Applied Analysis of Social Criticism Theory on the Base of Russian Literary Works (original) (raw)
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The Russian writer Nikolaj Leskov is widely renowned as a portrayer of the everyday life of the Orthodox clergy; his literary works depict God’s righteous servants as well as the greedy, selfish priests. Notwithstanding being a significant part of his work and effective way to express his views, Leskov’s activity as a book reviewer is not as well-known. Leskov wrote numerous book reviews, mostly on novels featuring clergymen and the ordinary aspects of clerical life, where he analyses the artistic merit and ideological perspective expressed in a work; literary-aesthetic values were, however, at the centre of his critical evaluation and interest. This paper examines Leskov’s book reviews by focusing on their content, structure linguistic style, and the evaluation framework employed by the author for book critical assessment. The aim of the present investigation is to shed some light on Leskov’s critical strategies and compare his critical arguments as a reviewer with the way he describes clergymen in his own works.
Тhe author strives to reconstruct Shestov’s early philosophical development from his initial moralist position to his markedly anti-moralist position. This includes observing the manifold ways in which Shestov deconstructs the Kantian foundations of Tolstoy’s literary philosophy which, as he argues, beclouds the ‘authentic’ Tolstoy: to wit, the creator of War and Peace and-or the creator of The Death of Ivan Ilych. In doing so, Shestov rejects the ‘self-same’ Tolstoy moralist and, simultaneously, discovers the ‘different-other’ Tolstoy tragedist, whom he empathizes with. In virtue of the said, the author displays the premises for understanding the successive ‘turns’ in Shestov’s early philosophy which usher a radical standpoint. These lead the Russian thinker from his moralistic to his post-moralistic phase, including his pioneering contributions to existential philosophizing, fertilized by Dostoevsky’s and Nietzsche’s tragic-existential experiences and critiques of rationalistic moralism. As well, the author reveals the ‘deconstructive’ mode of Shestov’s existential thought and, additionally, the struggles of Shestov to advance beyond a nihilistic outcome of his vitriolic criticisms аgainst the established ‘sons’ of the history of human spirit and culture. Тhis is achieved by Shestov’s re-formulation of the question of meaning in terms of a new seeking after God. The author indicates the significance of Shestov’s unique mode of bringing into question transcendentalist rationality and deontic ethics (in exploring the case of the Kantian and non-Kantian Tolstoy). He concludes that Shestov’s conditional success with regard to critique of the coalition of theoretical and practical reason has nothing to put in their place, except an anguished deferral of hope for salvation onto something or someone other than impersonally objective reason and all-punishing morality. Lev remarkably, he takes hold of the Gospel of Jesus, literally believing the wonder-making capacity of unconditionally forgiving mercy: thus he invokes (extorts by desperation) a revision of the merciless strictures of raciocratic moralism.
«West – East» Opposition in Russian Literature and Philosophy of 1830–1850S
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The article is devoted to the problem of determining the basic parameters of the cultural and civilizational identity of the Russian national character (the “Russian soul”) on the basis of literature and philosophy of the 30–50s of the 19th century. This period was not chosen by chance: in it, with the greatest strength and clarity, the leading trends in the development of Russian social (socio-philosophical) thought were identified, which had a direct and indirect influence on the literary process of the 19th century. In this transitional era, for certain reasons, objective conditions were created for the development of cornerstone ideological programs that became the subject of intellectual polemics, sometimes sharp and fierce, in subsequent times and which have not lost their relevance until now, as can be judged by modern book production, developing at the philosophical level, the most important questions of the future of Russia as a civilizational “mainland”, and on those very ...
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In this article Twardowski’s philosophy and Rudnytskyi’s literary criticism have been compared for the first time. The purpose of the comparative analysis was to identify Twardowski’s tradition in the works of his student Rudnytskyi. This comparison seems to contribute to a rethinking of Rudnytskyi’s literary criticism in Ukrainian culture, namely to clarify its philosophical background, conceptual apparatus, and methodology. In the introduction some critical remarks on Rudnytskyi’s literary work, that were made by Ukrainian scholars, have been provided. Next, in the first part, the methodological and philosophical background of Twardowski’s philosophy has been analyzed. The second part encompasses an attempt to reconstruct Rudnytskyi’s literary criticism. In the third part the author argues the direct impact of Twardowski’s philosophy on Rudnytskyi’s literary criticism. Finally, in the conclusions, the author claims that Rudnytskyi’s literary criticism had a philosophical backgroun...
Metacritic Journal for Comparative Studies and Theory, 2019
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