V.V. Rozanov as Author and Reader: A Hermeneutical Interpretation of the Works of 1914–1919

The article examines the literary works that attracted the attention of Vasily Rozanov. The central thesis is that literature became a key element in the formation of Rozanov’s intellectual identity. Rozanov read novels and critical essays and incorporated images from these works into his own worldview. The aim of the study is to explain the mutual influence of reading and writing practices in Rozanov’s works. The study employs the hermeneutic method and the analysis of binary oppositions to reveal the symbolic structures of Rozanov’s perception. Rozanov interpreted the texts of N.V. Gogol, A.S. Griboyedov, and M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin as forms of harsh satire. Historical interpretation helps to contextualize these readings within the changing literary and cultural environment of the early twentieth century. Rozanov argued that Russian writers had a negative influence on public opinion. At the same time, the article highlights the specificity of Rozanov’s intellectual experience. He found himself between the lost era of post-reform Russia and the emerging realities of the twentieth century. Apocalyptic teleology became especially relevant in the context of the First World War. The values of autocracy and traditional life served as interpretative frameworks through which Rozanov attempted to explain the contradictions of modernity. Thus, literature functioned both as a source of identity formation and as a means of rationalizing contemporary events.

1. Aksenov VB (2022) Rumors, images, emotions: mass sentiments of Russians during the War and Revolution, 1914–1918. 2nd ed. Moscow: Novoe lit. obozrenie. (In Russ.).

2. Atnashev T and Velizhev M (2021) Three dilemmas of intellectual history: the state of the craft. Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie 5: 11–21. (In Russ.).

3. Valitsky A (2019) In the circle of conservative utopia: the structure and metamorphoses of Russian Slavophilism. Moscow: Novoe lit. obozrenie. (In Russ.).

4. Gadamer HG (1988) Truth and method: fundamentals of philosophical hermeneutics. Moscow: Progress. (In Russ.).

5. Gippius ZN (1995) Pensive wanderer. About Rozanov. V. V. Rozanov: pro et contra. Saint Petersburg, bk. 1, pp. 143–185. (In Russ.).

6. Gryakalov AA (2017) Vasily Rozanov. Saint Petersburg: Nauka. (In Russ.).

7. Kazakova NYu (2021) “Rozanov was not the double dealer, he was double-faced ...”: Vasily Rozanov – publicist and polemicist. Moscow: RGGU. (In Russ.).

8. Kuksanova NV (2013) Historical traditions of Russia in V. V. Rozanov's newspaper journalism at the beginning of the 20th century. Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoriya, filologiya 12 (6): 18–24. (In Russ.).

9. LeikinaSvirskaya VR (1981) The Russian intelligentsia in 1900–1917. Moscow: Mysl'. (In Russ.).

10. Lomonosov AV (2019) V. V. Rozanov among parties and politicians. Tetradi po konservatizmu 4: 165–170. (In Russ.).

11. Narsky IV (2012) Anthropologization of authorship: an invitation to «lyrical historiography». Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie 3: 56–70. (In Russ.).

12. Nosov SN (1993) V. V. Rozanov. Aesthetics of freedom. Saint Petersburg: Logos; Dusseldorf: Goluboi vsadnik. (In Russ.).

13. Rozanova TV (1999) “Be bright in spirit” (memories of V. V. Rozanov). Moscow: Blue Apple. (In Russ.).

14. Skinner K (2018) Meaning and understanding in the history of ideas. Kembridzhskaya shkola: teoriya i praktika intellektual'noi istorii. Moscow, pp. 53–122. (In Russ.).

15. Skinner K (2006) Freedom before liberalism. Saint Petersburg: Izd-vo Evrop. un-ta v SPb. (In Russ.).

16. Smirnov AE (2023) Rozanov versus Gogol: the vicissitudes of writing. Izvestiya Baikal'skogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta 33 (3): 610–621. (In Russ.).

17. Fateev VA (1991) V. V. Rozanov. Life. Creation. Personality. Leningrad: Khudozh. lit., Leningr. otd-nie. (In Russ.).

18. Shirinyants AA (2011) Nihilism or conservatism? The Russian intelligentsia in the history of politics and thought. Moscow: Izd-vo Mosk. un-ta. (In Russ.).