Institute of Language, Literature and History, Komi Science Centre of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Syktyvkar, Russian Federation, [email protected]
ABSTRACT
Introduction: the article considers the critical heritage of the Russian scientist, philosopher, Komi-Zyryan writer K. F. Zhakov (1866−1926).
Objective: to reveal the features of literary criticism of K. F. Zhakov and its significance in the context of artistic creativity and cultural thought of the Silver Age.
Research materials: the literary and critical articles by K. F. Zhakov written in 1909−1912.
Results and novelty of the research: the scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that for the first time the analysis of the largest critical works by K. F. Zhakov (1866–1926) was made; their genre specificity was considered. The scientific and literary activity of the Komi writer and scientist is multifaceted. Literary criticism occupies a special place in it. This layer of his work has a genre originality, which is determined both by the methodological features of the time of the late XIX – early XX centuries, and by the individuality of K. F. Zhakov and the specific tasks that he solved. A systematic analysis of his criticism allows us to find in it understanding of the global problems of the time, its deep connection with the cultural concepts of the Silver Age. In his method of research of a literary text, the philosophical base is the system-forming; it determines both the selection of material and its interpretation. The main direction of literary and philosophical criticism by K. F. Zhakov, in addition to study of the artistic trends of the time, is the analysis of the worldview of the writer who reflected the spirit of its time. The critic’s methodological pluralism, his striving for genre synthesis allowed him to combine the features of an essay, a philosophical treatise, a problematic article, and a creative portrait in his works.
Key words: K. F. Zhakov, Silver Age, philosophy by F. Nietzsche, literary and philosophical criticism, cultural concepts
Acknowledgements: the publication was prepared as part of the implementation of the state task of the of the Federal Research Center Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the state registration number of the project FUUU – 2022-0090 “Komi literature: features of artistic reconstruction of the world picture”.
For citation: Lisovskaya G. K. Literary and philosophical criticism by K. F. Zhakov // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2023; 13 (4/55): 667–675.