CONFRONTATION TO SPIRITUAL NIHILISM IN LITERARY-CRITICAL ARTICLES IN THE NEWSPAPER "RUS" BY I.S.AKSAKOV
The article analyzes several literary and critical articles related to the problem of nihilism published in 1881-1884 in the newspaper “Rus”. The editorials of I.S.Aksakov and reviews of I.N.Pavlov for F.M.Dostoyevsky's novel “The Brothers Karamazov” highlighted the ideas of a borrowed characteristics of nihilism and of necessity of positive ideas in the literature. A close look at the review articles of N.N.Strakhov and K.F.Golovin reveals their generalized attitude to the contemporary Russian literature. They place emphasis on creativity of I.S.Turgenev, F.M.Dostoevsky, L.N.Tolstoy as great artists who can penetrate into the depth of spiritual life of the Russian people and draw from it a positive content. The creativity of most young belletrists is interpreted as being limited to a cursory glance at Russian life and sharply negative attitude to it. The general condition of the literature testifies the spiritual and moral crisis of a modern man. The exit from the crisis to the reviewers’ mind is associated with the Christian consciousness that removes internal and external contradictions. The present study emphasizes the reconciling significance of anti-nihilistic criticism, the affirmation of the spiritual content of literary creativity and the high requirements for the level of artistry of literary works.