Historical Novels by B. Okudzhava: Some Aspects of Artistic Anthropology

Abstract

The subject of the study in the article is literary anthropology, which is reflected in the historical prose of B. Okudzhava. The purpose of the analysis is to study some aspects of the literary anthropology of B. Okudzhava's historical novels. The methodology of the research is determined by the nature of the tasks set and is based on the historical-literary, socio-cultural method, as well as a holistic analysis of the work of art. The conclusions of the research characterize some principles of literary anthropology of B. Okudzhava: 1) for B. Okudzhava, the main carrier and measure of spiritual values is the Russian intelligentsia, while history in his novels acts as a con- text for moral verification of personality; 2) one of the most important ontological constants of human existence for B. Okudzhava is hope, invisibly present in life; 3) the human being of B. Okudzhava is characterized by ideas about conditionality, predestination and the inevitability of events and actions; 4) through all the novels of B. Okudzhava's leitmotif is the idea that there is no independent human freedom outside of history, and significant historical events cannot remain external even to an unwitting witness to them; 5) B. Okudzhava's spiritual and moral being of a person is defined by responsibility, interpreted as a person's awareness of his or her place in history and society, as well as the ability of a person to be responsible for his or her actions and feel involved in the events taking place. The results of the research conducted in this article can be used in the study of B. Okudzhava's creativity and historical prose of the second half of the XX century. The main conclusions can be used in the preparation of lecture courses.