Brutalized by war, deafened by progress": understanding of human nature in the essays of Viktor Astafiev in the end of 1980 - 1990s

The article discusses the concept of man, understanding of their nature and contradictions of their existence expressed in the essays of Viktor Astafiev at the end of the 1980s - 1990s. Compared with the essays of the 1960s - early 1980s, the radical change of interpretations and evaluations is obvious: the writer is aware of the fatal duality of a human being, their rootlessness in the world, ineradicable destructive beginnings in their nature. Thus, the writer comes from unconditional faith in man to a great disappointment in them. Reflection is carried out from the historical time, the range of conclusions and generalizations expands to the humankind covering all generations of people. The writer starts from the idea about the immutability of human nature, about the stability of its conditions and manifestations which regularly reproduce themselves in different historical periods and in varying social situations. According to the writer's belief at the late stage of his creativity, the composition of the human being is defined by the dichotomy of the rational and the irrational, the creative and the destructive. The opposite beginnings appear in humankind history in unison. And the negative constantly prevails causing severe crises of humanity. The irrational shows, firstly, as "foolishness", secondly, as "madness". Both of these conditions reflect the dark side of people originally present there as a genetic defect. The primary unconscious desire of a human being is aggression. The views of Astafiev on the origin of the aggressive impulse in a person is very contradictory. On the one hand, the writer bases on the theory of instincts: human aggression has instinctual nature and it lies in each of us as an innate program of behavior. On the other hand, destructive behavior is explained not by instincts, but by specifically human passions and inclinations which other members of the animal world do not have: greed, arrogance, lust, etc. At the same time, the most common form of aggression among people is "instrumental". Such a form of aggression is a means to reach the goal, to satisfy needs that are insatiable, beyond simple biological survival. In later essays the history of the world as a whole is presented as a fall from grace. The ideal condition of the world is traced in the non-concretized mythical past. The writer sees the natural and man-made disasters of the present stage as an intervention of the supernatural power, God's punishment for human sins. If the evil in the human race is embodied in the "savages" and "mad people" (historically realized in different ranges - from the world wars to acts of domestic violence and vandalism), the good in it, on the contrary, generates "ingenious minds" that save humankind from complete collapse and destruction. Love and compassion, reason and conscience that underlie culture serve to maintain and reproduce actually human and not animal form of existence.

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