Abstract
The paper is devoted to the study of literary works of I. Shmelyov at the beginning of the 20th century in terms of the concept of “beauty”. The understanding of this problem is traced back to deep and hidden influence of F. Dostoyevsky. The novels and stories by I. Shmelyov of the 1910s reflect the concept of “beauty”. Beauty is connected and corresponds to the human realm, characterizes the world of animals, the world of nature and the world of art. However, the development of I. Shmelyov’s literary heritage at the turn of the century was not the object of study in terms of the concept of “beauty” in his works
Keywords: ShmelyovDostoyevskyconceptbeautytrace
Introduction
The literary works of I. Shmelyov focus on the eternal issues of social being (as cited in Tucker, 1991). In fact, according to H. Troyat, this feature made him not a mere Russian writer, but a globally renown person (as cited Shmelyov, 2005). The literary heritage of Shmelyov (2005) is based on two principles – Orthodoxy and creativity of classical writers, which he reflected in his autobiography. The same thought was also expressed in the memories of Shmelyov (2005), in his words: “I believe that a person is the means of changing the world, making it a truly God’s Face – Visible God. The mankind is only a tool. The purpose is Beauty and Harmony of everything real” (p. 83). The Dostoyevsky’s influence at the turn of the century was obvious. The literary critics saw the Dostoyevsky’s influence and penetration of his ideas in the writings of V. Solovyov, Z. Gippius, A. Dobrolyubov, D. Merezhkovsky, L. Andreev, I. Annensky, A. Belyi, B. Zaytsev, I. Shmelyov (as cited in Dunaev, 2002; Lyubomudrov, 2010). Each Shmelyov’s work is directed not only to social pathos, but also to philosophico-esthetic and Christian patterns (as cited in Schriek, 1987). For Shmelyov (2005) the concept of “beauty” is one of the secrets and miracles, which is hidden, wiped out, not visible in real life, but internal and spiritual endeavors of a person are defined by it. Dunaev (2002) fairly notes that I. Shmelyov always sees “the hidden beauty under the face of life”. In the story of
Problem Statement
Researchers were considering the literary heritage of I. Shmelyov from the perspective of poetics, a genre, realistic esthetics, worldview, Christian motives, ecphrasis thus contributing to objective and deep understanding of his works (Dunaev, 2002; Lyubomudrov, 2010; Lyapaeva, 2016; Rudneva, 2007). However, the problem of understanding I. Shmelyov’s concepts is only at its initial stage. Researchers identified certain critical concepts of his works – “sea” in the epic
Research Questions
The subject matter of the study covers the works of I. Shmelyov’s pre-emigrant period with the key focus on ethic and esthetic issues related to the concept of beauty –
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study is to reveal the originality of the concept of “beauty” in I. Shmelyov’s works (
Research Methods
The study of the concept of “beauty” within a dialogue with Dostoyevsky, defined as the “trace”, appeals to Derrida’s (2000, 1967) system of signs, his theory of binarity, according to which all relations “between signs are narrowed to binary models”. I. Shmelyov portrays this as beauty/disgrace, beauty/deception, beauty/death, beauty/joy. In order to understand the methodology of the study it is important to define the “concept” itself used in different disciplines within the paradigm of knowledge in human sciences. The study of works in terms of the concept has become relevant since the second half of the 20th century, though the term itself was introduced at the beginning of the 20th century and is linked to S. Askoldov in domestic literary criticism and E. Sepir in Anglo-American literary studies, for whom the concept represents the “capsule of thought” defining and marking the ethnic picture of the world (as cited in Langacker, 2000; Fauconnier, 2003). According to Evans (2007), a concept is a fundamental unit of any knowledge having its specifics. In domestic science the concepts are considered as cogitative blocks, which reconstruct imaginative thinking thus ensuring the perception of new links, new thoughts (Sidorov, 2013). Modern domestic researchers developed the classification of concepts, defined the frequency of their use (Stepanov, 1997). However, the technique of the analysis of works through the lens of concepts still seems insufficiently developed (Zusman, 2001). All this confirms the relevance of the problem.
Findings
The study allows confirming that the concept of “beauty” in each of the above early works of the writer functions and is being filled with new content and meaning. The revealed range of interpretations of the concept of “beauty” is as follows: beauty – a secret associated with death (
Conclusion
The study allows concluding that in the early period of his works the imaginative worldview of I. Shmelyov is formed under the dominating concept of “beauty”. The understanding of beauty within the considered works of I. Shmelyov “is penetrated” by Dostoyevsky’s ideas (“beauty will save the world”, “beauty is more important than bread”) and Orthodoxy (understanding of the zest for life).
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28 December 2019
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Cite this article as:
Lyapaeva*, L., Evdokimova, O., Sarbash, L., & Fedyay, S. (2019). Beauty In Works Of I. Shmelyov At The Beginning Of Xx Century. In D. Karim-Sultanovich Bataev, S. Aidievich Gapurov, A. Dogievich Osmaev, V. Khumaidovich Akaev, L. Musaevna Idigova, M. Rukmanovich Ovhadov, A. Ruslanovich Salgiriev, & M. Muslamovna Betilmerzaeva (Eds.), Social and Cultural Transformations in the Context of Modern Globalism, vol 76. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 2018-2022). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.12.04.270