UDC

821.161.1

Authors

Ol’ga V. Golotvina
Severodvinsk Branch (Arkhangelsk Region) of Northern (Arctic) Federal University named after M.V. Lomonosov;
ul. Kirova 13, Lipetsk, 398024, Russian Federation;
e-mail: golotwinaov@mail.ru

Abstract

This paper analyses the ethical and philosophical views of Fyodor Abramov. The research aimed to find evidence of continuity of Russian philosophical thought in his works. Out of many factors that influenced his world outlook, the paper studies the impact of the Slavophiles and the pochvennichestvo (roughly, “return to the soil”) movement as well as Leo Tolstoy. The article proves that Fyodor Abramov to a large extent shared Leo Tolstoy’s ideas about moral self-improvement and self-education, which found vent in his thought of “one’s soul formation” and “daily self-check” against one’s conscience. The latter is considered to be one of the most important categories in Abramov’s works. He believed that living according to one’s conscience can help to build civil society. This research focused on the analysis of the ideas of the pochvennichestvo movement about personal activity, responsibility and self-sacrifice that occupied a central place in Abramov’s ideological system. Further, a conviction is pointed out, held by the writer along with other Village Prose authors, that the “folk soil” and folk culture encompass the spiritual and moral strengths of the nation. According to Abramov, reorganization of the village into an agro-town poses a threat to national uniqueness and integrity of national identity. He adopted the idea of the pochvennichestvo movement about the messianic role of the Russian people, believing that they are destined to unite other nations and provide them with spiritual sustenance. The problem of national identity as viewed by Fyodor Abramov is considered here through his understanding of national character, whose dual nature found expression in the antagonists Mikhail Pryaslin and Yegorsha Stavrov in his tetralogy Brothers and Sisters.

Keywords

Fyodor Abramov, Slavophilia, pochvennichestvo, Leo Tolstoy, national character, national identity

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