‘WAS THERE ANY BOY AT ALL?’ ON THE MEANING OF GORKY’S REFRAIN
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-4-15-41
Abstract
The article considers all contexts for the famous phrase, ‘Was there any boy at all?’ found in the novel The Life of Klim Samgin [Zhizn’ Klima Samgina] and indicative of its universality, and attempts to reveal its possible literary sources (lines from the letters by A. Blok and M. Prishvin, and N. Berberova’s poems). The meaning of the recurrent phrase is examined through the author’s philosophical influences (Protagoras, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche), with a particular stress on the connection between Gorky and Schopenhauer, to this day largely neglected by Gorky scholars. The author believes that the leitmotif, ‘Was there any boy at all?’ extends beyond a rhetorical device into a highly generalized philosophical formula of the ‘new’ Gorky, a key to the numerous mysteries in his last work. The use of the allegory brings up those aspects of Gorky’s worldview that explain his tendency towards auctorial narration; enrich our understanding of the emphasis he put on the key principle of ‘the will’, where the Nietzschean interpretation correlates and clashes with the Schopenhauerian one. They also introduce the concept of chaos as a major characteristic of the world in Gorky’s view, which accounts for the grotesque (reminiscent of Bosch) and avant-garde features of his poetics.
About the Author
L. Borisova
V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Lyudmila M. Borisova, Doctor of Philology
4 Vernadsky Av., Simferopol, 295007, Republic of Crimea
References
1. Agursky, M. (1991). The great heretic (Gorky as religious thinker). Voprosy Filosofii, 8, pp. 54-74. (In Russ.)
2. Anisimov, L. (1928). The matters of artistry. Sibirskie Ogni, 1, pp. 176-198. (In Russ.)
3. [Anon.], ed. (1953a). The collected works of M. Gorky (30 vols). Vol. 24. Moscow: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
4. [Anon.], ed. (1953b). The collected works of M. Gorky (30 vols). Vol. 25. Moscow: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
5. Barakhov, V., ed. (2001). M. Gorky and M. I. Budberg (unread pages of the writer’s biography). In: V. Barakhov, ed., The archive of A. M. Gorky. Vol. 16. А. M. Gorky and M. I. Budberg. Correspondence (1920-1936). Moscow: IMLI RAN, pp. 9-32. (In Russ.)
6. Belova, T. (2016). Philosophical and sociocultural basics of isomorphism in the poetics of Gorky’s characters (‘TheLife of Klim Samgin’ [‘Zhizn’ Klima Samgina’]). In: Gorky – the artist and thinker. Gorky’sReadings – 2016. Proceedings of the 37th international conference. Nizhny Novgorod: Begemot NN, pp. 168-175. (In Russ.)
7. Berberova, N. (1922). 1 ‘Both the stars and the wind...’ [‘I zvyozdy, i veter...’]; 2 ‘Down the forest path, down the steppe road...’ [‘Lesnoy tropoy, stepnoy dorogoy...’]. Dni, 31 Dec., p. 13. (In Russ.)
8. Borisova, L. (2017). The water element in the symbolism of M. Gorky’s novel ‘TheLife of Klim Samgin’ [‘Zhizn’ Klima Samgina’]. Russkaya Rech, 4, pp. 17-21. (In Russ.)
9. Borisova, L. and Belova, E. (2017). The avant-garde in the poetic manner of ‘TheLife of Klim Samgin’ [‘Zhizn’ Klima Samgina’] by M. Gorky. Russkaya Rech, 1, pp. 33-38; 2, pp. 14-20. (In Russ.)
10. Chukovsky, K. (2017). Two Souls of M. Gorky. In: E. Chukovskaya, ed., The collected works of K. Chukovsky (15 vols). Vol. 8. 2nd ed., rev. Moscow: Agentstvo FTM, pp. 185-238. (In Russ.)
11. Kuznetsov, F., ed. (2009). The collected works and letters of M. Gorky. Letters (24 vols). Vol. 14. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
12. Kuznetsov, F., ed. (2012). The collected works and letters of M. Gorky. Letters (24 vols). Vol. 15. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
13. Kuznetsov, F., ed. (2013). The collected works and letters of M. Gorky. Letters (24 vols). Vol. 16. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
14. Kuznetsov, F., ed. (2014). The collected works and letters of M. Gorky. Letters (24 vols). Vol. 17. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
15. Lavrov, A. and Malmstad, J., eds. (1998). Andrey Bely and Ivanov-Razumnik: Correspondence. St. Petersburg: Atheneum-Feniks. (In Russ.)
16. Lavrov, A. and Malmstad, J., eds. (2016). Literary Heritage. Vol. 105. Andrey Bely: Autobiographical summaries: The material for the biography. Perspective to the diary. Records and registrations. Diaries of the 1930s. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
17. Leonov, L., ed. (1973). The complete works of M. Gorky. Fiction. Vol. 17. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
18. Leonov, L., ed. (1980). The complete works of M. Gorky. Drafts for fiction. Vol. 8. Book 2. Variants to volume 22 of ‘TheLife of Klim Samgin’ [‘Zhizn’ Klima Samgina’]. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
19. Leonov, L., ed. (1982). The complete works of M. Gorky. Drafts for fiction. Vol. 10. Variants to volume 24 of ‘TheLife of Klim Samgin’ [‘Zhizn’ Klima Samgina’]. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
20. Matevosyan, E. (1995). M. Gorky and Hieronymus Bosch (Based on the novel ‘TheLife of Klim Samgin’ [‘Zhizn’ Klima Samgina’]). In: V. Barakhov, ed., A new look at the work of M. Gorky. Gorky and his era. Issue 4. Moscow: Nasledie, pp. 215-226. (In Russ.)
21. Orlov, V., ed. (1963). The collected works of A. Blok (8 vols). Vol. 8. Moscow, St. Petersburg: GIKhL. (In Russ.)
22. Ovcharenko, A. (1982). M. Gorky and literary experimentation in the 20th century. 3rd ed., exp. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura. (In Russ.)
23. Rozengren, M. (2014). Protagoras’ thesis: A doxological perspective. Voprosy Filosofii, 5, pp. 171-178. (In Russ.)
24. Schopenhauer, A. (1993). On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason. The world as will and representation. Vol. 1. Critique of Kantian philosophy. Translated by M. Levin. Moscow: Nauka. (In Russ.)
25. Zilberstein, I. and Tager, E., eds. (1963). Literary Heritage. Vol. 70. Gorky and Soviet writers. Unpublished correspondence. Moscow: AN SSSR. (In Russ.)
26. Zobnin, Y., ed. (1997). Maksim Gorky: Pro et contra. St. Petersburg: RKhGI. (In Russ.)
Review
For citations:
Borisova L. ‘WAS THERE ANY BOY AT ALL?’ ON THE MEANING OF GORKY’S REFRAIN. Voprosy literatury. 2018;(4):15-41. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2018-4-15-41
Views:
1271
Email this article 
