S.N. Bulgakov as a literary critic. An article on Chekhov and polemic about ideals
The article analyzes literary and critical works of Sergy Bulgakov and has shown by the example of his work "Chekhov as a Thinker" that he took a position close to Lev Tolstoi and narodnik criticism in the discussion about ideals being held at the end of XIX century. It is Bulgakov's opinion that a solution of ethical issues is the very essence of the Russian literature. The paper about Chekhov displayed quite obviously the contradictons of the position of Bulgakov who, on the one hand, didn't mean to measure the writer "by the bushel of the existing directions" and tried to reveal a particularity of his philosophic thinking while, on the other hand, failed to diverge from a range of customary canons and appraisals.