This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of an outstanding Russian philosopher, playwright, linguist and poet. Konstantin Aksakov lived only 43 years.
He was a prominent figure in the Slavophile movement of Russia in the early to mid-19th century. His views, implying the granting of rights to a rural community, were progressive for his time, overshadowed by serf slavery. From his grandfather, the Suvorov general, Konstantin got personal qualities: patriotism and ardor.
Childhood, youth
The Aksakov family was descended from a Varangian who served the princes of Kiev. Even in pre-Petrine Russia, there were nobles, "sovereign people" in it. 03/29/1817 in the village of Aksakovo, Orenburg province, Konstantin Aksakov was born . The biography of his childhood is associated with the estate of his father, Sergei Timofeevich, writer and literary critic. Wonderful tales “The Town in the Snuffbox” and “The Scarlet Flower” came out from under the pen of the parent. Konstantin had younger brothers Ivan and sister Vera, they were friends with each other.
The Aksakov family adhered to old Russian traditions in everyday life. Konstantin was brought up in the spirit of hospitality and wide life. In 1826, the Aksakovs moved to Moscow.
Student years
Konstantin Aksakov received secondary education in the Pogodin boarding house. Even in adolescence, his thirst for knowledge and literary talent manifested. The young man was an idealist, a man impractical and non-mercantile. Fifteen years old, he entered the verbal department of Moscow University, the department of professors Pobedonostsev, Nadezhdin.
In his student years, the future publicist, together with Vissarion Belinsky, Ivan Turgenev, Vasily Bakunin, Vasily Botkin, participated in the circle of German philosophy of the writer Stankevich, then - in the society of Slavophiles Samarin, Khomyakov. The atmosphere of these meetings, Ivan Turgenev reflected in the novel "Rudin." The young people were sickened by the atmosphere of official pseudo-patriotism, they were looking for simplicity and sincerity in philosophy. Aksakov called himself “from a student’s bench” until the last days “Slavophil and Hegelian.”
The master's work of Konstantin Sergeyevich was a study on the place of Lomonosov in Russian literature. The Censorship Committee did not accept it for a long time, forcing the student to make edits. From a young age, a novice critic began to have problems with official censorship. Aksakov’s inquiring analytical mind was highly appreciated, he was offered a scientific career in Kiev. However, the young man was not going to leave Moscow.
Poetry
Aksakov Konstantin published the first poems in the journals "Domestic Notes", "Telescope", "Moscow Observer". Aksakov’s poetry cultivated the ideals of Goethe’s romanticism; it was liked by his contemporaries due to the ease of sounding and differences from power-worshiping odes.
Its readers remembered images of Russian nature, philosophical themes, the expression of human feelings.
Half a century later, the poets Fet and Tyutchev will continue the theme of naturalistic poetry, the foundations of which were laid by Konstantin Aksakov. His poems - “Stream”, “Elegy”, “Thoughts”, “Thunderstorm”, “Winter Is Coming Soon” - are simultaneously sublime and simple. A poet is able to write sincerely about a small homeland and love. In his poems you feel the comfort of a rural house, the charm of Russian nature. Sincere and simple are his poems “A.V.G.”, “Hard on the Soul”.
Later, P.I. Tchaikovsky wrote music for one of his altered poems. It turned out to be one of the most popular children's songs in the 19th century.
Prose Aksakova
The stories and stories of Konstantin Aksakov are written in the spirit of romanticism and with undeniable talent. Working on them, the Slavophil turned into a philosopher, then into lyrics. For example, in the novel “Brazhnik”, he created a picture of the Last Judgment of a deceased very worthy person, not a drunkard, but a brazhnik.
The novel “Cloud” is interesting for its artistic intent. In it, we first get acquainted with the spiritual and dreamy youth Lotharius Grünenfeld, who spends time contemplating nature. Then he appears before the reader as a young man, already not so sinless. Lotharius forgot how to see the good in people, indifference affected his feelings. But when in his life he met a girl who fell in love with him, everything that was superfluous seemed to be washed away by the bright memories of his childhood about spiritualized nature, about a high clear sky with clouds.
Writing plays
In the 40s, Konstantin Aksakov created several works for the theater. Konstantin Sergeyevich wrote dramatic works under the pseudonym Euripidine, among them “Prince Lupovitsky”, “Liberation of Moscow”, “Postal carriage”.
In the drama "Liberation of Moscow" Konstantin Sergeyevich showed the role of the main people in the liberation of the capital from the Polish conquerors. This performance was banned immediately after the premiere at the Maly Theater. However, the playwright Aksakov was mediocre, his plays were speculative, their ideology prevailed over artistry. They were not particularly popular with the public.
Literary criticism
The field of literary criticism turned out to be more successful for Aksakov. Konstantin Sergeyevich wrote about what worried his contemporaries - the educated people of Russia. He published a pamphlet based on the poem “Dead Souls” by N. V. Gogol, where he wrote about the epic nature of the work and the truthfulness of the image of the landowner psychotypes Nozdrev, Manilov, Sobakevich in it. However, the most important thing in the poem of Nikolai Vasilievich Aksakov considers “Russianness”, “the spirit and image of a great, powerful space”. He also mentions Gogol’s image of an eternal Russian song, amazing in its artistic power and metaphoricality, which, without ceasing, flies forever over a great power, heard now in one place, then in another.
Aksakov in the magazine Moskovityanin disputed with Vissarion Belinsky on the same work of Nikolai Vasilievich. His counterpart considered the weakness of the work "Gogol’s attempt to appear as a national prophet", and the lyricism of the poem called inappropriate. Konstantin Sergeyevich, for whom the popular idea was always the first and foremost, could not remain silent in such a situation.
By the age of thirty, Konstantin Aksakov had published a number of other literary articles in the Moscow Collection.
Historical Journalism
In the years 1847-1852. reviews of the History of Russia by Professor S. M. Solovyov are published from under his pen. They feel a reverent attitude towards the fate of the motherland as a living memory, a messenger of antiquity, a teacher of life. Aksakov's journalistic work comments so deeply on “History” that they studied at the gymnasiums simultaneously. However, if the hero of our story popularizes Professor Solovyov with his article, then in poetic form he already teases him in a friendly way:
The ideologist of the Slavophil movement
The Moscow Aksakovs house in the late 40s was known as a literary salon, which was visited by Turgenev, Gogol, Pogodin, Belinsky, Zagoskin.
At the age of 38, Aksakov Konstantin Sergeyevich wrote a memoir “Memoirs of Students”, as well as “On the Internal State of Russia”. In these works, the critic presented views on the social and state structure of the motherland. He believed that the primary social community for Russia was the peasant community. The Slavophile political platform was based on the concepts of “land” and “state”, with the help of which the special historical path of Russia was substantiated.
Aksakov saw the antagonism between the tsarist government and the zemstvo (public) principle. Imperial power Konstantin Aksakov defined only the function of "protecting the life of the people" and protection. According to Konstantin Sergeyevich, the sovereign rights of the people: press, words, opinions should be inalienable details of Russian society. Moreover, they cannot be limited or regulated by the state.
“History has gone the wrong way”
The views of the Slavophiles on the history of Russia expressed the opinion of its tragic break by Emperor Peter I, who artificially elevated the state over society. It was in such an unnatural status of the idol power that Aksakov Konstantin saw the impending ulcers of Russian society: bribery, serfdom, and church schism.
Aksakov outlined his views in a letter to Alexander II, who subsequently issued a decree abolishing serfdom and thereby deserving the epithet “Liberator”.
Criticism of Western Democracy
The works of Konstantin Aksakov, in particular the article “Voice from Moscow” of 1848, deny the value of the revolutionary experience of Europe for Russia. He criticized the experience of Western democracies for "enriching the government", excessive politicization of public life. The fundamental interest of Russian society, according to Aksakov, lay in the field of spiritual and religious.
Another of his works - “On the Russian View” - puts all points on I in the problem of “national - humanistic”. The publicist substantiates the right of cultural and social sovereignty of the Russian people, which has the right not to copy Western democracy. It is noteworthy that the philosopher and writer in practice applied his pro-Russian position. He, a resident of the capital, wore a beard, dressed in a zipoon and a yarmulke (peasant winter hat).
last years of life
It would seem that life was a success. Konstantin Sergeevich Aksakov enjoyed authority in scientific, political, and literary circles. His biography testifies to many like-minded people. The Aksakov House is still a fashionable Moscow literary salon. It includes Leo Tolstoy, Taras Shevchenko, Ivan Turgenev ...
Everything collapsed in one day. In 1859, father died at Aksakov, Sergei Timofeevich. The son suffered extreme loss, being mentally attached to the parent. Having good health by nature, he was simply emaciated, weakened and ill with tuberculosis. A year and a half after the death of Pope, Aksakov Konstantin Sergeyevich died while being treated on the Mediterranean island of Zant.
He was buried in the cemetery of the Simonovsky Monastery, next to the grave of his father. In the XX century, the Aksakovs were reburied at the Novodevichy cemetery.
Conclusion
A convinced Slavophile went down in history Konstantin Aksakov. His biography (short in our presentation, but so rich in fact) contains information about many eccentricities. He refused in his life from the West, while wearing a peasant outfit, which in the XIX century was almost out of use. Friends teased him, but understood: for Konstantin Sergeyevich this is very important. His reasoning and views were distinguished by community morality. He advocated the return to Russian public life of imperishable moral values destroyed by imperial power.
At the same time, the philosopher and writer was not hypocritical, principled and honest. The Hegelian and Slavophil Aksakov did not recognize either imperial ideology or pro-Western. People, and even opponents, respected and appreciated him. He did not write, like Leo Tolstoy, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, epochal works, but he was a faithful and reliable friend to all of them. Konstantin Aksakov sensitively and deeply understood the literary process, was a well-known linguistic scientist, one of the most prominent specialists in the field of Russian history.