“I’M A PEOPLE TOO”: ALEXEI KONSTANTINOVICH TOLSTOY AND THE SLAVOPHILES

Abstract

The article examines the complex relationship of A.K. Tolstoy to the Slavophiles and their teachings. These relationships have been reflected in creativity and have undergone significant changes over time. Relative proximity - mid-1850 s, dialogue - late 1850 s-early 1860 s, polemic -late 1860 s-1870 s. The period of unity was associated with his interest as an artist in folk song stylistics and the idea of Slavic reunification. Then the desire to explain his aesthetic position matures in him, which is at odds with the ideas of the Slavophiles about the meaning and purpose of art (a poetic message to “I.S. Aksakov”). Subsequently, the dialogue develops into a polemic with a wider range of issues - Tolstoy does not accept a utilitarian attitude to literature, defends his understanding of the people, rethinks the role of Peter the Great in Russian history, exposes the painful consequences of the “Moscow” period, stigmatizes “Tatarism” as a dream of a new khan and an apology for tyranny and slavery, does not want to recognize superiority over the West in moral and religious terms, finally, paradoxically brings nihilists and Slavophiles closer, showing the destructive consequences of their ideas (“Potok-bogatyr”).