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UDC 821.161.1-31
DOI 10.20339/PhS.1-26.090
Кoltsova Natalia Z.,
Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor of the History of Modern
Russian Literature and the Modern Literary Process Department
Lomonosov Moscow State University
e-mail: koltsovaru@rambler.ru
The article is devoted to the study of the genre nature of Platonov’s “Chevengur” — a modernist parable, a variety of Russian neo-mythological novel. The parable features of Platonov’s text are determined. Among them are the “painful”, somnambulistic ‘word’ built on linguistic anomalies; the type of the hero — a wanderer, seer, prophet, dreamer; the apocalyptic nature of the plot. All these characteristic features go back to the genres of the russian сhristian parable, vision, life, miracle, as well as the folklore anecdote and а Russian lubok (in general, to the genres of the so-called ‘third’ culture — the culture of primitive, existing at the junction of folklore and literature). The influence of non-canonical christian culture on the novel is traced, primarily that layer of it that was popular among Russian sectarians — apocalyptic texts, eschatological visions, historical legends about riots and uprisings. The motif of sleep, dreaming, and prophetic vision is examined in detail: on the one hand, its roots are in ancient Russian culture, and on the other, it is once again in demand in Platonov’s contemporary, modernist literature. In particular, the role of sleep, the subconscious, the unconscious in creativity comes to the fore; the connection of Platonov’s manner with the automatic writing of the surrealists is also noted. The special importance of the image of the narrator as a conductor of the collective unconscious in the novel is noted — bringing the text to the plane of myth. Further possible lines of research into the novel are outlined: studying the author’s intention to recreate the atmosphere of sleep; drawing an analogy between the composition of the novel and the structure of a dream; identifying the connection between the tonality and tempo-rhythm of the novel’s episodes with the phases of sleep and the body’s reactions (delirium, hallucinations etc.). As a conclusion, the idea is postulated that in “Chevengur” the parable principle subordinates the novelistic one, bringing to the forefront the qualities that would seem secondary for an epic work — atmosphere, psychophysiological states, sensations.
Keywords: apocrypha, genre of visions, collective unconscious, neomythologism, Platonov, parable, Russian modernism, motif of sleep, dreams, “Chevengur”
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