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OTHERS AND THE MOON UTOPIA IN THE NOVEL “CHEVENGUR” BY A. PLATONOV
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DOI: 10.26170/FK19-04-10
Abstract: The article deals with the authored versions of democratic consciousness in the perspective of genre modeling. The methods used draw on the works interpreting Platonov’s creative activity in various scientific paradigms: philosophy of the Russian cosmism (E. A. Bal’burov); discoveries of natural-scientific thought (I. I. Plekhanov); and postmodern practices of the study of Platonov’s creative works (H. Günther and D. N. Zamyatin). The analysis focuses on the image of others and their origin, existence, type of thinking as a third force, impersonating, alongside Chevengur bolsheviks and “state” people, the idea of evaluation of life perspectives of the Chevengur community. Others are not treated in the tradition of the 1920s (as irresponsible popular masses or philistines), but as a part of Platonov’s literary experiment. Complete orphans who had not only found strength enough to survive, but also managed to realize themselves and unite in a semblance of a “nomadic” community led by a wise leader. Having joined Chevengur, the others do not only become its “experts” but bring in their ideas about human ties with the world stemming from their nomadic existence. The change of ontological and moral contours of the world reduces the significance of social history obtaining natural forms. This process determines the specificity of the genre model: the sun utopia which has demonstrated its inability to survive gives place to the moon utopia where movement, growth and creative labor are conceived. The moon utopia, in its turn, finds itself in a genre dialogue with the tragedy. The Chevengur inhabitants, having done away with history on the earth, have crossed the living boundary delimitated in the world they were given to live in. They bring in life in the “naked” space of Chevengur ideas hoping that the ideas are to move to the background and vanish. But this does not happen. The town is doomed with the label of idea as another kind of life. And the town disintegrates under the pressure of the “subconscious power of life”.
Key words: RUSSIAN LITERATURE; RUSSIAN WRITERS; NOVELS; LITERARY GENRES; UTOPIAS
For citation
Khriashcheva, N. P. Others and the Moon Utopia in the Novel “Chevengur” by A. Platonov / N. P. Khriashcheva . In Philological Class. 2019. №4 (58). P. 75-83. DOI 10.26170/FK19-04-10.