“LOOKING INTO FACES”: V. SHUKSHIN IN SEARCH OF THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL CODE OF RUSSIA

Annotation

The article is dedicated to the 95th anniversary of Vasily Makarovich Shukshin. The author focuses on the semantic structure and poetics of the prose writer’s stories. The relevance of the empirical material and the proposed analytical approach is due to diverse circumstances: on the one hand, the correspondence of one of the key tasks of modern humanities — the task of forming a new concept of man, on the other — the unique artistic status of the writer’s stories. The purpose of the article is to identify the essential and technological features of the personalization of civilizational discourse proposed by Shukshin, which has received the “Russian world” nomination in the modern communicative space. The article presents the results of an analysis of the evolution of three character series created by the writer in the stories: freaks, strong men, and young people. After the anthropological attribution of the key characters of the “little epic” V. M. Shukshin. The author comes to the conclusion that the characters created by the writer in the stories were formed in conditions of weakening of the “ancestral connection of the individual with the world” (G. Belaya), degradation of the mechanism of transmission of ancestral memory (A. Shchipkov). It is noted that Shukshin was one of the few artists who saw the anthropological chaos that arose as a result of these processes. In order to overcome this chaos, he looked for “parable characters” in each of the three character series he created, which presented different possibilities for restoring human integrity: ideal, critical, and practical. As a result of his ontological literary search, Shukshin came as close as possible to creating a voluminous, largely contradictory image of a Russian in spirit, as Valentin Rasputin rightly noted.

Keywords

story, character, character series, weirdo, strong man, young people

Literature

1. Aristotel`. Ob iskusstve poe`zii [About the art of poetry]. Moskow, GIXLPubl., 1957,
182 s. (in Russian).
2. Baxtin, M. M. E`pos i roman (O metodologii issledovaniya romana) [Epic and novel
(About the research methodology of the novel)]. Saint Petersburg, Azbuka Publ., 2000, 305 s.
(in Russian).
3. Belaya, G. A. Xudozhestvenny`j mir sovremennoj prozy` [The artistic world of modern
prose]. Moskow, Nauka Publ., 1983, 192 s. (in Russian).
4. Bogdanova, O. V., Tsvetova, N. S. “The crossing of epochs…” Russian prose of the
1960s — 2020s. Saint Petersburg, Aleteya, 2023, 374 p. (in Russian).
5. Bolshev, A. O. Vasilij Shukshin v kontekste postmodernizma [Vasily Shukshin in the
context of postmodernism]. In: Novy`j zhurnal, 1999, no. 3, pр. 140–149 (in Russian).
6. Buber, M. Ya i Ty` [Me and You]. Moskow, Vy`sshaya shkola Publ., 1993, 173 s.
(in Russian).
7. Varlamov, A. Shukshin [Shukshin]. Moskow, Molodaya gvardiya Publ., 2015, 400 s.
(in Russian).
8. Vvedenie v literaturovedenie [Introduction to Literary Criticism]. Pod red.
L. V. Chernecz. Moskow, Vy`sshaya shkola Publ., 2004, 680 s. (in Russian).
9. Glushakov, P. S. Shukshin i drugie: stat`i, materialy, kommentarii [Shukshin and others.
Articles, materials, comments]. Saint Petersburg, Rostok Publ., 2018, 320 s. (in Russian).
10. Gordovich, K. D. Russkaya proza koncza 20 — nachala XX v. [Russian prose of the
late twentieth and early twentieth centuries]. Saint Petersburg, Petronius Publ., 2017, 230 s.
(in Russian).
11. Dal`, V. Tolkovy`j slovar` zhivogo velikorusskogo yazy`ka: v 4 v. V. 2 [Explanatory
dictionary of the living Great Russian language. In 4 vol. Vol. 2]. Moskow, GIINS Publ., 1955,
780 s. (in Russian).
12. Znakov, V. V. Psixologiya ponimaniya pravdy` [The Psychology of Understanding the
Truth]. Saint Petersburg, Aletejya Publ., 1999, 279 s. (in Russian).
13. Ilyin, V. V. Filosofskaya antropologiya [The Psychology of Understanding the Truth].
Moskow, KDU Publ., 2006, 232 s. (in Russian).
14. Ilyin, V. V., Panarin A. S., Badovskij D. V. Politicheskaya antropologiya [Political
Anthropology]. Moskow, MGUPubl., 1995, 254 s. (in Russian).
15. Kotelnikov, V. Uskol`zayushhij Shukshin [The Elusive Shukshin]. In: Znamya, 2019,
no. 6, pр. 27–34 (in Russian).
16. Kulyapin, A. I. Son razuma: e`kzistencial`ny`e motivy` v rasskaze Shukshina
“Dumy” [The Dream of Reason: Existential Motives in Shukshin’s short story “Thoughts”].
In: Imagologiya i komparativistika, 2022, no. 17, pр. 316–317 (in Russian).
17. Lopacheva, M. K., Czvetova N. S. Malaya proza V. Shukshina: k probleme tipologii
personazhej [Shukshin’s Small Prose: towards the Problem of Character Typology]. In: Vestnik
Russkoi khristianskoi gumanitarnoi akademii, 2023, T. 25, V. 3 (2), pр. 237–243 (in Russian).
18. Maksimov, V. Samoistreblenie [Self-destruction]. Moskow, Golos Publ., 1995, 352 s.
(in Russian).
19. Nekrasov, N. A. Polnoe sobranie stixotvorenij: v 2 t. T. 1 [The Complete Works. In 2
vol. Vol. 1]. Saint Petersburg, Tipografiya Suvorina, 1895, 608 s. (in Russian).
20. Plexanova, I. I. Po-prostomu… [In a simple way…]. Ulyanovsk: Ul`yanovskogo texn.
Un-ta Publ., 2024, 310 s. (in Russian).
21. Rasputin, V. V poiskax berega. Povest`, ocherki, stat`i, vy`stupleniya, e`sse [In search
of the shore]. Irkutsk, Izdatel` Sapronov Publ., 2007, 527 s. (in Russian).
22. Rubinshtejn, S. A. Problemy obshhej psixologii [Problems of general psychology].
Moskow, Pedagogika Pub., 1973, 416 s. (in Russian).
23. Sovremennyj tolkovyj slovar` russkogo yazyka [Modern explanatory dictionary of the
Russian language]. Avtor idei i gl. redaktor S. A. Kuzneczov. Saint Petersburg, Norint Publ.,
2006, 960 s. (in Russian).
24. Suhih, I. Dusha bolit (“Xaraktery`” V. Shukshina) [My Soul Hurts (Shukshin’s
“Characters”)]. [Electronic resource] URL https://zotych7.livejournal.com/258243.
html?ysclid=lqsboi8icy969785796 (accessed: 30.12.2023) (in Russian).
25. Czvetova, N. S. Vasilij Shukshin — aktual`ny`j klassik? [Is Vasily Shukshin a current
classic?]. In: Filologicheskij klass, 2020, T. 25, no. 1, pр. 214–219 (in Russian).
26. Chernaya, L. A. Antropologicheskij kod drevnerusskoj literatury` [The anthropological
code of Ancient Russian literature]. Moskow, Yazyki slavyanskix kul`tur Publ., 2008, 463 s.
(in Russian).
27. Shukshin, V. Voprosy samomu sebe [Questions to myself]. In: Shukshin V.
Nravstvennost` est` Pravda. Moskow, Sovetskij pisatel` Publ., 1979, pр. 23–40 (in Russian).
28. Shukshin, V. Nravstvennost` est` Pravda [Morality is Truth]. Moskow, Sovetskij pisatel`
Publ., 1979, 352 s.
29. Shukshin, V. M. Sobr. Soch. [Collected works]: v 5 t. T. 1. Moskow, PANPRINT
PUBLISHERS Publ., 1996, 532 s. (in Russian).
30. Shukshin, V. M. Sobr. Soch. [Collected works]: v 5 t. T. 2. Moskow, PANPRINT
PUBLISHERS Publ., 1996, 556 s. (in Russian).

This study was supported by grant No. 23–18–00408 from the Russian Science Foundation, https://rscf.ru/project/23–18–00408/; the Dostoevsky Russian Christian Humanitarian Academy