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Abstract: This article examines the poetic language of Platonov as, first and foremost, a metaphysical language, for the 1917 revolution, such as it is depicted in Chevengur, exceeds the bounds of social and political events and becomes instead an existential ‘reconfiguration’ of the world. In the given analysis of the author’s artistic language, we have referred to the ‘energy principle’ of poetics developed by K. A. Barsht, M. A. Dmitrovskaia’s idea regarding the ‘metaphysical’ view of the cosmos, the nature of Platonov’s destruction of the ‘prose canon’ as demonstrated by Yu. I. Levin, and the specificity of the writer’s use of tropes as studied by N. A. Kozhevnikova. The goal of our study is to demonstrate that the idea of ‘rebirth’ is the organising principle in the portrayal of characters in the novel. This idea is embedded in the system of consciousness of the ‘knights’ of Chevengur who dream about ‘fully completed communism’ (доделанный коммунизм). The analysis focuses on Chepurny’s understanding of the world. A series of anthropomorphic tropes demonstrates the unique relationship between Chepurny and Chevengur: the town is modelled like the character of a person. The significance of modelling the town is this way is predicated on the intentionality of the manmade transformation of the world, that is to say communism, via the creation of harmonious connections between man and the world. What these observations reveal is that Platonov, through the mythological language of characters, delivers ideas that are dear to him, and in the process exposes the possibility for much hoped-for changes as well as the helplessness of man as he tries to grasp the mysterious depths of existence.

About the author(s) :

Nina P. Khriashcheva
Ural State Pedagogical University (Ekaterinburg, Russia)
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8434-7498 

 

Philip I. Khriashchev
Independent Researcher (Ekaterinburg, Russia)

Publication Timeline:

Date of receipt: 24.02.2024; date of publication: 31.03.2024

References:

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