CREATIVE WORK OF ANTON CHEKHOV IN THE ASSESSMENT OF DMITRY FILOSOFOV (based on reviews and articles of the 1900s)

Abstract

The article discusses the system of ratings, Anton Chekhov’s creative work, developed in the reviews and articles of Dmitry Filosofov of the 1900s. The features of his critical method, which were realised during this period, are characterised. It is proved that Dmitry Filosofov perceives Anton Chekhov’s work as the artistic peak of Russian literature of the early 20th century and at the same time as a certain limit in its movement. It is noted that using the principle of «in occasion of criticism» in his own way, he refracts the traditions of Vissarion Belinsky, Nikolay Dobrolyubov, Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Apollon Grigoryev. It is argued that the tendency to think in antinomies, manifested in the works of Dmitry Filosofov on Anton Chekhov in the 1900s, connects him with Dmitry Merezhkovsky. An important role in the formation of philosophical assessments of Anton Chekhov’s creative work is played by the antinomies «Chekhov and Chekhovism», «Everyday tragedy and everyday heroism». They perform the function of bonds, connecting reviews and articles of this critic in a kind of «Chekhov» cycle. Dmitry Filosofov was one of the fi rst to use the antinomy «Chekhov and Chekhovism» in his works, which later became a constant in criticising the Fin de Siècle as a whole. Assessments of Anton Chekhov’s artistic heritage, concentrated in reviews and articles by Dmitry Filosofov of the 1900s, are focused on dialogue with statements by contemporaries – Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius, Vasily Rozanov. In an indirect form, they broadcast the ideas of building a «new religious consciousness». But at the same time, Dmitry Filosofov not only illustrates other people’s critical concepts, but also opens up new facets of Anton Chekhov’s work.