From Surprise to Horror: I.A. Bunin in Search of a Philosophical Language

The article considers the philosophical language of I.A. Bunin in the context of the literary-centric paradigm of Russian philosophy. The main points of the article are as follows: (1) literature is a form of philosophical utterance, as full and legitimate as all others, including non-verbal forms; (2) the philosophy of a writer-thinker is not equal to the philosophical motive of his work. In this regard, the author argues that the philosophical language of I.A. Bunin (along with the philosophical language of A.P Platonov) is one of the two most striking philosophical manifestations of Russian literature of the 20^th century, with the help of which fundamental ethical and metaphysical problems of human existence are posed. To substantiate this thesis, on the one hand, the author removes the objections regarding the inconsistency of the identification of literature and philosophy, which were expressed by many philosophers, including A. Badiou. On the other hand, it is shown that philosophers, such as H.-G. Gadamer and R. Rorty, agree that Russian literature is significant for philosophy, and that its language is interconnected with the language of philosophy. Based on these ideas as well as on the thesis of V.V. Bibikhin that the language of philosophy is the philosophy per se directed to the most essential in man, the article reveals the philosophical substrate in the works of I.A. Bunin. These are the two elements of philosophy: amazement and horror; amazement in front of the being and the horror of the awareness of the disappearance of this being. These principles are discussed on the example of Bunin’s main work, The Life of Arseniev, as well as on the basis of the philosophical reception of the writer’s views by such researchers as G.V. Adamovich, V.V. Weidle, P.M. Bitsilli.

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