Wymiary niesystemowości w twórczości Siergieja Arno

Abstract

Out of many definitions for culture, the ‘broad’ one provided by Alfred L. Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn seems most closely associated with the concept of ‘system.’ Culture, like any ‘system’ of social order, involves various attitudes towards itself: affirmative, non-affirmative or indifferent. The first of them will be of ‘system’ nature, while the other two can be described as ‘non-system.’ As Anthony Giddens has noted, culture cannot be separated from society, therefore any form of social activity is based on either ‘system’ or ‘non-system’ foundations. The same applies to literature within a particular cultural system. Especially in Russian tradition writers were expected to reflect in their works their ‘system’ or ‘non-system’ perspective. Sergey Arno is a contemporary Russian author whose works display some ‘non-system’ dimensions. Exposing them is therefore quite revealing because much of his prose contains autobiographical and self-referential motifs. From the incorporation of biographical elements into a narrative through the very form and style of his writing up to some ideological manifestations directly accessible through the text, Arno can be deemed a ‘non-system’ author whose books serve as an alternative to both the official and dominant cultural trends.