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A metaphysical duel. Understanding Chekhov
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2020-4-13-32
Abstract
The article, based on the analysis of Chekhov’s The Duel [Duеl], offers a new interpretation of Chekhov’s oeuvre. Modern Chekhov studies often imply that the writer lived in the era of the end of ideologies and therefore refrained from offering any ideological recipes. In fact, nearly each of Chekhov’s longer novellas debunked the nascent ideologies of the time. He warned of the perils of submission to an ideology, even though he could not predict which one would eventually dominate. Therefore, he critiqued each and every one of them. This is how ideology is tackled in his story The Black Monk [Chyorniy monakh] (an anticipation of detrimental Modernist ideas); in A Dreary Story [Skuchnaya istoria], these days often compared to the story of Faust; and in Ward No. 6 [Palata nomer shest], showing descent of normal people into insanity. Similarly, in The Duel, he depicted a proto-Nazi and Bolshevik, no less, in the character of Von Koren, who embraces Nietzsche’s worldview and will not hesitate to destroy an intellectual who crossed his path.
Keywords
A. Chekhov,
F. Nietzsche,
The Duel [Duеl],
Sakhalin Island [Ostrov Sakhalin],
ideology,
intelligentsia
Supporting agencies: The article was prepared within the framework of the Basic Research Program at HSE University and funded by the Russian Academic Excellence Project ‘5-100’.
About the Author
V. K. Kantor
National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Vladimir K. Kantor Doctor of Philosophy
International Laboratory for the Study of Russian and European Dialogue
21/4 Staraya Basmannaya St., Moscow, 105066
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Review
For citations:
Kantor V.K. A metaphysical duel. Understanding Chekhov. Voprosy literatury. 2020;(4):13-32. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2020-4-13-32
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