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Bakhtin and Russian literature between the centuries: Two incidents
https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2025-3-115-128
Abstract
The article reconstructs Bakhtin’s concept of carnival laughter with reference to two turn-of-the-century authors: L. Andreev and K. Sluchevsky. The latter was described as ‘a voice outside the chorus’ by Bakhtin in his Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity [Avtor i geroy v esteticheskoy deyatelnosti]. This formula is projected onto the protagonist of Sluchevsky’s cycle Mephistopheles. Andreev’s short story ‘Laughter’ [‘Smekh’] shows Christmas carolling turning into a tragedy of solitude: the hero cannot share in everybody’s joyful festivities. Laughter becomes a destructive force devoid of the usual rejuvenating purpose. The two writers demonstrate a crisis of carnival laughter: it loses its relatability because of the censoring of the traditional culture of laughter. The comparison between Sluchevsky’s and Andreev’s texts illustrates the transformation of the mediaeval concept of a carnival in the literature of decadence.
Supporting agencies: The study was prepared within the framework of the HSE University Basic Research Programme.
About the Authors
N. M. Dolgorukova
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Natalia M. Dolgorukova, Candidate of Philology, PhD,
11 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000.
M. O. Karmaza
National Research University Higher School of Economics
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Maksim O. Karmaza, undergraduate student, research intern,
11 Myasnitskaya St., Moscow, 101000.
References
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Review
For citations:
Dolgorukova N.M., Karmaza M.O. Bakhtin and Russian literature between the centuries: Two incidents. Voprosy literatury. 2025;(3):115-128. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.31425/0042-8795-2025-3-115-128
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