Overcoming the power of time: The metaphysics of death in Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's confessional prose

The interpretation of death as a threshold of existence reflects the uniqueness of culture, its deep value-semantic codes, and the emphases placed by a particular era. The works of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky are associated with a period in Russian culture when the rational-scientific worldview claimed its rights to determine the essence and purpose of human life, eliminating its transcendental conditioning. This situation was interpreted by the writers and largely predetermined their search for answers to the questions about the boundaries of human existence, not only in the realm of reason but also in the realm of religion. The material for analyzing the religious-philosophical constructs of the writers became their "confessional prose." For Tolstoy, this is primarily his Confession, the treatises On Life, What Is My Faith? In Dostoevsky's work, this is A Writer’s Diary. In these texts, the authors' views and judgments are presented directly. It is important to understand that these texts are not only confessions but also publicistic works. This narrative approach allows us to see the inclusion of the authors’ thoughts in the cultural context. The writers' reflections are presented as religious-philosophical explorations. In their judgments, both oppose the emerging dominance of scientific-rational views on human nature, yet they go beyond the boundaries of the Christian tradition. Tolstoy creates a "new" religion, "corrects" the Christian version of overcoming death, and offers his own interpretation of canonical texts. The starting point of his teaching is impersonalism. He has no doctrine of individual immortality; he speaks of the immortality of humanity. The only way to overcome death is to renounce personal consciousness and integrate individual life into the "universal" life. A person joins the unified World-Absolute through practical moral-rational activity. Unlike Tolstoy, Dostoevsky’s focus is always on the individual. His worldview is characterized by anthropocentrism. In A Writer’s Diary, the author addresses a number of real events and stories in which death becomes a reflection of the understanding of human essence. The threshold situation (suicide, reflections on death), created or taken by the author from life, is accompanied by the author’s own views. The writer proceeds from the idea that though a person is included in the natural world order, they can and must rise above this order. The uniqueness of human existence demands a guarantee of eternity rooted in a higher principle. The ultimate questions about humanity are interpreted and resolved by these two equally great writers in the context of the main ideas of their era. However, while Tolstoy responds to the challenges of the era in a monologic manner - through a doctrine that must be heard and understood, Dostoevsky's thought is woven into the polyphony of the era's ideas, framed in debate, inquiry, and dialogue. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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