Creativity as a Universal Phenomenon of Existence (About Olga Zhukova’s Authorial Conception)

Abstract

This article is devoted to the issue of creativity, which is perceived by the example of the monograph Tvorchestvo i religioznost' v russkoi kul'ture. Filosofskie issledovaniya [Creativity and Religiosity in Russian Culture. Philosophical Studies] (2022) written by Russian philosopher and cultural scholar Olga Zhukova. Although the philosophical and cultural analysis of the artistic process is carried out in the researcher’s work mainly based on the material of literature, the universal nature of creativity allows the author to discover the parallels between the verbal, philosophical and musical modes of discourse. Since the provisions and ideas expounded in the monograph create the precedent for discussing the current topical theoretical and methodological issues of the art of music, the purpose of the article is determined by constructing a system of argumentation that ensures the legitimacy of the following statement: creativity acts as a phenomenon of existence, determining the self-justification of the artist’s personality, whether he or she is a poet, artist or composer, or a reader, viewer and/or listener (performer). At the same time, the central task of this article is to position music as a spiritual and intellectual type of creativity, the universal forms of which are the knowledge of reality and the creation of an image of meaning, revealed in the structure of an artistic text. Relying on the experience of well-known philosophers, cultural and art historians, word artists and performing musicians, the author expresses the necessity to tune the ear of every artist to the sounding entity, the essence of which is able to be revealed with the most completeness only by music.