Humanistic tendencies in the artistic and aesthetic system of Z. N. Gippius in her Petersburg Diaries of 1914–1919

Abstract

The Petersburg diaries (“Blue Book,”, “Black Notebooks,” “Black Book,” and “Gray Notepad”) document the attitude of Z. N. Gippius to the events related to the historical upheavals in Russia in the early 20th century. Searching for new ideas about personal freedom and choice in the epoch of historical cataclysms, the writer asserts the principles of new spirituality allowing one withstand the great upheavals of the era and achieve true freedom, found in God as a guarantor of the harmonious personality development. This study has established that the writer solves the problems suggested in the diaries by comprehending the fate of Russia during the First World War and the February and October revolutions of 1917 and searching for new humanistic ideals. She condemns the destructive nature of the revolution that causes the loss of moral ideals. Of particular relevance to the writer is the assertion of a specific, effective and practical humanism that takes into account the moral component of human life, approves the moral way of life, and combines practical actions with a focus on the individual as the ultimate goal. For Gippius, the ideal is embodied in the Russian intelligentsia with humanistic ability to sympathy, compassion, sacrifice, and sanctity and potential to withstand the political cataclysms of Russia. The aesthetic findings of Gippius in her Petersburg diaries embrace the inclusion of various associative chains into the forms of auto-documentary literature, enrichment of particular historical images with universal symbols, and synthesis of lyrical self-expression and an epic worldview.