“Cosmology of love” in the Artistic System of A. K. Tolstoy and A. A. Kondratyev

Authors

  • Vadim Smirnov Ivanovo State University, Russian Federation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31861/pytlit2016.94.207

Keywords:

A. K. Tolstoy, A. A. Kondratyev, cosmos, female archetype, universum

Abstract

The article is devoted to the archetype of the “eternal feminity”, its modifications in the works of A. K. Tolstoy, and A. A. Kondratyev. This problem was formulated and developed in the works of the German Romantics and Goethe, later it became a key problem in A. S. Pushkin’s “Hurzuf cycle”. Carrying on the tradition, directly related to the idea of Plato’s “dual reality” and Aristotle’s “eidos”, A. K. Tolstoy created his own concept of ideal love in the so-called Crimean sketches. A. A. Kondaratev, being a disciple of Annensky, developed the problem of "Russian Eros" in his original way, referring to the “pre-Olympic” complex of the key mythologemes of the ancient Greek Pantheon. Reliance on Slavic mythology and excellent knowledge of folklore gave the poets the opportunity to open a new understanding of the cosmos and the integrity of the world. Objectively the “Moon myth”, developed in the cult of Astarte, Artemis, Zhiva/Morena became a kind of impulse for understanding of a woman's love, its fruitful origin. Thus, A. K. Tolstoy and A. A. Kondratyev, following the tradition developed by Pushkin, do not merely refer to the “styling”, imitating, but use mimesis (recall) to recreate the ritual reality of the myth, when the world appears much greater, larger. It is a kind of catharsis, and smart attentive reader opens a new space of the world, the spiritual eyes see something different that does not only provide a way out of commonplace, but also of selfish individual consciousness deadlocks.

Author Biography

Vadim Smirnov, Ivanovo State University

Department of Russian Literature and Culture Study

Ermak str., 37/7, 153025, Ivanovo, Russia

References

Graves R. Mify Drevnei Gretsii [The Greek Myths]. Moscow, 1992, 624 p.

Deratani N. F. Pushkin i antichnost' [Pushkin and Antiquity]. Uchenye zapiski kafedry istorii vseobshchei literatury Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo instituta, 1938, no. 4, pp. 5–34. (in Russian).

Ivanov Vyach. Rodnoe i vselenskoe [Native and Universal]. Moscow, 1994, 428 p. (in Russian).

Knabe G. S. Russkaia antichnost'. Soderzhanie, rol' i sud'ba antichnogo naslediia v kul'ture Rossii [Russian Antiquity. The Meaning, Role and Fate of the Ancient Heritage in the Culture of Russia]. Moscow, 2000, 238 p. (in Russian).

Kondrat'ev A. A. Sny [Dreams]. Saint Petersburg, 1993, 544 p. (in Russian).

Losev A. F. Dialektika mifa [Myth Dialectics]. Moscow, 1990, 473 p. (in Russian).

Meletinsky Y. M. Srednevekovyi roman (Proiskhozhdenie i klassicheskie formy) [Medieval Romance (Origin and Classical Forms)]. Moscow, 1983, 304 p. (in Russian).

Maksimov D. E. O mifopoeticheskom nachale v lirike Bloka (Predvaritel'nye zamechaniia) [Mythopoetic Origin in Block’s Lyrics (Preliminary Observations)]. In: Tvorchestvo A. A. Bloka i russkaia kul'tura XX veka: Blokovskii sbornik III. Tartu, 1979, pp. 3–33. (in Russian).

Pumpianskii L. V. Klassicheskaia traditsiia: Sobranie trudov po istorii po istorii russkoi literatury [Classical Tradition: Collection of Works on the History of Russian Literature]. Moscow, 2000, 864 p. (in Russian).

Pushkin A. S. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii : v 10 t. [The Complete Works]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1950–1951. (in Russian).

Radtsig S. P. O nekotorykh antichnykh motivakh v poezii A. S. Pushkina [Some Antique Motifs in the Poetry of A. S. Pushkin]. In: Voprosy antichnoi literatury i klassicheskoi filosofii. Leningrad, 1966, pp. 369–386. (in Russian).

Smirnov V. A. Semantika obraza materi/devy v “gurzufskom tsikle” A. S. Pushkina [Semantics of the image of Mother/Virgin in the Gurzuf Cycle of A. S. Pushkin]. Mundo Eslavo, 2011, no. 10, pp. 43–50. (in Russian).

Tolstoy A. K. Sobranie sochinenii : v 4 t. [Collected Works]. Moscow, 1969. (in Russian).

Published

2016-12-26

How to Cite

Smirnov, V. “‘Cosmology of love’ in the Artistic System of A. K. Tolstoy and A. A. Kondratyev”. Pitannâ lìteraturoznavstva, no. 94, Dec. 2016, pp. 207-14, doi:10.31861/pytlit2016.94.207.

Issue

Section

Comparative Literary Studies