ФОРМЫ ВЫРАЖЕНИЯ ИСПОВЕДИ-ПРОПОВЕДИ В ПИСЬМАХ В. Г. БЕЛИНСКОГО К М. А. БАКУНИНУ 1837 Г.

Abstract

In 1837, V. G. Belinsky began correspondence with M. A. Bakunin, which lasted for about three years. Their complicat-ed «friendly-hostile» relationship, reflected in their epistolary communication, lasted just as long. In the traditions of the time, they wrote confessional letters to each other. According to Belinsky, complete frankness is the first require-ment for friendship and friendly correspondence. In their confessional letters, the young critic and his correspondent went as far as self-deprecation, revealing their sins to each other as a spiritual son to a spiritual father. For the most part, Belinsky was in the role of the former, while Bakunin played the role of the latter. This nature of their confessional dialogue was not in the least caused by their fascination with German idealist philosophy and, under its influence, with their desire for the eradication of vices and for self-improvement. At the same time both participants in the correspond-ence were preaching to each other. It was Bakunin who did this more often. But as their epistolary communication un-folded, Belinsky also increasingly activated his preaching intentions, where he stated his views and tried to instruct the addressee in the right way of thinking and acting. He very accurately called some of his letters «dissertations», in terms of volume and content. Most of his letters of 1837 contain at least some elements of a «dissertation» sermon. Both genres – confession and preaching «dissertation» – remained relevant in the correspondence of «friends-foes», fueled by the spirit of sincerity in epistolary communication. Both genres were «supported» and «continued» in their own way by a number of «related» genres, primarily the diary, autobiography, biography and literary portrait. The first two, referred to as «ego texts», are centered on the personality of the writer. They complement each other: if the expan-sion of reflection is presented in the diary, then the narrative plays a decisive role in the autobiography.