THE AMBIVALENCE OF NOSTALGIA AS AN ETERNAL RETURN TO THE CITY OF CHILDHOOD: F.I. CHALIAPIN AND KAZAN

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of nostalgia in the life of F.I. Chaliapin, which determined the novelty of the work. With the help of biographical and analytical research methods based on autobiographical prose and letters of Fyodor Ivanovich, memories of his loved ones, it was revealed that Kazan, as the city of birth and youth, played the role of a significant symbol for the singer. Fyodor Ivanovich was nostalgic for Kazan, especially after emigration. The method of historical modeling revealed ambivalent features of Chaliapin's nostalgia, which had ambiguous consequences for him. In the life and work of the singer, restoring nostalgia associated with creativity and reflective nostalgia intersected, in the context of which the irrevocability of the past and the finiteness of human existence were realized. At the same time, in the last years of the artist's life (due to the spatial and temporal gap with Russia and the lack of energy supply), reflective nostalgia with its pessimistic moods took dominant positions. Fyodor Ivanovich's tragic worldview began to prevail, which contributed to his sudden death. Nostalgia, as an eternal return to the pages of Kazan life in memory, testified to the strength of the artist's character, who was able to relive not only positive but also negative experiences and use them in the situationality of life and creativity. The results of the conducted research contribute to the further study of nostalgia in the life of creative personalities, which will allow us to identify its features in each specific case.