Semyonova, S. (2024). The holy foolishness of a sermon: Andrey Platonov’s metaphysics and poetics. Ed. and prefaced by A. Gacheva. Moscow: IMLI RAN. (In Russ.)

Abstract

The book is a collection of S. Semyonova’s scholarly papers on A. Platonov from various years. Her studies cover an extensive corpus of the writer’s oeuvre — from novels to plays to short stories. At the core of Semyonova’s method is a fusion of literary criticism and philosophy; she chooses Russian cosmism as the ideological standpoint for interpreting Platonov’s texts. The scholar is particularly concerned with N. Fyodorov’s legacy and his ‘idea of life,’ which, she argues, defines Platonov’s worldview as well. A substantial part of the book, Semyonova’s diary is included in its appendix. The diary offers a comprehensive insight into the scholar’s view of Platonov’s work and reveals the thought process behind the studies included in the book. The appended section, therefore, serves as the logical conclusion and extension of the main part.