On the reduction of psychological aspect in contemporary prose

The article proposes to discuss the problem of changing the quality of the psychological aspect in the prose of the new generation of authors that came into literature in the post-USSR period. The article reviews common cultural preconditions of simplification of viewing the human being and methods of its portrayal: rejection of anthropocentrism; dehumanization of art; influence of natural science and cinematographic aesthetics; media pressure; the spiritual potential of writers. It seems that the purpose of modern literature consists in rehabilitation of the human being after the anthropological defeat of the 20th century; after scientific decoding of secrets of psychological activity; after aggressive domination of mass visual arts. It seems that conceptions of human's nature are exhausted, as well as the classic heuristic principle of depicting a character in its development, self-knowledge, ambiguity, and charming originality. Complicated psychology assumes the depth of internal life and the secret of personality, while simplified psychology assumes well-known behavior and univocacy of definition. The problem of rehabilitation is complicated by dehumanization of art that is concentrated on exploring the opportunities of creating new forms, and by intellectual dominant in artistic thinking on the edge of the 20th and 21st centuries. Evident conventionality gives a symbolic insight of the human being, that is why discussing the quality of the psychological aspect and adaptability of the traditional principles of depicting the human being is relevant only for the kind of prose that pretends to imitate real life, social meaning of the concept and objectivity of the author's vision. Comparison with the classic literature of the 19th-20th centuries (F. Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy, L. Andreev) is made by example of how R. Senchin's prose (Eltyshevy (The Yeltyshevs), Zhdom do vos'mi (Let's Wait Until Eight)) depicts the character approaching death. The writer proved to be a radical realist. The psychological aspect of his prose is very analytical, but it reflects modern trends: the biosocial accent of depicting the degradation of family; scarcity of descriptions; dependence on cinematographic effects, and the accent on reflection of modern time. The main problem here is the deficit of sympathy for characters (Eltyshevy) and the distrust in the very possibility of human's spiritual transformation. It is not necessarily reduction of personal qualities, but reduction of the very concept of personality, which is shown as equal to itself and does not develop in the process of selfopening. The Russian tradition of portrayal of the process of conscious approaching to death shows a gradual renunciation of one's egoistic ''I'', overcoming bitterness, resentment and alienation, and finding love for the world and for people who stay close before one's death. Finally, this tradition shows the discovery that there is no death, but there is a transition and a new beginning. The reasons that R. Senchin's characters cannot experience the depth of existential insight are not only in their social degradation or narrow mental outlook, but also in the denial of the spiritual crisis by the writer himself. Deficit of love becomes apparent as a sign of the spiritual crisis, reduction of the creative power of contemporary author's consciousness.

Keywords

Authors

References