DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65671

Abstract: In his critical review the author touches upon the two theses written by the Russian researchers I. L. Galinskaya and V. I. Mildon. Recently Svetlana Yakovlevna Levit has published many valuable books as part of the publishing project ‘Humanitas’. Her interest for literature deserves to be highly recognized and supported. There are major scientists in our country who are able to provide a profound expertise of serious literary phenomena due to their comprehensive knowledge of science and bright theoretical analysis. The authors reviewed here follow the principle that not only famous literary works should be analyzed. Sometimes we can also analyze a literary work which is widely read even though it is not an evident masterpiece. A researcher can find archetypes, magic symbols and codes in these works, too. This principle is followed by the two authors of the reviewed theses. V. I. Mildon’s thesis has a virtuosic combination of ideas, emotional states, philosophical insights and folklore motives. Both theses are analyzed by Pavel Gurevich using the comparative method allowing to find the ‘blessing power’ behind the ‘living words’ and different plots. Pavel Gurevich has also used the methods of philosophical understanding of human and principles of philosophical anthropology. For the first time in the academic literature Pavel Gurevich provides a detailed analysis of I. Galinskaya’s work ‘Documentary prose of Normal Mailer and magic world of Joan Rowling’ and V. Mildon’s work ‘All Russia is our garden. Russian literature as one book’. The novelty of the reviews is conditioned by the need to define the most significant phenomena in the literary process and show the relation between many authors in their philosophical and artistic understanding of life situations, ideological searches and art achievements.

Keywords: philosophy, literature, up-bringing, archetypes, plots, life, politics, human, magic, documentary studies.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65672

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.13004

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65663

Abstract: The article is devoted to the analysis of Jean-Paul Sartre’s views on the role of intelligentsia in the modern world. That topic became very important for Sartre after the trial of Joseph Brodsky in the USSR. After he had failed to obtain the repeat of the sentence on the poet, Sartre started to work on the book devoted to intelligentsia. His book ‘In Defense of Intelligentsia’ is devoted to the analysis of creative activity and the role of intelligentsia in the life of society. Why did Sartre state his views on the mission of that particular social stratum? He shared his thoughts on who could be considered to be intelligentsia and what functions an intelligent had in the society. Sartre defended intelligentsia who inherently were opposed to the government and criticized the thesis that intelligentsia performed only spiritual-protective functions. Based on the contents of the writer’s book, the author of the present article raises a question about the mission of intelligentsia and focuses on the phenomenology of knowledge and the need of the society in implementation of the social-critical function. The novelty of the article is conditioned by the fact that Jean- Paul Sartre’s book and his ideas on the phenomenon of intelligentsia and its role in the society were not known in the Russian academic community. The author of the article also stresses out that Sartre described the three main features of modern practical knowledge. He also underlines that an intelligent will always remain an agent of practical knowledge, i.e. he will always use the same research methods to analyzing the reality even beyond his competence. It is shown that intelligentsia was created as a result of the contradiction between the universal needs of their profession and particular interests of the ruling class.

Keywords: intelligent (member of intelligentsia), functions of intelligentsia, practical knowledge, ideology, writer, praxis, knowledge, elite, pseudo-intelligent, social criticism.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.12353

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65664

Abstract: According to the popular opinion, the dialogue of a Russian national poet Alexander Pushkin with a Polish national poet Adam Mickiewicz described in The Bronze Horseman was completed in 1834 when Pushkin wrote his poetic message to Mickiewicz ‘He lived among us…’. However, ‘Mickiewicz’ message’ that involved Pushkin’s perception of the anti-Russian cycle ‘Ustęp’ from the poem ‘Dziady III’ could have been found in later works written by Pushkin. The hypothesis that Pushkin continued his dialogue with the Polish poet in 1834 – 1836 gave a better insight into creative work of Pushkin in his late years. The object of the present research article is the poem ‘Imitation of the Italian’ included in the Kammeny Island Cycle under the Roman number III. The emphasis is made on the conceptual interpretation and intertextual analysis of the ‘Mickiewicz’ message’ as the key to interpretation of the poem. The purpose of the research is to show ‘Imitation of the Italian’ as a poem based on the Evangelic legend about Judas’ betrayal was created by Pushkin in the dialogue with Mickiewicz and involved images from such poems written by the Polish poet as ‘Kondrad Wallenrode’, ‘Dziady III’ and ‘Ustep’. The number ‘III’ in the Evangelic cycle allows to make a hypothesis that the main idea of the poem is that the ‘sinner’ chooses the path of repentance and the ‘apostle’ chooses the path of sin.

Keywords: Pushkin, imitation of the Italian, Mickiewicz, message, Dziady, Ustęp, improvisation, traitor, student, environment.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.12975

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65665

Abstract: The author of the article believes that there is not a single country where love does not have a sacral meaning. Even cosmogonic myths prove it. Cosmogenic myths have a profound psychological meaning that has been lost by the modern culture. In particular, ancient culture had certain expressions describing the experience of loving someone and these expressions have been eventually forgotten. According to the author of the article, metaphysics of love were particularly expressed in Nikolay Berdyaev’s work. The Russian philosopher tried to combine the Christian definition of love with the classical Greek myth about androgyne that was later developed in Plato’s philosophy. The author of the article has used the research methods used in philosophical anthropology. Unlike rationalists, philosophical anthropologists often appeal to interpretation of myth, insight, intuition and mystical tradition. Moreover, the author has also applied the methods of historical research for tracing back the development of the concept of love throughout the history. The novelty of the article is in the author’s attempt to develop Nikolay Berdyaev’s ideas on metaphysics of gender and interpretation of love. For this purpose the author has analyzed poetical works reflecting different shades of the feeling of love. At the same time, the author touches upon plots related to desecration of love. Today psychiatrists often define love as a sick feeling. However, today’s reality is also defined by the loss of the sacred human emotions.

Keywords: philosophy, philosophical anthropology, love, metaphysics of gender, metaphysics of love, Berdyaev, desecration of love, androgyne, love poetry, love philosophy.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.13219

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65666

Abstract: The article is devoted to the expression of the idea of ‘hidden devil’ in the image of Lord Henry Wotton in Oscar Wilde’s novel ‘The Picture of the Dorian Gray’ and particular cultural environment for expressing that idea which was the cult of dandyism represented by Oscar Wilde himself. Analyzing critical writings on the origins of The Picture of Dorian Gray, the author of the article describes the development of Wilde’s esthetic views as part of various philosophical and artistic traditions where the matrix of fairy-tale played the personalizing role. In his research the author at first defines the indirect feature of Lord Henry which had some kind of duality: a surface gloss of good manner and wit are combined with abundant amoral qualities. As a result, his surroundings often compared him to the devil. But the most important thing is that the socialite tried to dispel the established moral values. As a result, he was the source of catastrophism for the society. In fact, Wotton also overturned universal human values. He did not accept moral standards and taught Dorian the idea of life free of morals. According to Lord Henry, human suffers from the moral laws he has himself created. The research methods used by the author of the present article include historical, ethical, philosophical, esthetical, literary and comparative analysis. All these methods combined provide an insight into demonology as a phenomenon. The scientific novelty of the article is in the author’s interpretation of Lord Wotton’s estheticism. According to the author, Wotton’s estheticism was catastrophically dangerous for the society because it had the ahrimanic nature. Therefore, the author concludes that even though Lord Wotton had good qualities, too, he was the man with a devilish soul of a cruel cynic and nihilist, a type of criminal who tempted and in the long run debauched the younger generation including Dorian. By doing so, Lord Wotton did not only enjoy his leisure life but also gained a faithful person whose soul he zombified and ruined.

Keywords: Oscar Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Henry Wotton, human, artist, soul, devil, morals, estheticism and dandyism, type of criminal.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.13246

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65667

Abstract: The subject under research is one of the typical features of Japanese mentality when the ‘here and now’ integral knowledge of the world is thought to be at least as important as the textual knowledge or even more important than that. Quite often we see the following type of knowledge in the artistic tradition: the concept of the creative act (as the integration of the act into dynamics of the world continuum) and the method of teaching (as a direct transfer of knowledge from a teacher to his follower not only about profession but also about the sincere life). The concept of ‘true knowledge’ was inherited by Japanese people from Ancient China. In IV century B. C. Zhuang Zhou outlined the two ‘steps’ of indirect, physically established knowledge of the world: at the first step the knowledge of the world is formed by an infant who does not distinguish himself from the other world, at the second step the knowledge of the world is formed by a professional who has a self-identity and has undergone a long training. In both cases human acts spontaneously (‘naturally’) based on his self-assurance that his actions are the right ones. This aspect of knowledge became the focus of research interest both in Russia and abroad. In particular, in Russia the poet Vasily Zhukovsky and the writer Lev Tolstoy paid their attention at such ‘here and now’ knowledge of the world. The German philosopher Eugen Herrigel devoted many years of his life to improving the balance between mind and body in kyudo – Japanese marital art of archery. Eugen Herrigel wrote two books about it. The philosopher Michael Polanyi also devoted his ‘Personal Knowledge’ to that topic. In our country the mind and body problem was studied by L. Pugacheva and V. Podoroga. In her research the author has used the comparative method as one of the main research methods used in the humanities. The author has compared the Western epistemological tradition which is focused on the impersonal textual knowledge indifferent to the somatic nature of human and typical Far Eastern tradition which views the holistic non-utilitarian (esthetical) knowledge of the world and human to be the basic initial and therefore the ‘true’ knowledge. Holistic, physically embodied esthetical aspect of knowledge was before the textual knowledge historically. Up to the 10th century the Far Eastern tradition has been underlying the initial and true nature of such knowledge. However, we should also keep in mind that the textual knowledge providing a static and schematic description of the world comes first logically: in order to understand the dynamic aspect of knowledge, it is necessary to take the observer’s position. The scientific novelty of the research is in the author’s applying findings of the Western and Russian epistemological scientists to the mentality of Far Eastern counties.

Keywords: shapeless, ‘physical mind’, autpoiesis, inexpressible, epistemology, Zen Buddhism, Japanese esthetics, pilgrimage, Daoism, Gaido.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.12378

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65668

Abstract: Franz Kafka’s creative work is described by the author of the article from the point of view of the milestones in his biography. The writer often said that one should not search for new ideas or universal explanations in his works. However, his own opinion did not prevent us from looking for allusions, parables, special meaning and ect. in his work. The present article coincides with the 90th anniversary of the writer’s death and shows that despite his scarce biography Franz Kafka knew life, society and human very well. He knew his surroundings were not joyful and therefore preferred the being inside himself. The author of the article has used the biographical method, i.e. narrative description of Kafka’s life as well as analytical, historical-cultural and comparative historical methods. Kafka’s tragedy is that he had to pay his life for discovering that absurdity was the norm of existence. He did not want to cope with the visible life and evident absurdities of life. He wanted to break free from the absurd world without ‘breaking’ the world itself but it was possible to do it only by breaking free from life in general.

Keywords: existence, life, creativity, game, human of the crowd, constructions, understanding, method, insight, loneliness.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.12334

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65669

Abstract: The article is devoted to the reconstruction of the vocabulary of students of the 50th – 60th of XX century. The author of the article compares verbal expressions reflecting the speech of that period with Nikolay Gogol’s lexicographical experiences. Based on the great writer’s practice and partly adopting his methods, the author of the present article has tried to create his own ‘catchwords’ and expressions reflecting a particular epoch. Noteworthy that he shares Gogol’s feeling for the importance of the language and the word. The author is based on famous notes written by Nikolay Gogol (‘Russian minor lexicon’, ‘Materials for the Vocabulary of the Russian Language’, vocabularies from his notebooks of the 1840th) and their interpretations by V. Podoroga. In particular, the author has used Podoroga’s approach to literature as a historical material and an associated method of participant observation. The author notes that the teenager vocabulary of that time has the situational nature typical for everyday life: plenty of words and expressions used in the 50th – 60th were created based on concrete life circumstances. The author of the article also underlines the connection between the ‘social dialect’ with the social environment of the aforesaid period and states that that connection was rather indirect.

Keywords: language, literature, slang, vocabulary, social dialect, participant observation, everyday life, artifact, Gogol, Podoroga.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.13005

Abstract:

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0749.2014.3.65670

Abstract:

Keywords: filosofiya, literatura, vospitanie, arkhetipy, syuzhety, politika, chelovek, magiya, dokumentalizm