, hallucinations, fiction, fantastic, fantastika Views: 1432; Downloads: 128; | 92 - 106 |
Stepchenkova V. N. |
Artistic Theodicy in The Brothers Karamazov by F. M. Dostoevsky
post-graduate student, Abstract:Moscow Region State University, (Moscow, Russian Federation) St_valentina007@mail.ru The aim of the research study is to explain the artistic theodicy of F. M. Dostoevsky. The justification of God before the world he created, in which evil forces are allowed to act, is one of the principal themes in the novel. In those scenes of the novel that raise the theme of innocuous suffering, Dostoevsky offers to comprehend the meaning of suffering. Dostoevsky sees it as not only as a result of the influence of an evil force, but also as a path to perfection for human beings and a way to experience communication with God. Dostoevsky shows that from a Christian spiritual perception of sorrows, one can find the strength to overcome them and see the highest sacred meaning in them. This conclusion is not based on the optimistic theodicy of Leibniz, but only reveals the goodness of God, who is capable of turning the evil, which entered the world along with the Fall, into an opportunity for a person to rise to a new spiritual level. The most important argument of theodicy is love: God’s love for man and man’s capacity to love, overcoming evil. Because of the lack of love, guided only by the “Euclidean mind,” Ivan returns his “entry ticket” to harmony. The logical conclusion of the research study states that Dostoevsky’s key to theodicy and the main value in the moral self-determination of man is the belief in the immortality of the soul and the all-goodness of the Creator. Keywords: F. M. Dostoevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov”, immortality, suffering, theodicy, “Euclidean mind”, belief, immortality of the soul Views: 1314; Downloads: 72; | 107 - 124 |
Dergacheva I. V. |
Precedential Intertext in the Poem “The Grand Inquisitor”
PhD (Philology), Head of the Department of Linguistics, Faculty of State Cultural Policy, Abstract:Moscow State Institute of Culture, (Khimki, Russian Federation) krugh@yandex.ru The poem "The Grand Inquisitor" is part of the novel "The Brothers Karamazov," written by Ivan Karamazov about Christian freedom of will and told by him to his brother Alyosha, who rightly perceived it as an Orthodox theodicy. The article presents an intertextual analysis of the precedent texts used by F. M. Dostoevsky in the poem "The Grand Inquisitor". In particular, the meanings of direct quotations from the New Testament, especially its last book, the Revelation of John the Theologian, and the translated apocrypha "The Walking of the Virgin in Torment" are interpreted; medieval Western European mysteries in the paraphrase of V. Hugo; poetic quotations from the works of A. S. Pushkin, V. A. Zhukovsky, F. I. Tyutchev, which linked together the axiological concepts of the narrative text. Appeals to the precedent texts of world literature contribute to the disclosure of the multifaceted symbolism of the poem, which glorifies the spiritual freedom of humanity as an act of faith, and help to generalize and deepen its axiological discourse. The author analyzes the speech and behavioral tactics of the Grand Inquisitor, based on the substitution of concepts characteristic of the techniques of "black rhetoric". In contrast to the Grand Inquisitor's distortion of cause-and-effect relations and the concepts of good and evil, and his denial of the idea of Christian freedom, direct and indirect quoting of texts that have become part of the heritage of world culture creates a text rich in axiological meanings, designed to influence the spiritual space of the reader, enriching it and orienting it to the correct understanding of eternal truths. Keywords: F. M. Dostoevsky, Gospel, precedent text, apocrypha, eschatological discourse, Grand Inquisitor Views: 1342; Downloads: 68; | 125 - 140 |
Litinskaya E. P. |
Rhetoric and Poetics of Dostoevsky’s Pushkin Speech
PhD (Philology), Associate Professor of the Department of Classical Literature, Russian Literature and Journalism, Abstract:Petrozavodsk State University, (Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation) litgenia@yandex.ru The article examines the F. M. Dostoevsky’s Pushkin's Speech in the context of modern studies of the way ancient heritage was reflected in the writer's work. The analysis of the speech was carried out in the categories of rhetorical poetics. The author proves that the speech is structured according to the rules of epideictic eloquence, with a pronounced emotional component characteristic of Christian preaching. The author identifies established stylistic figures, the use of which is always justified: repetition, parallelism, gradation, amplification, polyphonic forms, period, allusion, irony. Rhetoric is translated into poetics. Pushkin's characters (Aleko and Onegin, Tatiana, Pimen) become images with apparent features of both Christian culture and antiquity. Evangelical motifs and images, allusions to antiquity, concepts of Orthodox and ancient culture are integrated in a journalistic form. Christ and Pushkin are connected figuratively in poetics and rhetoric of the speech. Dostoevsky creates a portrait of the Russian poet, his image, and it is no accident that the "speech" is called an essay by its author. Keywords: F. M. Dostoevsky, A. S. Pushkin, Dostoevsky’s Pushkin Speech, Blaise Pascal, antiquity, Christianity, rhetoric, genre, kalokagathia, universality, vsechelovek, panhuman Views: 1395; Downloads: 98; | 141 - 175 |
Isachenko T. A. |
“Confession” by P. A. Vyazemsky in the Literary Almanac of the Queen of the Hellenes Olga (Copy of A. I. Khomutov)
PhD (Philology), leading researcher, Abstract:The center for the study problems of development of libraries in the information society, Russian State Library, (Moscow, Russian Federation) isachenko33@yandex.ru The article describes a little-known archival source – the album of the Vice-Admiral of the Russian Imperial Navy A. I. Khomutov. It was presented to the owner by the Queen of the Hellenes Olga (Grand Duchess Olga Konstantinovna). The article traces the history of the album, suggests its dating, analyzes the notes made by the hand of the Grand Duchess, and describes the unique genre structure of the album-almanac. Special attention is paid to the circumstances of the appearance in A. I. Khomutov’s copy of lines from the poem by Prince P. A. Vyazemsky “Confession” in 1867, written by the hand of the Queen. The autographs included in the almanac were not previously an object of study, neither was the almanac itself, which is little known to researchers. The intersection of names, dates, poetic images and events allows us to consider the almanac not only as a rare factual source, but also as an artifact of multi-level interpretation. The article reveals the symbolism of the biographical notes, the confessional lines of Prince Vyazemsky (“There are days when the noises of life are silent around...”, 1867), the mystical circumstances of the appearance of his “Confession”. Keywords: M. Yu. Lermontov, P. A. Vyazemsky, “Confession”, Olga Konstantinovna, Queen of the Hellenes, “Day to day,” album-almanac, imperial family, lyrics Views: 1266; Downloads: 49; | 176 - 197 |
Litvinova O. N. |
Bible Quotes and Images in the Poetry of Maria Shkapskaya
Postgraduate Student of the Department of Modern Russian Literature, Abstract:The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, (Moscow, Russian Federation) olitvinova22@list.ru This article is the first to examine in detail the complete corpus of Biblical quotations in the poetry of Maria Shkapskaya, including unpublished handwritten texts. The article uses the material in books Mater dolorosa (1921), Chas vecherniy (1913—1917) (The Evening Hour (1913—1917), 1922), Baraban Strogogo Gospodina (The Drum of the Strict Master, 1922), Krov’-ruda (Blood-ore, 1922), Zemnye remyosla (The Earthly Crafts, 1925) and the poem “Yav’” (“Reality,” 1923), as well as texts from the notebooks of 1903—1907, 1913—1920 and Vcherashnee, a project of a book of poems (Yesterday, 1916) with a preface by Z. Gippius. The intention is to explain the role and significance of the biblical corpus of texts for the author's poetry. The task is to consider in chronological order all the poems by Maria Shkapskaya that are somehow related to the texts of the Holy Scripture, while clarifying the author’s basic principles of working with these texts. The thematic inversions characteristic of Shkapskaya’s poetry are revealed. The general thesis states that the nature of Shkapskaya’s appeal to the texts of Holy Scripture has changed over the years, and her attitude to them has consistently shifted from neutral-calm to a tense one that requires dialogue. Growing increasingly more conflicted and questioning over time, Shkapskaya’s quoting of biblical texts assumes the nature of a personal experience, which clearly indicates the author’s reflections in this direction and a deeply religious understanding of the surrounding reality and poetic creativity as such. Keywords: Maria Shkapskaya, Bible, Gospel, Mother of God, quote, image, theme, Holy Virgin Canon Views: 1263; Downloads: 63; | 198 - 234 |
Kokovina N. Z., Mikhailova I. P. |
The “Bright City” Mythologeme in Lyric Poetry of Pimen Karpov
PhD (Philology), Professor of the Department of Russian literature, Kursk State University, (Kursk, Russian Federation) natzak@rambler.ru PhD (Philology), Associate Professor of the Department of Russian literature, Abstract:Kursk State University, (Kursk, Russian Federation) mihailovairin@mail.ru The article analyzes the poet Pimen Karpov’s understanding of the “Bright City” mythologeme. The need to analyze this mythologeme stems from the fact that the image of the Bright City is at the core of the mythopoetic concept that forms the basis of Karpov’s worldview. The toponymy of the sacred space of the Bright City, the Heavenly City, the City of God in Karpov’s lyric poetry is multifaceted. It is realized in poetry both as a real earthly space, and as a certain symbol with blurry borders: it is a heavenly city, a potential paradise on earth, the promised land, the land of the forefathers, and even simply the land for the peasant. The ideal world order has both spatial and temporal reference points. According to Karpov, it is only possible to reach the Bright City through self-sacrifice. Out of pain and suffering, happiness is born, and this is the only possible way to attain the coveted Paradise. But for Karpov, it is not merely a personal path, but also Russia’s path, its mission, and the lyrical hero’s participation in its fate is undeniable. Karpov sees Russia’s historical mission in sacrificial self-immolation as a path to Transformation. The paradoxical convergence of Christ and the antichrist in his works reflects the spiritual context of the turn of the 20th century, i.e., the extreme ambivalence of personal principles. The fragmentary and aphoristic nature of Karpov’s poetic language, the kaleidoscopic nature of his artistic space, on the one hand, and the hidden integrity emanating from the unity of the visible and invisible worlds, on the other, make his poetry akin to the culture of modernism. Keywords: Pimen Karpov, Bright City, Svetly Grad, the new peasant poetry, toponymy, sacred space, eschatological narrative Views: 1223; Downloads: 38; | 235 - 250 |
Brzykcy J. |
“A Wonderful Corner of the Earth”. La Favière as Locus Amoenus in the Literature of the Russian Emigration
PhD (Philology), Professor, Abstract:Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, (Toruń, Republic of Poland) tomine@umk.pl The article is dedicated to representations of the southern French village of La Favière in the literature of the first wave of Russian emigration. It aims to examine the representations of a colony founded on the Côte d’Azur by Russian refugees, scholars, writers and artists, which existed until the outbreak of World War II. The objects of study include Favière-inspired poetry by Sasha Chernyi, published in the Poslednie novosti journal between 1927 and 1932, Aleksandr Kuprin’s series of essays entitled Huron Headland (1929), and Marina Tsvetaeva’s poems written in the summer of 1935. Emphasis is also placed on the epistolography and memoirs of Russian emigrants visiting the “Russian village”: letters by Georgi Griebenshchikov, memoirs by Ludmila Wrangel, Ksenia Kuprina, and Galina Rodionova. The La Favière phenomenon in the works of Russian emigrants has not been discussed before, which is what makes this article timely. The analysis of the above-mentioned works covers primarily their subject matter, but their connections with composition, stylistics and the question of genre affiliation are also discussed. Research demonstrates that despite the different ways in which the countryside is portrayed (its idealization in the poetry of Chernyi, comparison with Crimea — a true but lost paradise in Kuprin’s prose, rejection of Provence in Tsvetaeva’s poems), the tendency in Russian expatriate literature to interpret La Favière as locus amoenus persisted. In the works of Russian emigrants, the countryside evokes positive connotations, enchants with its landscape and tranquility, the naturalness of life replete with manual labor and close contact with nature. As a result, in the system of local texts of Russian emigration, bound together by the motif of foreignness as locus horribilis, La Favière holds a unique place, representing a rare example of Arcadia found in exile. Keywords: literature of the “first wave” of Russian emigration, literature of the Russian abroad, La Favière, Sasha Cherny, Alexander Kuprin, Marina Tsvetaeva, local text in Russian literature, idyll, locus amoenus, locus horribilis, literary topos Views: 1324; Downloads: 43; | 251 - 281 |
Zuseva-Özkan V. B. |
Joan of Arc by D. S. Merezhkovsky: Sources and Imagery
PhD (Philology), leading research fellow, Abstract:Department of Modern European and American Literature, A. M. Gorky Institute of World Literature, Russian Academy of Sciences, (Moscow, Russian Federation) zuseva_v@mail.ru The article examines the eternal image of the warrior maid in the works of D. S. Merezhkovsky, its constant features and evolution. His later book Joan of Arc (1938) is compared in this aspect to his early poem “A Legend from T. Tasso” (1882). Special attention is heeded to the analysis of the sources of Joan of Arc and the interpretation of the heroine as a warrior maid in comparison with the preceding texts, on the one hand, and “A Legend from T. Tasso,” on the other hand. Merezhkovsky’s creative reception of the historiographic tradition depicting Joan of Arc combines the topoi of its different versions (he reproduces a number of ideas characteristic of the texts written for the rehabilitation trial of Joan; the heroic discourse of the Renaissance historiography; the position of the 17th-century historians with Providentialist views; the representation of Joan of Arc as a folk heroine, typical for the liberal historians of the 19th century), but this conglomerate is subject to his own concept of the Kingdom of the Third Testament. It is established that, although in Joan of Arc Merezhkovsky sticks closer to the prior texts than in “A Legend from T. Tasso” on the superficial level and seeks to create the impression of documental accuracy, in fact, he uses the same mythologization method, as in his earlier work. The direction of modifications made by the author to the historiographic canon depends on his religious, mystical, and historiosophical notions. Keywords: Merezhkovsky, “Joan of Arc”, female warrior, “eternal” image, the kingdom of the Third Testament, holy flesh, Torquato Tasso, historiography, androgyny Views: 1289; Downloads: 43; | 282 - 300 |
Kovaleva T. N. |
The Motif of the Prodigal Son in the Plot of Ivan Bunin’s Novel The Life of Arseniev
PhD (Philology), Associate Professor of literature and pedagogical technologies of philological education, Abstract:Pyatigorsk State University, (Pyatigorsk, Russian Federation) tatjana_kovaleva@mail.ru The article is devoted to the research of the reception and transformation of the subject of the Gospel Parable of the Prodigal Son in the novel The Life of Arseniev by Ivan Bunin. The key events in the Parable of the Prodigal Son are present in the structure of The Life of Arseniev: leaving the ancestral home — leaving God behind; temptations of the spirit and flesh, dissolute life, spiritual lust, spiritual death; confession; return to the ancestral home — return to God, to the Heavenly Father’s Home. Arseniev's departure from his ancestral home differs from the departure of the Gospel Parable’s hero, yet this event is one of the landmarks in the main character’s life path of life. Unlike the prodigal son, Aleksey Arseniev leaves his home seeking the highest meaning and purpose of life as the key aim; the sense of God’s presence had been present in his soul since his very childhood. However, the youthful thirst for glory and pleasures of life led Bunin's hero to the abandonment of the Heavenly Father and to immersion in sinful life. The tropes of sensuality, temptation, desire, degradation, sins, unfaithfulness, adultery are the key motifs in the description of the hero’s dissolute life. Arsenyev’s immoral life became the main reason for the damage to his relationship with Lika and her breakup with him. The most important events in the Gospel Parable of the Prodigal Son are repentance of sins, penance before his father and before God — these events appear in Bunin’s novel in an altered form. Since Arseniev did not experience deep repentance before God for his sinful youth, the resurrection of his soul and his return to the Home of the Heavenly Father were impossible. Bunin demonstrates that an entire life is required for the hero to experience true repentance and his final return to God, thus Bunin leaves Arseniev on the path to God. Scenes from the Gospel Parable of the Prodigal Son, such as departure from the ancestral home, dissolute life and spiritual death are recreated most completely in Bunin’s novel The Life of Arseniev; while repentance and return to God, which take up the remainder of the hero’s life, are described by the author in a complex altered form. Keywords: Ivan A. Bunin, "The Life of Arseniev", Gospel parable, plot, motif, prodigal son, dissolute life, repentance, resurrection, return to the Home of the Heavenly Father Views: 1274; Downloads: 62; | 301 - 325 |
Zavarkina M. V. |
Utopia as an Anti-Utopia (Andrey Platonov's Short Novel Bread and Reading)
PhD (Philology), Specialist, Web-laboratory of Institute of Philology, Abstract:Petrozavodsk State University, (Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation) mvnikulina@mail.ru The article analyzes A. Platonov's novel Bread and Reading, which is the first part of an unfinished trilogy called Technical Novel. Different approaches to the analysis of the writer's anti-utopian strategy are considered, and certain terms related to the intra-genre typology of his works, which are still the subject of controversy in Platonov studies, i.e., utopia, anti-utopia, metautopia, dystopia, and cacotopia are clarified. The article offers a new perspective on this problem and concludes that the short novel is characterized by a complex conflict between utopia and anti-utopia, namely, utopian consciousness is embodied in the form of anti-utopia, which leads to the ambivalence in meaning and the appearance of internal antinomies. This mainly revealed in the title of the story, the epigraph, a special type of plot situation and the character system structure. Platonov's work is characterized not only by the problem of the relationship between man and nature, but also that of between man and technology, which becomes a part of the anthropological worldview and acquires human features. Platonov's characters dream of a time when technology, nature and man are in a harmonious relationship, helping each other overcome universal entropy. The motif of construction sacrifice, traditional in the poetics of Platonov's works, plays an important role in the story: it is premature and shameful to think about personal happiness in the world of socialism that has not yet been built, without enough “bread and reading.” The work reflects Platonov's own hopes and doubts, and if the “principle of hope” (E. Bloch) is the main principle of utopian consciousness, then the writer's doubt becomes the main feature of his anti-utopia strategy. On the one hand, this makes it difficult to identify the genre of the short novel Bread and Reading (utopia or anti-utopia), on the other, it does not lead to an “imbalance” of forces, but, rather, to a meek awareness of the place of man in the world and his limited capabilities. An important role is also played by the fact that The Juvenile Sea was supposed to become the second part of the trilogy, and Dzhan may have made up the third part: the three works not only complement, but also “explain” each other. In the finale of Bread and Reading, the characters remain focused on the “distant,” as they stay in the same utopian dream space. Likely never having found a way out of the “impasse of utopia,” Platonov leaves Technical Novel unfinished. Keywords: A. Platonov, “Bread and Reading”, short novel, “Technical Novel”, utopia, anti-utopia, dystopia, cacotopia, metautopia, creative strategy Views: 1322; Downloads: 71; | 326 - 352 |
Prozorova N. A. |
The Poetological Statements of Olga Bergholz: Reflection and Author’s Strategy
PhD (Philology), Senior Researcher, Abstract:The Institute of Russian literature (Pushkinskiy Dom), The Russian Academy of Sciences, (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation) arhivistka@mail.ru The poetology of O. F. Bergholz has not yet been sufficiently studied. The article is devoted to the poetological statements made by the Leningrad poetess in her literary texts and in the recently published diaries. The relevance of the work lies in the identification of the key images and motives related to the theme of poet and poetry, the author’s creative aims and ways of artistic exploration of life. Bergholz’s interpretation of creativity is associated with musical imagery. The theme of the poet and poetry is embodied in the 'sounding' and ‘ringing’ images of pipes, flutes, strings and bells. For her, a song is a similar to a child that is difficult to carry to term, one with an independent hypostasis, it can wake up or be silent, live or die. Bergholz feels that it is not the poet who has command over the song, but the song that controls the poet. She experiences the creative act as a sacred act, and at the same time as hard work on choosing the “very best word.” Bergholz had reflected on a poet's mission since an early age and realized her destiny as a projection of the healer-poet, while developing the themes of the educator-poet (“sower”) and the bell-poet (the rebel poet), which are traditional in Russian literature. Bergholz saw the specificity of her own poetics in the simplicity of language and style; in her aesthetics, simple meant great. The autobiographic nature of her writing, marked in the title complex of many of her works, was her fundamental principle. She saw the key to reader recognition in the documentary (reliable) component of the poetic text. Bergholz considered self-expression the only way of artistic cognition of life. She juxtaposed the self-expression intention to the principle of mirroring reality, which was cultivated by socialist realism, emphasizing that these two approaches were mutually exclusive for her. The recurrent motive of Bergholz’s autobiographical discourse is the reflection on the possibility/impossibility of verbally embodying the most torturous creative intention. The poet felt the lack of realization (incompleteness) of her poetry and creative path in general. Keywords: Bergholz, poetology, imaginative thinking, musical imagery, mission of the poet, autobiography, self-expression, creativity Views: 1256; Downloads: 73; | 353 - 372 |
Sobennikov A. S. |
Truth as an Axiological Dominant (V. M. Shukshin in a Retrospective of Russian Literature)
PhD (Philology), Professor, Abstract:Military Transport Institute of Railway Troops and Transportation Service, (Saint Petersburg, Petergof, Russian Federation) assoben52@mail.ru The concept of “truth” in Russian literature is historically associated with justice, righteousness, truth and fairness. In the second half of the 19th century, this concept was actualized in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, and A. P. Chekhov. In Dostoevsky's “ideological novel,” the emphasis is on the hero's finding “truth-verity,” “to live according to the truth” means to live with Christ. Besides the “truth of God”, the “truth of the people” is also of great importance in Dostoevsky's axiology. It is the people who carry the ideal of Christ in their hearts. The writer also discusses the truth of everyday life in his work: in politics, in the relationships among people in society. Leo Tolstoy created a whole gallery of characters who live “according to the truth.” First and foremost, the works of A. P. Chekhov reveal the truth of life; the writer is interested in the character's existential choice. God's truth and the people's truth, as a rule, are revealed to him in the self-awareness of a character "of the people." In 20th century Russian literature, the concept of “truth” plays an important role in the work of V. M. Shukshin and other rustic writers. Shukshin suggests distinguishing between truthfulness and truth, the truth of character and the truth of action. The truth of life involves the problem of the meaning of life. According to Shukshin, “people know the truth,” and this is not rational knowledge, but a way of life. The truth becomes the basis of national existence. Shukshin's Pravda was provocative in relation to the aesthetics of socialist realism with its main principle of partisanship. The writer relied on Russian axiology, rather than on party attitudes. The concept of “truth,” which is associated with the Christian worldview and Christian values, is the foundation of Russian culture and determines the main vectors of its development. Keywords: Russian literature, Shukshin, truth, verity, justice, people’s truth, God’s truth, truthfulness, righteousness, righteous men Views: 1262; Downloads: 55; | 373 - 386 |
Esaulov I. A. |
On Some Features of Post-Soviet Polemics (Based on a Review in the “Voprosy literatury” Journal)
PhD (Philology), Professor, Professor of the Department of Russian Classical Literature and Slavic Studies, Abstract:The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute, (Moscow, Russian Federation) jesaulov@yandex.ru The article critically examines some techniques used in post-Soviet polemics based on the material from E. Abdullayev's note “New Understanding and old myths” (book review of Esaulov I. A. Russian Classics: New Understanding. St. Petersburg, Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy Publ., 2017) and traces the dependence of the interpretation and evaluation of the literary scientific system on the axiological views of the author of the description. At the same time, it demonstrates the influence of axiology on evaluation of philological work. The negative ideologems of the Soviet philological science and their presence in the philological practice of our time are revealed. A reduced understanding of the task of historical poetics (and poetics in general), which is characteristic of both Soviet philology and influential post-Soviet publications, prevents the construction of a new history of Russian literature and the identification of the role and place of Christian tradition in the text and subtext of works of Russian classical literature. Keywords: Russian literature, "big time", theology, paschality, new understanding, archetypes, the Sixtiers, “Voprosy literatury”, “Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie”, historical poetics Views: 1384; Downloads: 142; | 387 - 406 |
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