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The main provisions of the dissertation were presented in reports: at five international scientific conferences dedicated to the work of A.P. Platonov at the IMLI. A.M.Gorky RAS (1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2009); at the Sheshukov interuniversity scientific conferences at Moscow State Pedagogical University (2002-2010); at the All-Russian scientific and methodological conferences “World literature about children and for children” (MPGU, 2003 - 2004); at the International Scientific Conference in Prague in 1990, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of B.L. Pasternak; at the third international scientific conference in Voronezh, dedicated to the work of A. Platonov (1999); on 7's International readings, dedicated to the memory of N.F. Fedorov on June 2-6, 2009, held by the IMLI named after. Gorky RAS, etc.
Provisions and conclusions dissertation research was reflected in 75 published works, including 11 articles published in publications recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Moscow Region and the NRF.
Work structure. The dissertation research consists of an Introduction, three chapters, each of which is presented in separate sections, and a Conclusion. The list of used literature includes 400 titles.
Provisions for defense
1. The prose heritage of A. Platonov was “in demand” by Russian artistic culture in an era of rapid change in social, moral and aesthetic guidelines and can be considered as a subject of historical and literary contextualization and typologization.
2. A. Platonov developed artistic and philosophical guidelines in a creative dialogue with his predecessors and contemporaries. Image system, the artistic decisions made by Platonov in the field of prose reveal the possibility of their comparison in certain aspects with the artistic works of individual authors, and are one of the historical and literary universals, important for a number of writers of later times. The identified convergences form the fields and vectors of powerful Platonic influence on the most important directions in the development of prose in the second half of the 20th – early 21st centuries.
3. Inclusion of works by A. Platonov, as well as works by M. Sholokhov, A. Solzhenitsyn, A. Tvardovsky, V. Nekrasov, E. Nosov, V. Belov, V. Shukshin, Yu. Kazakov, Yu. Trifonov, V. Rasputin , L. Borodin, B. Ekimov, V. Makanin, V. Tokareva and other writers of the 20th century, in the “vertical context” of the artistic universe using the “ontological” approach, determines the “face” of Russian literature of the 20th – early 21st centuries, allows us, from private observations, to reach a new conceptual level of understanding the fruitfulness of the humanistic tendency in Russian literature as its ethical and philosophical orientation, determines the “universality” of this property.
4. The works of Y. Kazakov and A. Platonov are united by similar attitudes towards the philosophical understanding of life, dominant ideas of the community of people and the integrity of the world, and the most important concepts of the writers are typologically close. The artistic world created by Kazakov is imbued with Platonic motifs of “anxiety in poor villages” and “everyday need”. A historical and genetic examination of the prose of Platonov and Kazakov allows us to talk about the dialogue of creative consciousnesses in posing and resolving the problem of home, family, and human essence. In Kazakov’s lyrical prose, the symbolism of the image-concept “music” is important, which is a stable support in Platonov’s artistic and philosophical system. The situation of communication with music in the works of writers is a means of characterizing poetically minded heroes and introduces a romantic element into the works of writers.
5. Deep interest in hidden sides folk life, the people's view of the world and of man, the subject-figurative principle, the use of the traditions of tales, parables, bring together the works of A. Platonov and V. Belov. The epic completeness and authenticity of the image in Belov's prose is combined with a psychologically convincing study of the inner life of a person. In preserving the family, the people's way of life, V. Belov, like A. Platonov, like V. Rasputin, V. Shukshin, L. Borodin, sees the origins of the vitality of the people; in the family, his heroes will draw strength that will help them live in harmony with nature, “ according to the heart." The figurative aphoristic language conveys the peculiarities of the national character, the rejection of everything that destroys the peasant harmony.
6. “Thinking about life”, the desire to unravel its mystery, rejection of imposed standards - a characteristic feature of the “eccentrics” of V. Shukshin and the “eccentrics” of A. Platonov. The assessment of the polar sides of the Russian character, the dual unity human soul, in search of truth revealing its hiddenness. Writers test their heroes by the defining moral law - their attitude towards children, towards the elderly, towards the moral category of memory, earth, and, finally, towards death and immortality. In a number of Shukshin's stories, more harshly than Platonov's, the hero's tragically painful awareness of death is emphasized. Realizing the inevitability of death, Shukshin’s hero solves an ethical problem - how to live life on earth; Platonov’s heroes have an ambiguous attitude towards the “interest of death”, which is mainly ontological. In the prose of both writers there is a combination of epic-scale thought with the genre form of the story.
7. Typological connections between the prose of Y. Trifonov and A. Platonov are found in the approach to the hero. For its correct interpretation, the provisions of L.N.’s passionary theory of ethnogenesis must be taken into account. Gumilyov, the ideas of immortality and resurrection, discussed in “Philosophy of the Common Cause” by N. Fedorov. Plato’s focus on the philosophical understanding of existence, the search for answers to the “main” questions: memory, human destiny, the connection of a person with his clan, family, with humanity - will be further developed in the study moral world people in Trifonov’s “Moscow” stories. Trifonov’s concept of a person called upon to strengthen spiritual ties between people coincides with Plato’s: “the light of life” (Platonov), “a thread passing through generations” (Trifonov). There is a significant difference in the methods of psychological analysis among writers. Platonov more often resorts to describing the hero’s internal state, conveying his experiences through symbolic plasticity. Trifonov turns directly to the internal monologue to convey all the nuances of inner life.
8. In describing the self-awareness of the heroes, V. Rasputin, like A. Platonov, resorts to methods of metaphysical experience, relying on the supersensible capabilities of the individual. The system of visual and expressive means of language, the introduction of oneiric space into the text allow artists not only to fit their heroes into the cruel conditions of reality, but also to make a majestic picture of the universe a field for solving moral and philosophical problems. Traditional Platonic motifs of the “idea of life” and “philosophy of existence” are creatively developed by Rasputin in a similar system of motifs of “order within oneself” and determine the plot basis of the works. Contrasting with them is the motif of the “stranger passerby,” which dominates the creation of images of “enemies of life.” Writers consider the problem of “absence of an owner”, “turning cities and towns into a dump” from a moral and ethical point of view, placing “demand” on the person himself. The image of a child symbolizes life, the future, Russia, which is being encroached upon by “Arkharovites”, “nonhumans”, “throat grabbers”, “going ahead”. The concepts of writers that capture the mental clots of culture are similar.
9. The creative dialogue between L. Borodin and A. Platonov takes place against the background of the artistic achievements of F.M. Dostoevsky, from whom writers inherit an interest in the complexity and contradictions of human nature. Writers are brought together by a dystopian strategy, the desire to save human consciousness from the worship of false ideals, the intonational sphere of prose, a system of tonality expressed as a process of aesthetic exploration of the world. Writers are predominantly focused on archaic myth, on such archetypal constants as house, road, water, mother, child, bread, earth, death, which are intertwined with biblical myths. The roll call of many motives and the meanings behind them in Borodin’s prose, as in Platonov’s prose, is connected with the image of the house. The house in the artistic consciousness of writers is an irreducible principle of existence, an indisputable value, a space in which the connection of generations is carried out, the house, as a source, nourishes the higher spheres of life, love for the Motherland.
10. V. Berezin’s novel “The Witness” in correlation with A. Platonov’s story “The Hidden Man”, his article “Happiness and Suffering” about the novel “Happy Moscow” testify to the modern writer’s conscious mastery of creative heritage classic. V. Berezin follows Platonov in the main thing: in defending the value human life, speaks of her fragility. The main motifs of V. Berezin’s novel correlate with the key concepts of Plato’s artistic methodology.
11. V. Shpakov’s story “Iron Renaissance” is a unique experience of stylization, travestying such works of Platonov as “The Pit” and “Doubting Makar”. In the story “Iron Renaissance”, as in “The Pit”, there is a combination of the social plot with the biblical myth - the construction of the Tower of Babel in the “Pit” and the resurrection of the dead in the “Iron Renaissance”, and - the demythologization of myths - the “common proletarian house” in the story A . Platonov and new mythology (“steel cavalry”) in the story of V. Shpakov.
12. The principle of including the “Platonic” word in the text of the novel by V.G. Sorokin “Blue Lard”, in the chapter “Platonov-3. Prescription" is determined by its parodic use and has a shocking character. V. Sorokin turns to the methods of destroying style that have become familiar to postmodernism, which put forward the concept of deconstruction. Stylization is aimed at breaking the ethics and aesthetics of the brilliant writer. V. Sorokin demonstrates the anti-Plato line, not so much parodying as dismantling, remaking the story “The Hidden Man” as a remake. This attempt at debunking turns into a paradox, confirming the stellar status of A. Platonov’s prose. The functioning of Platonov’s artistic “constructs” in the reduced-destructive context of modern postmodernism testifies to the enormous role of the writer’s heritage in the modern sociocultural space.
In Introduction the degree of knowledge of the problem under consideration is illuminated, the relevance is substantiated, the purpose and objectives, research, scientific novelty, theoretical and methodological basis and the choice of analysis methodology are determined, the theoretical and practical significance of the work is substantiated.
In Chapter I, “The Idea of Life” as A. Platonov’s “philosophy of existence” in works of art and in literary critical articles » in accordance with the stated topic, stated goal and objectives, with reference to the research of Plato scholars, we present the historical and literary context of Platonov’s work. The main body of works is examined from the point of view of the designated scientific problem, the nature of Plato's innovation, the originality of the creative method, language and style, verbal and artistic means, and the spiritual quest of the heroes are noted. All this makes it possible to identify the basic concepts and ideas of the writer’s work, to determine ideological guidelines, leading philosophemes, which will form the foundation of continuity in the “post-Platonic space” (O. Pavlov).
Elements of the Platonic tradition will find creative development in the prose of writers of the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries. A. Platonov’s commitment to the study of ontological, axiological questions of existence is established, the paths chosen by his heroes to implement the “idea of life” are studied (“Chevengur”, “Pit Pit”, “Juvenile Sea”, “Jan”, “Ethereal Tract”, “Happy Moscow” ", etc.). Platonov’s heroes are looking for the answer to the “revitalization of the earth” during a drought, they are endowed with an indestructible thirst for activity, and this thirst comes “only from everyday need.” It is noted that the novel “Chevengur”, according to the observations of Plato scholars, is “one of the largest “novel of questions” in Russian literature, “a book about the eternal search in which humanity remains, “disconnected” from Being and cut off from nature, like a child from its mother ...”, that “...through the surreal style the deepest philosophical problem “shines through”: the dichotomy of man and being, the fatal “incompleteness” of the Universe - the central collision of Plato’s creativity not only at the thematic-plot level, but also at the stylistic level; it is precisely this that causes Platonov’s “crisis” state artistic form, starting with language...”42 The novel contains an artistic understanding of the problem of immortality, freedom, brotherhood, reflected in N. Fedorov’s “Philosophy of a Common Cause.”
The main Platonic formulas of the “idea of life”, “philosophy of existence”, “the meaning of separate and common existence” in the analyzed works are revealed taking into account the principles of the “theory of the art of life-building” formulated by N.M. Malygina. In prose, in Platonov’s literary critical articles, in journalism, such elements of the writer’s tradition as hard work, “doing”, glorification of labor as the “true mother of life”, human memory, women as the “soul of the world”, the search for “a path to another” are revealed. to man”, appeal to biblical stories, symbolism, denial of the world - “deserts”, development of a “garden model”, transformation of the desert into a “living land”, overcoming death, belief in the utopia of immortality, the idea of the unity of man with the universe, etc. “Attention of Platonov to the theory of art-life-building was explained by the fact that it was based on Bogdanov’s “organizational” science.”43 The poetics of A. Platonov’s work is considered as an integral metatext. The motives of the apocalypse, the system of images and symbols of Plato’s metatext, the poetics of “return”, the motives of the heroes’ journey with the goal of understanding and transforming the world are revealed. Constant elements of the universal plot model are found in the plot of a separate work. “Analysis of the model of Plato’s metatext gives grounds for the conclusion that it is based on a mythological structure.”44 The foundation of Plato’s “metatext” is already formed in his poetry. The motifs and plots of the writer’s stories, novels, and novels will move from one work to another, acquiring new shades of meaning, where each work, being artistically complete, is at the same time part of a single integral context.
The story “ Sandy teacher"(1927). The “idea of life” determines the most important plot-plot relationships associated with the image of the teacher Maria Naryshkina. Maria, like the heroes from the stories and short stories “The Motherland of Electricity”, “Ethereal Route”, “Jan”, “Takyr”, “The Wind Plowman”, etc., is depicted in merging with nature, with the universe; in her wanderings and travels, she strives to transform the desert into a “home-garden” at the cost of incredible efforts, “doing,” patience and sacrifice. In a village covered with sand, the heroine of the story “The Sand Teacher” will teach students “the wisdom of living in the sandy steppe” and “turning the desert into a living land.” To overcome “sorrowful tension” and “emerge into happiness”, co-creation of souls, empathy and faith are necessary that “help will come only from another person” (“ Jan"). A. Platonov turns to the artistic study of the moral categories of memory, freedom of choice, entering into dialogue with the largest European existentialist philosophers: Jose Ortega y Gasset (1883-1955), A. Bergson (1852-1944). Platonov considers the refusal of memory, the loss of connection with people, to be disastrous both for individual, and for the future of humanity: “A typical person of our time: he is naked - without soul and property, in the vestibule of history, ready for anything, but not for the past.”45
In the section " Anti-fascist works by A. Platonov“It is noted that A. Platonov was a war correspondent for the newspaper “Red Star”, he fought side by side with soldiers on the battlefields. The writer’s four books published during the war - “Spiritual People”, “Stories about the Motherland”, “Armor”, “Towards the Sunset” - made a serious contribution to the artistic development of the themes of war, patriotism, and anti-fascist struggle. All anti-fascist works and reports from Platonov’s front are imbued with the idea of a planetary community of people, the idea of “humanity as an organism.” The fate of the soldiers is revealed by Platonov biblical motifs suffering, voluntary acceptance of death for one’s land, mothers, wives, children. Platonov’s story “Spiritualized People” is based on the cornerstone myth of Christian civilization - about sacrificing oneself in order to change something in the world, eradicate hostility, and live according to God’s plan. Freedom for the soldiers of the Patriotic War is expressed in the possibility of choice; behind it is hidden the original “master” of any opportunity, the biblical imperative - “... do not harm the soul.” It is noted that this moral law - living for the sake of the future - will be the basis for the stories “In the Trenches of Stalingrad” by V. Nekrasov, “Sotnikov”, “To Live Until Dawn” by V. Bykov, the prose of E. Nosov, the poem “Vasily Terkin. A book about a fighter” by A. Tvardovsky, a “two-part” story “Zhelyabugskie Vyselki” by A. Solzhenitsyn, novellas and stories of “trench” prose, combining the works of A. Platonov about the holy war with the works of front-line writers. Plato calls the heroes of war stories “spiritualized people,” seeing the value of existence in the human soul, in its vitality and poetry, in faith in the bright beginning of life. In depicting his heroes in the war, Platonov proceeds from the presumption of resilience and strength of character of the Russian person: “... people, it turns out, reveal the ability of endless development in life.”46
TRADITIONS AND INNOVATION in the literary process - two dialectically interconnected aspects of the literary process. Traditions(from Latin traditio - transmission) - ideological and artistic experience transmitted to subsequent eras and generations, crystallized in best works folklore and literature, enshrined in the artistic tastes of the people, conscious and generalized by aesthetic thought, the science of literature. Innovation(from Latin novator - renewer) - updating and enriching both the content and form of literature with new artistic achievements and discoveries: new heroes, progressive ideas, a new creative method, new artistic techniques and means. Innovation relies on traditions, develops them and at the same time forms new ones; it becomes traditions, which in turn serve as the starting point innovation. In such interaction, creativity and innovation are the dialectics of the progressive development of literature and art.
Reform of Russian verse carried out by V.V. Mayakovsky, was a necessary consequence of the novelty of reality, which became the subject of Soviet poetry.
The secret of the Russian soul is hidden in national poetry. “In the lyrics of our poets,” wrote N.V. Gogol, “there is something that the poets of other nations do not have, namely something close to the biblical.” The supreme source of lyricism is God, however, “some come to it consciously, others unconsciously, because the Russian soul, due to its Russian nature, already hears it somehow by itself, no one knows why.”
In Russian classical poetry, the theme of rural Russia has always been one of the main ones (it is enough to mention Pushkin’s textbook “Village”). And these are not just “landscape” lyrics. In the element of the Russian soul, “the ordering power of myth was always visible - the myth of the earth, soil, space.” S. Frank, in his article “Wise Testaments,” expressed the following thought: “Using a later term, we can say that Pushkin was a convinced soil scientist and had a certain “philosophy of soilness,” he best expressed it in a famous poem of 1830:
Two feelings are wonderfully close to us -
The heart finds food in them -
Love for the native ashes,
Love for fathers' coffins.
Such rootedness in the native soil, leading to the flourishing of spiritual life, thereby expands the human spirit and makes it receptive to everything universal."
N. Nekrasov occupies a special place in Russian poetry. It was he who “provided the first example of a poet living in the city but suffering for the countryside.” “Nekrasov is dear to me because,” wrote Ya. Polonsky, “because he is, so to speak, our home poet, our soil scientist; he brought us great benefit because, by cultivating our people’s soil and clearing it, he makes it possible to grow on it over time not only Russian, but also universal human poetry."
The end of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries was the time of the genuine rise of the “peasant line” in Russian poetry. During these years, Leonid Trefolev, Ivan Surikov (author of the famous "Rowan" and the no less famous "Childhood" ("Here is my village") and poets of his circle ("Surikovites") worked: Savva Derunov, Dmitry Zharov, Alexey Razorenov, Matvey Kozyrev , Ivan Rodionov. They were joined by Ivan Osokin, Niktopolion Svyatsky, Maxim Leonov, Spiridon Drozhzhin. In the 20s, the “new peasant” poets became widely known: Nikolai Klyuev, Sergei Yesenin, Sergei Klychkov, Pyotr Oreshin, Alexander Shiryaevets, Mikhail Artamonov, Pavel Radimov, Vasily Nasedkin and others. In terms of theme and spirit of creativity, Ivan Molchanov, Dmitry Gorbunov, the early Alexander Zharov, poet and artist Efim Chestnyakov, Pavel Druzhinin, Ivan Doronin, Vasily Eroshenko were close to them. a three-volume collection of his works. The fact is that he wrote not only in Russian, but also in English. Japanese, traveled a lot, studied folk culture many countries, was familiar with Lu Xun and Rabindranath Tagore.
Among the Russian poets who promised to do so much, but failed to find their own poetic path, one of the most soulful lyricists was Sergei Chukhin. He began in the second half of the 60s, during the heyday of “quiet poetry”. Silence is the most important word in his lyrics: “Nowhere to rest... Such silence!”, “And the soul is protected from the cold by this snow, by this silence.” It turns out that not only now the silence of the “stagnant” time is perceived as the “golden age” of modern Russian history:
You won't find it in village man,
That today is cloudy and angry.
How to start golden age,
A golden day is so worth it.
The names of Fet, Tyutchev, Polonsky are also “signature” for “quiet” lyrics:
The night is numb here, over the field,
And the stars of August are flying,
And Fet reads voraciously,
And the person is happy with peace.
Now it becomes clear that in the “quiet” lyrics it was not elegiac silence that prevailed, but a vague premonition, a feeling of calm before the storm:
And such a strange feeling
Haunts the soul like delirium:
Among the peace and quiet
There is just no peace.
The work of Nikolai Tryapkin also belongs to the tradition that is inseparably linked “with the verbal art of the people, with its rich song, story, proverb culture, which has a thousand-year history.” According to the poet, he came “from the depths of rural Russia, From the great depths of the people...” In poetry collections of the 60s (“Crossroads” (1962), “Krasnopolye” (1962), “Songs of the Great Rains” (1965) , “Silver Ponds” (1966), “A Loon Flew” (1967), “The Nest of My Fathers” (1967), “Selected Lyrics” (1970)) Tryapkin glorified the happiness of peasant labor, poeticized the life of a modern village, using genre reserves folk art: songs ("Song of Bread", "Song of the Merry Frost", "That Night", "A Loon Flew", "Song", "Only Dawn...", "Farewell"), ditties ("Merry gain", "Recruit", "I call you mine..."), epics ("Healing of Muromets", "Return of Razin"), carols ("Kalada-Malyada..."), as well as thoughts, legends, were . Tryapkin introduced fairy-tale images into his poems (“Letter”, “Snow and Evening...”, “Awakening”), not forgetting about the song of literary origin - his poems “Hymn”, “Reeds, reeds, reeds” have such a basis. ..", "Song of the Winter Hearth", "I will never get tired of wandering...". You can sometimes hear in his poetry Koltsov and Nekrasov motifs (poems “Rye”, “Country Roads”), Rylenkovsky rhythm (“Forest scruffs...”), and even the syllable of “Vasily Terkin” (“I corrected everything in due taste... ").
Tryapkin's best poems are dedicated to the Russian North ("Pizhma", "Koryazhma", "Steamboat on Vychegda", etc.). In 1941 he was evacuated to the city of Kotlas. “There,” the poet wrote, “my eyes were first opened to Russia and to Russian poetry, for I saw all this with some special, “internal” vision... And I began to write poems that fascinated me.” The language of these poetic creatures is magnificent. In his “northern” cycle, Tryapkin achieves almost complete fusion with the natural world:
May it be sweeter than others
Great melody of merging!
Uniqueness literary situation of the late 70s was that there were no leaders. There were leaders, those who walked ahead, but the places vacated by Pasternak, Akhmatova, Tvardovsky remained unoccupied and it was not clear who could take them.
At the end of the 70s, qualitative changes occurred in poetry, associated not so much with the change of poetic generations, but with the active orientation of young people towards new forms of verse and methods artistic image. What in the 60s only timidly took root in the work of “pop singers” - complicated associativity, formal experiment, symbiosis of different stylistic trends - in the late 70s - early 80s declared itself as leading direction and everywhere reclaimed its living space. Moreover, there were two different directions, similar to those that determined the direction of development of young poetry in the early 60s. This was a traditional direction (N. Dmitriev, G. Kasmynin, V. Lapshin, T. Rebrova, I. Snegova, T. Smertina, etc.), focusing on continuation classical traditions, and “metaphorical” or “polystylistic”, focusing on formal experiment (A. Eremenko, A. Parshchikov, N. Iskrenko, Yu. Arabov, D. Prigov, etc.).
In the second half of the 80s, spiritual poetry began to rapidly revive. Now, it seems, all poets are “crying out to the Lord in unison, fortunately such a long ban has been lifted.” To be fair, it must be said that Russian poets turned to the Bible long before 1988 (A. Tarkovsky, I. Brodsky, D. Samoilov, O. Chukhontsev, A. Tsvetkov, Yu. Kublanovsky, I. Lisnyanskaya, V. Sokolov, N. Tryapkin, Yu. Kuznetsov, to some extent - N. Rubtsov). S. Averintsev occupies a special place in this series.
Spiritual poetry is an unusually complex and delicate area of Russian literature. Those entering it must overcome three main obstacles:
1) philological (the problem of combining church and literary language, especially in semantic terms);
2) religious (the problem of renovationism);
3) personal (the problem of spiritual growth, the degree of comprehension of God).
“That’s why,” writes A. Arkhangelsky, “professionals retreat before the greatness and impossibility of the task... And amateurs are not afraid of anything - because they do not feel, do not hear the terrible silence of their words.”
Fortunately, we have poets who know how to talk about lofty things without naive delight and without pomposity that is annoying for the reader. Such is V. Blessed, according to S. Chuprinin, a “truly tragic” lyricist, as well as N. Rachkov, O. Okhapkin, O. Grechko, M. Dyukova, N. Kartasheva, N. Kozhevnikova, E. Kryukova, L. Nikonova , S. Kekova, O. Nikolaeva, N. Popelysheva and many others.
A group of Orthodox poets who sincerely and deeply believe and understand that “spiritual verse in its religious content stands outside the current trifles of reality” came to our poetry in the late 80s (most of them were not even forty years old by that time). These are A. Belyaev, A. Vasiliev, E. Danilov (Konstantin Bogolyubsky), M. Dyakonova, V. Emelin, G. Zobin, Fr. Roman, N. Shchetinina and others. Their poetry is truly exclusively spiritual. They place faith above art.
480 rub. | 150 UAH | $7.5 ", MOUSEOFF, FGCOLOR, "#FFFFCC",BGCOLOR, "#393939");" onMouseOut="return nd();"> Dissertation - 480 RUR, delivery 10 minutes, around the clock, seven days a week and holidays
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Korotkova Anna Vasilievna. The people and the hero in the prose of A. Platonov: 01.10.01 Korotkova, Anna Vasilievna The people and the hero in the prose of A. Platonov ("The Hidden Man", "Chevengur", "The Pit", "The Juvenile Sea"): Dis. ...cand. Philol. Sciences: 10.01.01 Birsk, 2006 209 p. RSL OD, 61:06-10/1178
Introduction
Chapter I. National character in the prose of A. Platonov .
1.1. People and hero. Problem Analysis 10
1.2. Traditions and innovation in understanding folk life 47
Chapter II. Poetics of Image folk character .
2.1. Symbolism and its varieties 98
2.2. Features of genre and style 145
Conclusion 184
Bibliography 190
Introduction to the work
The dissertation research is devoted to the study of a problem that has always occupied A. Platonov and was the subject of his artistic quest. “All my people are poor and dear,” the writer reflected in his notebooks. - Why, the poorer, the kinder. After all, this needs to end - bring it the other way around. Do you enjoy something good if it is poor? 1 The works of the writer of the late 20s - 30s of the XX century are dedicated to the people who are “poor” materially, but rich spiritually: “The Hidden Man” (1928), “Chevengur” (1929), “The Pit” (1930), “Juvenile sea" (1932).
Published in 1928, the story “The Hidden Man” became evidence of the birth in literature of a new author with a unique thinking, style and language. However, the artist’s subsequent plans were not destined to come true during his lifetime. "Chevengur", completed in 1929, was first published in full in France in 1972, and in Russia it was published only sixteen years later. “The Pit” and “The Juvenile Sea,” which continued the Chevengur theme, were first published in 1987. The works of this period are united by thematic commonality, the study of topical problems of the contemporary world of the writer. A. Platonov revealed the character of ordinary people, without anything outstanding people, their ability to perceive the world and react to what is happening in accordance with the situation when they had to choose between life and death. In general, the whole life of the writer’s heroes was a kind of battle for survival in the conditions of hunger and devastation of the revolutionary period, civil war and the creation of new living conditions.
“From a new world a new one is born. Every creature sheds its skin several times. Drains the ichor, etc. - before receiving permanence,” 2 the writer stated. It is the time of “descent of the ichor”
1 Platonov A.P. Wooden plant. From notebooks. - M., 1990. - P. 33.
2 Ibid. - P. 98.
explored A. Platonov in the artistic world of his works. His people, creating the “new world,” not only experienced the difficulties and discomfort of life, but also looked completely unsightly, just like an animal that changes its skin. The painful efforts of the heroes to bring the “masses” to an awareness of the need for change were met with outright hostility and misunderstanding. However, people did not give up in the face of emerging difficulties and showed such character traits as perseverance, perseverance and determination. At the same time, the writer’s heroes acted based on what kind of life (as it seemed to them) the tormented people deserved. As a result, the murders of the bourgeoisie, kulaks and subkulak members who exploited the poor became not only a pass to the new world, but also a guarantee of its creation. The writer did not resolve the emerging contradictions between the noble goal of the heroes and “dirty means”; he showed this as an inevitable fact, as a consequence of the prevailing circumstances.
Revealing the aesthetic and philosophical aspects of the topic, it is impossible not to touch upon the interaction of A. Platonov’s work with the classic works of the 19th-20th centuries by such writers as N. Leskov, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. Leonov, M. Bulgakov. Continuing to explore the traditional theme of “people and heroes” in literature, A. Platonov interpreted it in a new way, adding originality: the writer expressed in the thinking, language and behavior of ordinary people a paradoxical understanding of how to build a new society and live in it. In addition, the author in his works studied the consciousness of the people and their heroes in relation to the natural, objective and material world, to the spiritual and physical essence of man.
Despite the almost century-long distance separating the time of A. Platonov’s era and modernity, the relevance of his works does not decrease, but increases. The reason for this lies in the problems devoted to “eternal” topics: people’s search for the meaning of life and their purpose.
It was these questions that the writer’s heroes tried to resolve, realizing the imperfection of the world around them.
Relevance of the study due to insufficient study of the problem of “people and hero” in domestic literary criticism. Despite the impressive number of works containing significant observations on this issue, there are no comprehensive studies devoted to studying the essence of the theme “people and hero” in the prose of A. Platonov. For a deeper understanding and disclosure of this issue, it seems necessary to trace the development of the people’s character in relation to the heroes who stood out from the “mass” not only because of their desire to help and care for all those suffering, but also due to their ability to comprehend the changes taking place, seeing them as not only good, but also negative aspects and trends.
Object of study the main Platonic works of the late 1920s - 1930s are identified: “The Hidden Man”, “Chevengur”, “The Pit”, “The Juvenile Sea”. Subject The study became the problem of “the people and the hero”, an integral part of which is the self-awareness of the people in social restructuring, the drama of the process, the ambiguity of the author’s position in the conditions of a radical change in the traditional way of life.
Research methodology relies on historical-literary, comparative-typological methods. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the works of M. Bakhtin, B. Vysheslavtsev, V. Kanashkin, A. Losev, Yu. Lotman, V. Skobelev, V. Toporov, D. Shepping, L. Shubin; as well as works on the study of A. Platonov’s creativity: K. Barsht, V. Vasilyev, V. Vyugin, A. Dyrdin, L. Karasev, N. Kornienko, N. Malygina, O. Meyerson, N. Poltavtseva, T. Radbil, L. Fomenko, V. Chalmaev and others.
Purpose The work is a study of the problem of “people and hero” in the prose of A. Platonov. To achieve the stated goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks: 1) study of folk character in the context of the identified problem; 2) identifying parallels in the aspect of the issue under study in creative work
in honor of A. Platonov and the classics of the second half of the 19th century century, as well as the writer’s contemporaries; 3) theoretical coverage of the concept of “image-symbol” and identification of its role in revealing the theme of “people and hero” in the artist’s prose; 4) study of the genre originality and peculiarities of the poetics of A. Platonov’s artistic works of the late 1920s - 1930s; 5) comprehension of the role of Platonic philosophy in the artistic world of the writer; 6) generalization of the results obtained from the study of artistic comprehension of the problem of “people and hero” within the framework of a unified picture of Plato’s world.
Scientific novelty of the research is determined by new approaches to the analysis of the concept of man as an individual and the people as a “mass” in the prose of A. Platonov. The emphasis is on the moral and spiritual search of the heroes. The problem of studying symbols in the poetics of works and their influence on the image of the people remains important. This issue has not yet been sufficiently studied in Platonic studies and requires a more thorough analysis.
Review critical literature on the topic of the dissertation. The work under review examines only those literary studies that touch upon the theme of “the people and the hero” in the works of A. Platonov. One of them is the study by V. Skobelev “On national character in the prose of A. Platonov of the 20s” (1970). Subsequently, in Plato studies, the philosophy of Plato’s prose was considered, in one form or another associated with images of the people and the main characters, conveyed through the originality of the writer’s poetics. Many researchers were inclined to believe that the work of A. Platonov goes back to myth, which is due to the presence in the text of mythological allusions and reminiscences, expressed not only in the plot lines of the works, but also in the presence of images-symbols. One of the first works in this area was “Critique of mythological consciousness in the works of Andrei Platonov” by N. Poltavtseva (1977). In her next work, “The Philosophical Prose of Andrei Platonov” (1981), a typology of heroes was proposed, the apocalypse
lipstick motifs and the problem of the relationship of the writer’s works to the utopian genre is raised.
In the works of N. Malygina “Features of the philosophical and aesthetic quest of A. Platonov” (1981), “Aesthetics of Andrei Platonov” (1985), “Images-symbols in the work of A. Platonov” (1993) questions were raised about the role of images-symbols in conveying the meaning of works. The interpretation of image-symbols expressed in names, surnames and geographical names is continued in M. Zolotonosov’s work “The False Sun” (“Chevengur” and “Pit Pit” in the context of Soviet culture of the 1920s)” (1991). The same topic is devoted to the work of L. Karasev “Movement along a slope. About the works of A. Platonov" (2001), where the author examines images and secret signs in the writer’s works, continued this theme.
In the philosophical aspect of Russian culture, the talent of the writer was explored by A. Dyrdin in his monograph “The Hidden Thinker. Creative consciousness of Andrei Platonov in the light of Russian spirituality and culture" (2000). From a mythological point of view, T. Radbil studied the poetics of A. Platonov in the monograph “The Mythology of the Language of A. Platonov” (1998). The book by K. Barsht “The Poetics of A. Platonov’s Prose” (2000) systematizes the symbolism of the cross-cutting concepts of A. Platonov’s prose and their role in identifying the author’s position. E. Proskurina’s work “The Poetics of Mystery in the Prose of Andrei Platonov in the Late 20s - 30s (Based on the Story “The Pit”)” (2001) is devoted to the study of poetics. The genre originality of the works “Chevengur”, “Pit Pit”, “Juvenile Sea” was studied by M. Zolotonosov, O. Nikolenko, E. Yablokov.
For last decade quite a lot of candidate's works have been written devoted to the writer's work, for example, the dissertation of E. Sergeeva “Folk artistic consciousness and its place in the poetics of A. Platonov (The concept of the hero and the artistic world)” (1996); T. Radbil “Socio-political vocabulary in the fictional prose of A. Platonov” (1997) and
other. However, list the names of all researchers involved in the study of A. Platonov in in this case it is not possible, which is partially compensated by the bibliography at the end of the dissertation. Scientific and practical significance The research lies in the possibility of using it in further research into the prose of A. Platonov, in teaching the history of Russian literature of the 20th century at a university and innovation school, and when teaching a special course.
Approbation dissertation materials took place at scientific conferences at the regional, all-Russian and international levels: regional scientific and practical conference “Language and Literature in a Multicultural Space”, BirSPI, Birsk, 2003; X All-Russian Scientific and Practical Conference “Problems of analysis of a literary work in the system of philological education”, USPU, Yekaterinburg, 2004; International Conference “Russian Literary Studies in the New Millennium”, Moscow State Pedagogical University named after. M. Sholokhov, Moscow, 2004; X and XI Sheshukov Readings, Moscow State Pedagogical University, 2005, 2006; All-Russian scientific and practical conference “Science and Education 2005”, BSU, Neftekamsk. The main provisions of the work are reflected in 14 scientific publications.
Structure of the dissertation. The dissertation consists of an introduction, two chapters, a conclusion and a bibliography.
InIntroduction the relevance of the chosen topic is substantiated, the degree of its development in the scientific literature is highlighted, goals and objectives that require resolution are identified, the object and subject of the study are determined, and its theoretical and methodological basis is characterized.
INChapter I “National character in the prose of A. Platonov” the problem is analyzed in the light of the moral, philosophical and ethical quests of the people and the writer’s heroes. The concept of people and nationality in the works of A. Platonov is considered on the basis of encyclopedic and literary concepts, the concept of a “hero” is proposed. Parallels in aspect are revealed
the problem under study in the works of A. Platonov and the classics of the second half of the 19th century, as well as the writer’s contemporaries.
INChapter II “Poetics of depicting folk character” provides theoretical coverage of the concept of “image-symbol” and identification of its role in resolving the theme of “people and hero” in the prose of A. Platonov. In addition, the main issues of the genre uniqueness of the writer’s works and the origins of his philosophy in works of art are considered. The writer's poetics is examined from the point of view of symbolic, semantic and substantive principles.
INConclusion the main results are summed up on the study of the problem of “the people and the hero”, on the development of classical traditions in the writer’s work, on the consonance of the main problems of A. Platonov’s works with the semantic orientation of the prose of his contemporaries, as well as with writers and philosophers of the second half of the 19th century. The influence of the symbolic principle in the images of nature, the character of the people and heroes is determined. The poetics of artistic research into the problem of “the people and the hero” and the national character are revealed. Prospects for further research on the topic are outlined. The dissertation is accompanied by a bibliography that includes 237 titles.
People and hero. Problem Analysis
To numerous literary mysteries A. Platonov refers to the problem of “people and hero” in plot, textological and contextual coverage. All the writer’s work of the late 20s - 30s of the 20th century and the subsequent period is dedicated to the people, who were at the center of all his works. A. Platonov’s people are most often designated as “mass”, “others”, “small nationality”. Everyone who created this concept is essentially driven by “heroes” - those who stood out due to their character, perseverance, determination and desire to make life easier for suffering people. “Heroes” who live not for themselves, but for others, are typical representatives of the people in the writer’s works. They have no external differences or advantages in material terms. The only thing that sets them apart from the “mass” is the desire for spiritual self-improvement, expressed not only in the desire to understand the world around them, but also in plans for the future, which they made in accordance with the proletarian ideology and the people’s idea of happiness.
The concept of “people” in the writer’s work has absorbed not only well-known, encyclopedic and literary interpretations, but has also acquired a new meaning. So, for example, the interpretation of the word “people” in the encyclopedic aspect includes several meanings: “People - 1) in the broad sense of the word - the entire population of a certain country. 2) In historical materialism - the people, the masses, the social community, which includes at various stages of history those layers and classes that, by their objective position, are capable of participating in solving the problems of the progressive development of society; creator of history, leading force of radical social transformations. The people are the true subjects of history; their activities create continuity in the progressive development of society. At all stages of social development, the basis of the people, their majority, are the working masses - the main productive force of society. In a class society, the people may include segments of the population with very different and even opposing interests. 3) A term used to designate various forms of ethnic communities (tribe, nationality, nation).” Based on the polysemantic interpretation of this word, we can derive A. Platonov’s definition of “people,” which partially incorporates the proposed meanings and at the same time is different. Obviously, for the writer, the people are the population of Russia, who tried to comprehend the ongoing changes in society or simply adapt to them and live in accordance with the new changes. A. Platonov correlated the names “others” and “mass” with people striving to simply survive in a situation of devastation and hunger. While the workers, Red Army soldiers and peasants made up those who tried to understand and act consciously.
Among them, the most united and purposeful were those who consciously began to fight for the new government: “These armed people are ready to die twice, if only the enemy died with them and did not lose his life.” It was these heroes that the writer called “... good people and the best people...” (“The Hidden Man,” 55), assessing their determination and impartiality in the events taking place. But in the works that followed “The Hidden Man,” the writer showed how a new state was being built, for which “armed people” fought. And it was built using the same methods without which no war can proceed: by murder and violence. This began with the actions of those who fought, forgetting about mercy “... towards themselves and beloved relatives, with lasting hatred for a familiar enemy” (“The Hidden Man”, 55). However, now, after the end of the civil war, such methods looked unnatural and scary and, as the author showed, ineffective in improving people's lives. For example, the construction of communism and socialism in “Chevengur” and “Kotlovan” with the merciless murder of obedient “kulaks” and “bourgeois” did not bring relief to the Chevengurs from suffering. Therefore, A. Platonov no longer repeated the definition of “good people and best people” in relation to those heroes who wanted to create “heaven on earth” through violence, killing enemies and showing dumb people how to live. In the writer’s works, these are people who live passively, who do not take an active, conscious part in building a “new life.” These are “others”, “proletarians”, “poor”, moving with the flow of life, submissive to circumstances. For example, the “others” were brought to Chevengur by Proshka Dvanov as a herd of animals obedient to their master. The “beggars” made no effort to even think about anything other than how to get food. These people - “...without an outstanding class appearance and without revolutionary dignity...”1 - constituted only part of the people, which can only be called an “ethnic community”, bound by the desire to survive. These are “others”, “... living without any meaning, without pride and separately from the approaching world triumph... they are poor... and strangers to everyone...” (“Chevengur”, 261). In another way they can be described as “... a large group of people connected mainly by their place of residence; a simple crowd (for example, “on the street of my people”) and residents of an entire state (for example, “the Indian people”).2 Such people were connected only by their place of residence, for which they could fight or, conversely, defend their land as a united mass from being captured by enemies . Spiritual kinship could appear only later, in the process of settling the territories. The designation of a people, first of all, as people living in one territory, is close to one of V. Dahl’s interpretations: “A people is a people populating a certain space; people in general; language, tribe; inhabitants of the country speaking the same language; inhabitants of a state, a country under one administration; mob, common people, lower, tax-paying classes; a lot of people, a crowd.”1
The similarity of the presented interpretations is that in the concept of “people” the core was the definition of a “group of people”, most often associated with the territory of residence. In addition, the interpretation of this term by V. Dahl is close to the designation of this concept by A. Platonov. Compiled by explanatory dictionary selected synonyms with an impersonal meaning: “many people, crowd.” Similar meanings are realized by the writer in the description of “others” and “proletarians” as a people who are bound by their place of residence and the desire to survive: “On the slope of the mound the people lay and warmed their bones in the first sun, and the people were like black dilapidated bones from the crumbling skeleton of someone a huge and lost life. Some proletarians sat, others lay and hugged their relatives to warm up faster” (“Chevengur”, 257). The people, who look like “...decrepit bones... of someone’s huge and lost life” (“Chevengur”, 257), have not only no joy in their existence, but also no faith that their desire to survive and indifference to everything else will be replaced by a conscious desire to live in a new way.
Traditions and innovation in understanding folk life
The heroes of A. Platonov, in their character and peculiarities of thinking, are similar to the heroes from the works of N. Leskov, who expressed consciousness common people, believing in a miracle and going against his fate. Although these artists are creators of works related to different eras, written in “different” languages, but their heroes have similar character traits. A. Platonov is a writer of the Soviet era, whose heroes denied God and actively built communism. N. Leskov is a classic who tells about sincerely believing people led by divine direction. Despite this, the problems of the works of the two writers are consonant: the fate of the “little man” and his role in the history of Russia, emotional experiences and spiritual quests, as well as the constant desire to know the meaning of one’s life and “universal existence.”
Their works explore the acute social and political conflicts of the era. For N. Leskov, this is the abolition of serfdom, the emerging revolutionary democratic movement, the tragedy of populism. A. Platonov has revolutionary transformations, civil war, construction of a new world. If the heroes of N. Leskov’s works hoped in God, then many of A. Platonov’s heroes, from the point of view of Leskov’s traditions, blasphemed. For example, in “The Hidden Man” they painted the image of St. George the Victorious, in “Chevengur” they desecrated the temple and took on the role of God, organizing the “second coming.” The writers' characters lived at different times and were carriers of opposing ideologies: for N. Leskov they are followers of the divine Orthodox teaching, for A. Platonov they are followers of proletarian ideology. But there are common points in the types of main characters. In both authors, a prominent place is occupied by the images of the wanderer, martyr and sufferer, capable of perishing in his own stubbornness, but not broken by someone else's will.
A. Platonov’s heroes are similar in character and thinking to Leskov’s, who expressed the consciousness of ordinary people who believe in miracles and go against their fate. Foma Pukhov from A. Platonov’s work “The Hidden Man” is similar to the heroes of N. Leskov not only in his perception of the world, but also in plot twists and turns, bordering on the adventure plot of “The Enchanted Wanderer” and “The Imprinted Angel”. The adventures of the main characters of these literary texts seem quite realistic for the life of the time frame of the stories. Both Ivan Flyagin and Mark Alexandrov traveled around the world: the first fled from fate, the second had a specific goal. And both came to the point where their travels began, to what they rejected as an unacceptable fact: Ivan - to his fate as a monastic novice, Mark - to the adoption of Orthodoxy. Both are physically strong, spiritually developed people. They are unpretentious, spontaneous and naive. The main thing about them is spiritual world, who created an image of an integral personality, not broken by circumstances. An integral part of the soul of Ivan and Mark is faith in God, in divine providence. “The Hidden Man” Foma Pukhov also wandered around the world, testing fate, not losing optimism in any situation and keeping faith in the divine principle of existence in his soul. In this way he is similar to Ivan Flyagin, the hero of The Enchanted Wanderer. Similarities are found not only in the characters, but also in individual plot and behavioral situations.
Both stories share the motifs of traveling around the world. Ivan fled from the prophecy of the monk he killed, and Thomas, after the death of his wife, the only loved one- went in search of the meaning of life and his place in it. Along the way, everyone had to overcome dangerous situations. Ivan was on the verge of death many times (once horses threw him into the abyss; it was difficult to cross the Caucasian river under fire from the highlanders). Foma miraculously survived when the locomotive was fired upon by the Whites; escaped in a storm on the ship "Shanya". But in all mortally dangerous situations, the heroes did not lose their sense of humor and courage. For example, Ivan’s behavior at the crossing of the Koisu River: “I thought: “Why should I rather wait for this opportunity to end my life? Bless my hour, Lord!” - and went out, undressed, read “Father,” hit the ground on all sides to his superiors and comrades and... ran away from the shore... slipped into the water.”1 Although several people had already died before his eyes, Ivan was not afraid to cross the cold river under fire from the mountaineers. The reason for this was the desire to die, which appeared in the hero as a result of the difficult trials that befell his soul. But Ivan did not die, because he was saved by a miracle: an angel flew over him and covered him with his wings from bullets.
In a similar situation, Foma Pukhov also showed courage, which cannot be called reckless, because he reasoned about what was happening, but did not understand the real danger: “Walking along the sandy ballast of the railway, he talked into the air... Shells rumbled in the air above Pukhov’s head, and he looked at them. -What are we shooting at? - Pukhov thought. - We transfer bullets out of fear! ... We lie down, shoot, our belly hurts, but we don’t hit anyone: their armored car found its sight long ago - and is crushing us little by little. - What nonsense: death is not protection! - Pukhov finally found out and stopped shooting” (“The Secret Man”, 93-94). At first, Foma did not duck from the bullets because they did not cause him fear. Afterwards, the hero joined the workers and began to hide from the bullets, shooting back from the whites. He stopped shooting not out of a desire to die or surrender (Foma was not a coward and was not afraid of death), but because he lost the meaning of what was happening.
Symbolism and its varieties
An integral part of the disclosure of the theme of people and heroes in the work of A. Platonov were the images-symbols that filled the writer’s works. In the surreal world of Plato's heroes, images and symbols created an atmosphere of mystery, understatement - a kind of authorial subtext. Therefore, deciphering these concepts, one can not only offer several options for the interpretation of literary texts, but also consider the folk character in this regard.
A. Platonov is not the first and not the only writer who turned to this technique to encrypt his thoughts. He was a successor of classical traditions, where a significant role in the spiritual development of Russian reality of the 19th century was played by such “... concepts, images, moral criteria or simply life phenomena as “Oblomovism”, “little man”, “ extra people"... "Rus - troika", "dead souls", "ray of light in dark kingdom"..etc. ... So, the meaning and content of such “concept-images” are not from the world of rational philosophical concepts. On the contrary, being born initially, in form as artistic image, they immediately... enter life and thinking as social-classifying and philosophical categories.”1 Both in life and in thinking, such images have become symbols, or symbolic images, expressing the essence, the idea of the work. “A symbol expresses an idea. But if the symbol has a visual-figurative form, then the question arises: how can the idea be expressed visually? .. . It would be more correct to talk not about the similarity of the external form of a symbol with the content of the representation it reveals, but about the property of a symbol to illustrate in the most accessible form the figuratively represented principle of an idea. Through the image in the symbol, that which cannot be directly given to a person finds its indirect expression... A symbol is a certain way of reflection, expressed in an image.”1 Reflection is a reflection of the surrounding reality, therefore the symbol is expressed in an image applicable in a given context. But there are images-symbols of an enduring, eternal nature. For example, the sun is a symbol of life, warmth, light; wind is a symbol of change; anchor is a symbol of hope and stability. So, "... the symbol exists until of this text and regardless of it. It enters the writer’s memory from the depths of cultural memory and comes to life in a new text, like a grain that has fallen into new soil. Reminiscence, reference, quotation are organic parts of the new text, functional only in its synchrony. They go from the text into the depths of memory, and the symbol - from the depths of memory into the text.” Therefore, it became natural that the images-symbols in the context acquired a new meaning, based on compliance with the sociocultural environment of the work. For example, for A. Platonov this is a foundation pit for the construction of a new house. While digging a hole for the foundation, the workers went down to hell, and not up to heaven, where, according to popular beliefs, paradise is located. Thus, “instead of a “tower” that elevates a person to heaven (symbolism of the “top”), a huge pit is created - the “bottom of hell” (“symbolism of the bottom”), instead of saving people, death awaits.” For N. Leskov, images of angels became symbols of the righteousness of the human path. N. Gogol immortalized in “Dead Souls” the images of the troika bird and the constant impassability, which became symbols of Russia. For L. Tolstoy, the symbol of life was the oak tree, which accurately reflected the state of A. Bolkonsky before and after his rebirth in the soul. In M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, the characters of fairy tales, for example, “The Horse,” “The Idealist Crucian,” and “The Wise Minnow,” grew into symbolic images. F. Dostoevsky, as a symbol of purity, purity, holiness, brought out the image of a child undeservedly experiencing suffering. A. Platonov continued and developed this literary device classics of the 19th century in conveying the meaning of works through images and symbols.
Here it is necessary to take into account (when studying the image-symbol as a theoretical concept) that the image-symbols in the work of A. Platonov are part of a certain allegory (like M. Saltykov-Shchedrin), secret writing (like M. Bulgakov). They not only reflected the surrounding reality in the perception of the heroes, but also warned against possible mistakes. For example, the death of Chevengurs is a warning about insolvency people's dream about heaven on earth (in Soviet reality, this is communism). Thus, the writer, in the image of a private tragedy, symbolically depicted the possible tragedy of the entire society. The image of one misfortune became a symbol of the expected future. Numerous other images of A. Platonov have a similar symbolic character. That is why Plato scholars use a single term - “image-symbol”: “... every symbol is an image (and every image is, at least to some extent, a symbol)... By turning into a symbol, the image becomes transparent, the meaning “shines through” through it, being given precisely as semantic depth, a semantic perspective that requires a difficult “entry” into oneself.”1 So, the images-symbols of A. Platonov are a certain concept that acquires a symbolic character in the process of deciphering the work. “As a matter of fact, this is no longer just a concept, it is an image-concept, where the figurative metaphorical structure creates additional containers.”2 The image-symbol, or “image-concept” is one of the central links in A. Platonov’s understanding of the author’s idea.
Features of genre and style
A. Platonov’s heroes built their own worlds, in which all good things were to come either immediately (as in “Chevengur”), or after overcoming temporary difficulties (as in “The Pit” and “The Juvenile Sea”). In reality, there was no society based on the laws of justice and order, where every person would be healthy and happy. Such a world was called “utopia”: “UTOPIA (from the Greek oіZ - not, no and cold - a place, i.e. a place that does not exist) literary - work of art, containing an imaginary picture of the future society.”1 Utopia arose on the basis of man’s dreams of a happy, comfortable life without death and suffering. “In a utopia, as in a myth, there are certainly motifs of the transition from chaos to order and other mythologems, as for example in a folk utopia, i.e. one that has been included in urban literature since the Middle Ages. Therefore, we can talk about the similarity between myth and utopia, but, naturally, incomplete. NE. Stakhorsky quite rightly proposes to call utopia an artificial myth... At the same time, utopia is in a very complex relationship with reality. It is a means of understanding the world and human relations from the contrary.” Based on the ruling party’s idea of an ideal society for workers and peasants, A. Platonov created a version of such a world in his works, endowing it with the features of the reality of the late 1920s and 30s. The writer used reliable facts of his time: the civil war, the organization of collective and state farms. Also featured was the directive adopted by Stalin on “... the liquidation... of the kulak as a class” (“The Pit,” 186). It was this directive that the activist reflected on at night.
In Chevengur, the heroes built a new world based on the teachings of Karl Marx and Lenin. By mixing real facts with fictional ones (for example, geographical names: Chevengur, Novokhopersk), A. Platonov left readers with the hope that everything that happened was just a not very successful transformation of reality, which can be avoided in modern reality. So the writer created a “place that does not exist” not only in literary texts, not only in the minds of readers, but also in the minds of researchers. However, in the study of the work of A. Platonov, opinions about the genre of “Chevengur”, “Pit”, “Juvenile Sea” were divided.
It is known that “Utopia offers a ready-made example of a new world and man, starting from the real world; the hero leaves him to find heaven on earth... It (utopia - A.K.) involves seeing the imperfection of the real world, contrasting it with a real example.” Therefore, the worlds of A. Platonov’s heroes are close to the definition of utopia, but are not an exact copy of the genre: A. Platonov’s utopia acquired the features of a dystopia. Dystopia - “... is a criticism of utopia, it argues with it and is even a parody.” However, for A. Platonov this is a parody not of utopia, but of the reality of the early 20th century. Therefore, the works “Chevengur”, “Pit Pit”, “Juvenile Sea” are not like classical utopias or dystopias.
Thus, G. Gunther cannot classify “Chevengur” as one of the genres, since “in “Chevengur” there is no ambiguous didactic-semantic assessment, there is no parodic element that exhausts the essence of dystopia. Most likely, the novel could be characterized as a meta-utopia, “... in which utopia or dystopia enter into an extremely fruitless dialogue with each other.” The opinion of E. Yablokov partly coincides with the reasoning of G. Gunter. E. Yablokov pointed out the dystopian motifs in the works of A. Platonov, based on the opposition of instinct and reason: “... the contradiction between the “second reality” and being “as it is” is most clearly manifested; here is the main source of dystopian motifs in Plato’s work.” E. Yablokov is not categorical in defining the genre of “Chevengur”, but finds in it features of dystopia, which are reflected in subsequent works.
M. Zolotonosov also studied the genre of “Chevengur” and came to the conclusion that “... “Chevengur” is a parody of the proletarian anti-peasant utopia, that is, it has a double address of negation: on the one hand, they deny... utopias of abundance; on the other hand, the very negation of utopias of abundance is parodied - the proletarian utopia of equality in poverty...” The researcher also pointed out the presence of parodic images in “The Pit”, for example, “...dialogue with Stalin...”4 The presence of parodic elements - “... this is another option for the literal implementation of social utopia.. . The desire of the world for self-destruction shown by Platonov, the image of a man who is mortally attracted, belongs to both the world mystery and the social tragic farce.”1 Thus, M. Zolotonosov considers the genre of “Chevengur” to be close to a parody of an anti-peasant utopia, and “The Pit” to the genre mystery and social tragedy.
Researcher S. Brel, studying the genre originality of “Chevengur” and “Pit”, came to the conclusion that these works do not belong to utopia or dystopia. The reason is that “... dystopia depicts events in a particular society taking place in the future,” and the events of “Chevengur” “belong to the period from the beginning of the century (childhood of Alexander Dvanov) ... Work on the story “The Pit” proceeded from December 1929 to April 1930, representing “an example of a rare synchronous connection between its author and real historical events.” The researcher agreed with the definition of E. Yab-lokov, accepting the designation of the “Chevengur” genre as “... a novel of education...”3
Similar thoughts were expressed by O. Nikolenko, exploring the genre of “The Juvenile Sea”. She suggested that “The story “The Juvenile Sea” can quite logically be called a kind of psychological utopia, since it describes not so much social transformations as changes in the human soul.”4 Changes in the spiritual level of an adult are possible only in the process of education: self-education or re-education, which was relevant during the formative years of Soviet power (which happened, for example, with Umrishchev and the ox driver who went over to the side of the collective farm).
But also as the best manifestation of what makes a person a person, it is characteristic of A.P. Platonov’s books for young readers: “The July Thunderstorm” (1940), “A Soldier’s Heart”, “The Magic Ring” (1950) - in total more than twenty books by the writer were published for children.
A.P. Platonov sang the praises of an intelligent, dedicated master and creator. For him, love for technology, for business, like a peasant’s love for the land, is the fundamental principle of life. Stories
“Epiphanian Gateways”, “The Hidden Man”, “The Origin of the Master”, “Yamskaya Sloboda”, etc.; the essay “For Future Use,” which Stalin did not like and therefore was criticized; novels “Chevengur”, “Juvenile Sea”, “Jan” (1934); more than a hundred stories, essays, four plays, six film scripts, a large number of fairy tales, dozens of literary critical articles - this is not a complete list of the works of the outstanding Russian Soviet writer. The plays “High Voltage” (written in 1932) and “14 Red Huts” (1936) are included in the modern repertoire of theaters for young spectators. During the Great Patriotic War The writer was a correspondent for the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper. He spent his last years in poverty, thrown out of literature.
And he started out as a poet. One of his poems (collection “Blue Depth”, 1922) is called “In a Dream”:
A child's dream is a prophet's song. The meek and sad will flare up
From the hot source of the Early One, ask for your light.
Everything flows, flows before its time, you left the road alone,
And spring is thundering far away. My heart froze and I fell,
You will forget the secret image, the path in the desert, knowing it is long,
There is no sky above the earth. You, my dear, are quiet and small...
In the person of A. Platonov we had a writer-thinker. His talent is on a par with the great writers of the past and of this century. His works give the happiness of communication with great art, and through it - insight into life, into its most complex historical contradictions. The writer's artistic world is multifaceted and multicolored. Often harsh. Metaphorical and therefore polysemantic.
The years 1925-1935 were the most fruitful creative decade of the writer, although in the subsequent 40s he worked frantically, always strictly treating himself and his life’s work - creativity. Writer Viktor Poltoratsky, who met with A. Platonov more than once at the fronts, in the introductory article to a collection of wartime works compiled by the writer’s daughter (Platonov Andrey. There is no death. - M.: Sov. writer, 1970), rightly writes: “ Andrei Platonov was over forty years old when the second world war. By that time, he was already known in literature as a subtle, original artist, with piercing acuteness feeling the anxieties and joys of the world and striving to express them in his own way. He was attracted to such collisions that most fully helped to reveal and understand the mechanics of the movement of life.” From this position
the modern reading of Platonov is more fruitful. When mastering his work, we face the danger of distorting the writer’s ideals, due to his new, second discovery after the current publication of novels written in the 30s. Even Platonic scholars these days have not avoided in their analysis of “The Pit” and “Chevengur” the emotionality of the first discovery of the writer’s ideals, which leads to extremes of unfounded judgments, which also leaves an imprint on the interpretation of stories for children.
Yes, Andrei Platonov can be considered the most metaphorical Russian Soviet writer. Literary critic S. Semenova rightly notes that the strength of attraction of both readers and researchers to Plato’s prose “is largely determined by the mysterious depth of meaning that flickers behind the striking ligature of his thought-words” (New World. - 1988. - No. 5. - P. 218). However, no matter how difficult it is to unravel the connection of words-thoughts formed by a writer, in the end the moral meaning that a person derives from the difficult work of reading Plato’s prose is valuable. Personal reader conclusions that correspond to the writer’s ideals and an assessment of the reality that became the subject of his research are important. In this regard, S. Semenova’s work is far from indisputable. In it, a passion for analyzing metaphoricality overwhelms thoughts about the moral, humanistic position of the writer. When developing your approach to the work of A. Platonov, a children’s writer, it is useful to compare the point of view of S. Semenova with that expressed in the already mentioned article by V. Poltoratsky “Andrei Platonov in the War”, look at the study by Yu.N. Davydov “Andrei Platonov and “ Russian blues" (Literary newspaper. - 1988. - October 19), materials in "Questions of Philosophy" (1989, No. 3) "Andrei Platonov - writer and philosopher", publication "So that the word does not kill", prepared by Mikhail Goldenberg (Soviet culture . - 1989. - September 2)...
Metaphorical, multi-layered prose of Platonov, its special language, replete with original word formations, intonational polyphony - everything encourages a philosophical understanding of the moral ideals of the author and the life that he explores and reproduces uniquely, in his own way. It is important to try to see the main thing: nowhere does Platonov identify with popular thoughts and attitudes those ideas of the “bonfire of class struggle” that are affirmed by the dogmatist Sofronov, Chepurnoy (nicknamed the Japanese), and the “sword-bearer” Kopenkin in “Chevengur”.
Faced with the fact of everything that is now being experienced, a new level of understanding, communication, civil harmony, unity, conciliarity is needed, which does not allow the irrational elements to overwhelm what constitutes the forces of creation and movement forward. The massing of more and more terrible facts from life without comprehending the sources of their anti-humanism, without introducing faith in goodness into the young developing consciousness, without awakening conscience and personally significant responsibility for one’s behavior to oneself and others - all this thins the line between good and evil, between freedom and unbridled permissiveness.
Humanistic art, thanks to its ability to harmonize the spiritual world of man, is a warning against moral and social infantilism, a cure for spiritual callousness. This ability purification and upliftment is especially inherent in literature, theater, and cinema for children, because it is inherent in their nature, predetermined by their aesthetic specificity. A talented children's writer takes into account the natural property of his reader - the need to know the world, himself, his place and purpose in it. He is inspired by the opportunity to help a child improve himself, educate himself and, in the case of a tendency towards evil, develop in himself moral qualities that oppose him. This is the main task and responsibility of a person at all stages of his life. But it was in childhood that the origins of her understanding and recognition of her life program began. Therefore, the role of a good book, as well as humanistically oriented works of other arts, in childhood and adolescence is invaluable. Therefore, anti-egoistic pathos and the pathos of self-knowledge, moral self-esteem are organic in the work of talented children's writers, playwrights, and directors. This is one of the main principles and moral traditions of Russian, Soviet and world classics. Let us remember the commandment of L.N. Tolstoy: “So that every day your love for the entire human race would be expressed in something.” The brilliant writer, teacher, thinker, whose work is extremely modern today, considered love, which encourages good action, to be the moral law of every person’s life. This approach is close to the goal of his work and A. Platonov.
The idea of the infinite value of the human personality is dominant for A. Platonov. The value of a person, according to Platonov, is predetermined by his willingness and ability to sacrifice himself for the sake of love for his neighbor, for the sake of realizing moral and social ideals (“Sokro
venerable man”, “Birth of a master”, “Spiritualized people”, etc.). To live for others, your own life must be worthy of the kind attitude of others. This is the core of the writer’s philosophical and moral views. Based on them, he determines the movement of the soul, specific actions, actions of the heroes named in the stories and such, for example, stories that are disparate in terms of life material, such as “The Sandy Teacher”, “The Little Soldier”.
The young teacher Maria Nikiforovna and the nine-year-old son of a colonel and a military doctor are children of different times: the former’s involvement in the big social life begins in the 20s, shortly after the revolution; nine-year-old Seryozha became a participant in the Great Patriotic War. Each of them manages himself independently, with your life. They make their own choice. Your own selfless choice, because the soul of each of the heroes “starves” for goodness, lives by self-giving for others, for the victory of life over death. The fate of Seryozha is tragic, close to the fate of the little intelligence officer Ivan from the story “Ivan” by V. Bogomolov. But if V. Bogomolov emphasizes that the boy is taking revenge on the Nazis for the death of his loved ones and therefore cannot leave the front for the rear, then A. Platonov motivates the boy’s selfless, conscious actions with pity for his parents who died before his eyes, pity for everyone dying at the front . These are two psychological nuances that help to understand how deep the personal experiences of a child are, capable of rising to the heights of social and moral analysis of life.
A. Platonov emphasizes the uncompromising nature of feelings, the impossibility of changing them for the sake of a rational, or rather, reasonable decision - calculation. In devotion to feeling, in the strength of feeling - the main motive of behavior, the writer sees both the strength and weakness of the child, his vulnerability: “This weakness of a child’s, human heart, concealing behind itself a constant, unchanging feeling that binds people into a single kinship - this weakness meant strength child..." The feeling, spontaneity, intuition of a child, instinctive moral reaction raise him to the highest manifestation of the universal human generic essence of the human. This is the special power and value of childhood. Perhaps one of the most remarkable attitudes of these and other works of the writer is the recognition of morality, which constitutes the meaning of art, as a creative force not only of self-development, spiritual, social self-movement of the individual, but also of productive force on the scale of society, state, individual
of eternity. A productive force that can have both positive and destructive effects. It is this final action that constitutes the artist’s main concern: “A working person must deeply understand that you can make as many buckets and locomotives as you like, but song and excitement can't be done. A song is more valuable than things it brings people closer to people. And this is the most difficult and necessary.” This expresses the creative power of art, which produces the main thing - the human, immortal in people - their unity in the effort to live, their strength of life.
None of Platonov’s works, being extremely relevant during the period of writing and in our days, was only a reaction to a topical topic, only a concern to give a spiritual, emotional shock to both a child and an adult, although all the writer’s work is the result of his shocked consciousness, his openness an immeasurably great heart, bursting with pain for people. In the story “Return” we read: “He suddenly learned everything he knew before, much more accurately and more effectively. Previously, he felt life through the barrier of pride and self-interest, but now he suddenly touched it with his naked heart.” Touching life with a “bared heart” gives A. Platonov’s prose an infectious emotionality and boundless empathy. These are his heroes. This is their creator. He proceeds from the conviction: “... The task of every person in relation to another person, and the poet in particular (emphasis mine. - T.P.), not only to reduce the grief and need of a suffering person, but also to open up to him vital, truly accessible happiness. This is precisely the highest purpose of human activity.” Any activity, and artistic creativity- to the greatest extent, for it is the manifestation of the truly human in man, the manifestation and revelation of our tribal essence and the vitally necessary tribal unity, mutual understanding, mutual spirituality: “...without me the people are incomplete,” just like I myself, if alienated from it if I am guided in my actions by motives that are contrary to morality.
Today, perhaps more than ever before, it is necessary for our children from a young age to master universal human ideals of morality: “thou shalt not steal,” “thou shalt not kill,” “honor thy father,” do evil to people, do not offend the weak, do not destroy what others have done, do not destroy nature, take care of all life in it, for you are not only a part of it, you are its son and guardian. Wasn’t all this explained thousands of times to children, starting from nursery?
old age? So why do the best of them cry out for help as teenagers? Why is it difficult to be young? Apparently, the moral does not become the content of the inner “I” if it is only hammered into it, if only it is declared and explained. It is necessary that moral concepts are absorbed as norms of existence from a very tender age, both at the level of consciousness and at the level of the subconscious, an aesthetic, personally valuable experience. And this is a specific channel for the influence of art, for human communication with genuine art.
Speaking about the development of the personality of Maria Nikiforovna, the heroine of the story “The Sandy Teacher,” in her adolescence, A. Platonov evaluates them as follows: “the most indescribable” years in a person’s life, “when the buds burst in a young chest and femininity blossoms, consciousness is born idea of life (emphasis mine. - T.P.). It is strange that no one ever helps a young man at this age to overcome the anxieties that torment him; no one will support the thin trunk, which is torn by the wind of doubt and shaken by the earthquake of growth. Someday youth will not be defenseless.” During these years, “man makes noise inside,” writes the author of the story in 1927. Loving his heroine, sympathizing with her, the writer delicately builds her character, infecting with “strength”, masculinity, striking with dedication without sacrifice. “For long evenings, entire epochs of empty days, Maria Nikiforovna sat and thought about what she should do in this village, doomed to extinction. It was clear: you can’t teach hungry and sick children.” The teacher understood that the inhabitants of the desert “will go anywhere for someone who will help them overcome the sands” and teach them “the art of turning the desert into living land.” It was none of her business. But the young teacher could not be indifferent to the pain of others.
Someone else's pain and misfortune were worse, stronger than personal grief caused by the inability to do one's job, loneliness, abandonment. Complicity gave Maria Nikiforova that “young anger”, thanks to which she fearlessly fought with the nomads who were trampling all living things around Khoshutov, where the teacher worked. She convinced every single one of the peasants to start planting, and two years later the greenery “filled the inhospitable estates.” The teacher was not doing her job. But she did not face the question that is relevant for modern young pragmatists: “What will I get from this?” Maria Nikiforovna naturally became happy when others
it became cozy, satisfying, pleasant... Having understood and accepted as her fate “the hopeless fate of two peoples squeezed in sand dunes,” Maria Nikiforovna agrees to work even further away, in the depths of the desert. Accepting her generosity, she sheepishly admits: “I’m very glad, I somehow feel sorry for you and for some reason I’m ashamed...” This sets off the quiet heroism of the teacher’s life position and selflessness. Her image evokes respect and, let’s not be afraid to say loudly, admiration and sympathy.
From today's pragmatist-rich day, this image is perceived as idyllic. But such an idyll “is extremely useful in our time. How nice it would be if at least a particle of the selfishness of our young rational girls were squeezed out in favor of such a moral idyll. The young teacher from Platonov’s story reminded me of my own youth. I'm like Maria Nikiforovna, I didn’t feel offended, left out of happiness.” The words in quotation marks belong to M.P. Prilezhaeva. I had a conversation with her about the hero of a children's book, a youth book, about the image of a girl from the story “The Sandy Teacher,” when the publishing house “Young Guard” was preparing to publish M.P. Prilezhaeva’s autobiographical story “The Green Branch of May.” The “idea of life” of the young heroine from the story “The Green Branch of May” is related to the “idea of life” that guided the thoughts and actions of the sandy teacher. Such a roll call of writer's positions and intonations is not accidental - this is one of the confirmations of its vitality.
Children's stories and fairy tales convince us that A. Platonov’s favorite hero is an ordinary “little” person. The writer explores his dedication to work, state of mind, state of mind, interprets work as the highest manifestation of the mind, as a source of education of the soul, as the power of creating humanity in a person. Reasonable work, evaluated by results. Labor as an act, as a manifestation of life. Man himself in his socio- and biogenesis, everything that surrounds him, from which he is inseparable: the earth, trees, flowers, sky, stars, wind, water, crops grown by people and the field itself, a stone on it and a crack from drought - everything in the stories, in the stories of A. Platonov lives, acts and interacts with each other and with people. Not just physically. First of all - spiritually.
The writer had the tremulous soul of a child and the philosophical thinking of a scientist. He knew how to marvel at the life of a rotting stump, to talk to it as if it were alive, spiritualizing it. And when you see a delicate flower growing from a stone, start thinking
ideas about the eternity of existence, about the infinity of the movement of matter, about the interdependence of all things not only on earth, but also on the scale of space. Behind the external naivety and simplicity of his heroes there is a depth of thought, burning with the joy of discovery. It is this attitude in the analysis of the writer’s children’s stories that is especially relevant and necessary for introducing the modern little rationalist to them: he early receives a huge variety of information, but is emotionally robbed; he deftly uses slot machines, killing a bird with a cannon, but does not know how to see its flight in the sky, does not get used to admiring the proud span of its beautiful wings as a child, and does not always feel pity for it - a quality of the soul that is especially valuable in our time of noticeable alienation of people from each other and from nature.
Children in A. Platonov's stories are endlessly inquisitive. Little Antoshka (“The July Storm”) wants to understand how something could have existed before him, when he was not there. What did all these objects with which he is so close do without him? They probably missed him, were expecting him. The boy lives among them, “so that they will all be happy.” And Yegor in the story “The Iron Old Woman” “didn’t like to sleep, he loved to live without interruption in order to see everything that lived without him, and he regretted that at night he had to close his eyes and the stars would then burn in the sky alone, without his participation.” Egor wants to participate in everything. To be tangibly, noticeably involved in everything. Figure it out. Everything will be useful.
The hero of the story “Dry Bread” sees that the earth is drying up without rain. The bread is disappearing. He is shocked. The boy doesn't say any words. He simply begins to loosen the soil at the roots of the bread sprouts. Funny? No. The owner is growing. Caring. You can rely on him. Although to modern rationally thinking children the boy often seems naive: “Funny. He's stupid. Can one person loosen a field? And even without a tractor. “I wouldn’t do such a stupid thing at all,” said a modern erudite, the same age as the hero of the story, in a conversation about the work he had read. Great power and the value of A. Platonov’s stories lies precisely in the fact that he encourages the modern child, who knows how to press the buttons of slot machines, at least stop for a while, think: what is it, lightning? Why and why a rainbow? How did she become colorful? What kind of flower grew from the stone? Why did he grow up here? What does he eat?
“The Unknown Flower” is the name of one of the amazing poetic stories. Let's listen to his soft
caressing intonation: “Once upon a time there lived a little flower. Nobody knew that he was on earth. He grew up alone in a vacant lot, cows and goats did not go there, and children from the pioneer camp never played there. No grass grew in the vacant lot, but only old gray stones lay and between them there was dry, dead clay.” This is how the story begins. Calmly, leisurely. The writer does not intrigue the reader. He invites you to think, to search for answers to questions about life - about goodness, about beauty, about the fact that caring adorns a person, and ultimately, thanks to a person’s care for all living things, the earth. “In the good black earth, flowers and herbs were born from seeds, but in the stone even such seeds died,” the writer reflects. And the flower is alive. He also has his own laws of life: “During the day, the flower was guarded by the wind, and at night by the dew. He worked day and night to live and not die. He grew his leaves large so that they could stop the wind and collect dew. However, it was difficult for the flower to feed only from dust particles that fell from the wind, and also to collect dew for them. But he needed life and overcame his pain from hunger and fatigue with patience.”
He overcame the pain with patience... I would like to help the child reader to hold his attention here and imagine, imagine how the flower “endures” “its pain from hunger and fatigue.” No, not in order to later reproach that he, our reader, does not know how to overcome his own pain and in general he is “stupider than a flower.” Hold your attention to awaken your imagination. To see a flower alive, trembling and fighting for life. So that one day the foot will stop on its own and not crush the flower if it suddenly gets in the way. So that the hand does not reach out on its own to pick the flower and throw it away. Just think, a blade of grass... I remember the activities of children in Japan, which at first glance have a strange name: admiring beauty. Children go for a walk in nature. Silently they admire the beauty: a floating cloud, rustling leaves in the wind, a sakura flower... A. Platonov's stories are a unique lesson in admiring living nature. You just need to help the children read them slowly. Help you hold your inner gaze at the moment when a flower collects dew, imagine how its large leaves are trying to stop the wind... After all, this is where the ability to feel part of nature, the willingness to bear responsibility for it begins.
A. Platonov introduces the reader to the most complex philosophical thoughts about the meaning of life, its irreversibility, and the purposefulness of everything in nature. Encourages you to think about the alternative position: the thirst for life of a fragile flower and lightness
his death from the careless, stupid hand of a person... The wasteland where one unknown flower grew, a year later became completely different: “it was now overgrown with herbs and flowers, and birds and butterflies flew over it. The flowers had a fragrance, the same as that little working flower.” But let us note the main thing: “Between two close stones a new flower grew - exactly the same as that old flower, only much better and even more beautiful. This flower grew from the middle of the clenched stones, it was alive and patient, like its father, and even stronger than its father, because it lived in the stone.” This is the essence: “alive and patient”, “like his father, and even stronger than his father...”.
The idea of continuity of being. Changes in life forms during its infinity. The writer leads the little reader to her, believing that he will understand everything. He cannot help but understand if his thoughts are uninhibited. If the imagination is free. If the reader sees a picture behind the word, and in it - the breath of life.
The children themselves - the heroes of A. Platonov - are inseparable from the earth, from the environment in which they live. This is their strength. Amazing stability. Their curiosity, their thoughts are not constrained by anything. Thought and feeling live in movement towards truth. It’s difficult, however, for a boy if he lives in a village, where everyone is busy with their own business and there is no one to answer all the endless children’s “whys” and “whys.” For example, Afonya in the story “Flower on the Earth” does not allow the old grandfather to sleep. , understand how it begins and why it doesn’t end. He needs to find the answer to a variety of questions, and all of them are about the meaning of life. General human life, and not just children's life.
“Wake up, grandpa, tell me everything,” asks Afonya. The grandfather woke up with difficulty and went with his grandson to the field. He stopped near the flower to draw his grandson’s attention to it. “I know that myself,” Afonya said drawlingly. - And I need that the most important thing happens, you tell me about everything! And this flower grows, it’s not everything!
Grandfather Titus became thoughtful and angry with his grandson.
Here is the most important thing for you!.. You see - the sand lies dead, it is stone chips and there is nothing else, but the stone does not live and does not breathe, it is dead dust. Do you understand now?
No, grandfather Titus,” said Afonya, “there is nothing clear here.”
And the flower, you see, is so pathetic, but it is alive, and it made itself a body from dead dust. Therefore, he turns the dead, loose earth into a living body, and he himself smells of pure spirit. Here you have the most important thing in this world, here you have where everything comes from. This flower is the most holy worker, it works life out of death...
Do grass and rye also do the main thing? - asked Afonya.
“It’s the same,” said Grandfather Titus.”
I quote A. Platonov in order to give pleasure to feel the intonation of the dialogue of the heroes, a wise old man and an equally wise preschooler; to hear the voice of each of them and thus feel: the writer is having an essentially philosophical conversation with the children about the most important thing - about life, about its origins. The writer convinces little reader, that “making life”, promoting life is the main purpose of all living things and, of course, every person. This is how a tendency is formed from childhood to comprehend life in different forms of manifestation, to understand the integrity and interdependence of all living things. Thanks to this comprehension of the meaning of all things, a consciousness of responsibility for life on earth is born, because each of us is its particle, its daughter or son and its preserver.
Reading A. Platonov’s stories with the mindset of solving modern educational problems is very fruitful. In our time, it is extremely important to encourage children to have a holistic view of life, to understand biological, historical, and social interdependencies. It is especially valuable to help modern children feel their closeness to the village boys from the stories of A. Platonov and because Plato’s sense of man’s involvement in nature, his dependence on the earth in our time has almost been lost by those who still know how to admire a beautiful sunset, but no longer ran on the ground barefoot, has no experience in promoting the life of plants, animals, animals with his own hands.
Those who knew A. Platonov personally, remembering him, say that in appearance he was somewhat similar to a craftsman. For a working person. This is what he looks like in the photographs. And the eyes? Full of sadness and warmth. Concern and gullibility. Soft, kind face. And some special power of attraction in the gaze. “See right through,” people say about such eyes. This is why the writer is extremely humane: he saw everything through and through and foresaw, alas, much that was unspeakably difficult and destructive. When introducing the writer to children, it would be good, however, to pay attention to the special power of his personality’s charm. In the previously mentioned article by V. Poltoratsky we read:
“He was gentle and easy to use, he knew how to find his word for everyone - be it a soldier, a general, an old peasant woman or a child. He spoke in a dull, low voice, calmly and evenly. But sometimes he was harsh and prickly, always absolutely intolerant of falsehood and boasting
stu. His tenacious, sharp gaze saw right through his interlocutor. Platonov was especially good at talking with war workers. I remember his conversation with the sappers who were establishing a crossing on the Goryn River. I was struck then by the writer’s deep professional knowledge of the work in which these soldiers were engaged. Yes, probably not only me, but also the soldiers who saw in the war correspondent their own working man.
When it happened to stop for the night in a peasant hut, Platonov was imbued with the worries of the owners: he could easily chop wood, pick up a thrown shovel in the yard in the wrong place, get water from a well... Those readers who want to read the works Platonov imagine a chronicle of the war, will not be able to do this. Platonov was attracted not by the description of military actions, but by their philosophical essence, the root depths of those actions that determined the actions and actions of people in war."
These are the root sources of humanity. The relationship between man and nature. Mutual understanding and closeness between people and all living things on earth. These are the dominant attitudes of A. Platonov’s work.
In the story “Sergeant Shadrin” (the story of a Russian young man of our time) we read: “Shadrin knew what the power of feat was. The Red Army soldier understands the significance of his work, and this work feeds his heart with patience and joy, overcoming fear. Duty and honor, when they act as living feelings, are like the wind, and a person is like a petal carried away by this wind, because duty and honor are love for one’s people, and it is stronger than self-pity.” This comparison between a person and a petal carried by the wind is amazing and beautiful. Identification of personal duty, honor with love for the people, which is always “stronger than self-pity.” The writer sees and affirms as the highest moral ideal the ability of soul-creating selflessness: a person who is able to give his feelings, his strength to people, the creation of life, is beautiful. Giving creates the strength of the soul and the joy of being - the joy of creation. Sergeant Shadrin is a participant in many deadly battles. He was wounded more than once and was treated in hospitals. Having walked thousands of miles in battle across his native land, he understood: war is sacred to him, because its goal is “to re-enter the Motherland and change its fate - from death to life.”
The ideal of creativity of a talented writer is precisely this: to constantly work to change the fate of the Fatherland from death
"Platonov Andrey. There is no death. - M.: Sov. writer, 1970. - P.5.
you to life. It is important that readiness for this creative work is formed in childhood. According to Platonov, “the being of a soldier is sacred, just as a mother is sacred.” Such a reverent attitude towards the mother, towards the Motherland, towards work in the name of life is the main pathos of stories for children.
We think again and again
1. In the story “Flower on the Ground,” the grandfather explains to his grandson that a flower growing on the sand “works life.” How do you understand this old man’s thought? How can you explain its meaning to children, based on the works of A. Platonov?
2. In your opinion, can we say that the heroine of the story “The Sandy Teacher” Maria Nikiforovna has succeeded as a person?
3. The chapter contains the statement of A. Platonov: “A song is more valuable than things, it brings a person closer to a person.” How do you explain to children the meaning of this saying, using stories, fairy tales by A. Platonov, M. Prishvin and other writers close to you?
Andrey Platonov: Memoirs of contemporaries: Materials for a biography. - M.: Modern writer, 1994.
Malygina N.M. Art world Andrey Platonov: Tutorial. - M., 1995.
Losev V.V. Andrey Platonov. "The Hidden Man" “Pit”//Russian literature. XX century: Reference materials: Book for high school students. - M.: Education, JSC " Educational literature", 1995. - P.273-286.
Polozova T.D. Lasting value childhood // Polozova T.D., Polozova T.A. I owe all the best in me to books. - M.: Education, 1990. - P.62-71.
