Genesis of the Phenomenon of Platitude and its Conceptualization in Russian Literature

Abstract

For the present, insufficient attention is paid to the phenomenon of platitude in the studies of the philosophical and aesthetic type, while the recourse to it seems relevant because this phenomenon manifests itself not only in many aspects of daily life, but is also reflected in the contemporary cultural context and in works of art, especially in literature. To clarify the aesthetic meaning of the notion “platitude”, we should refer to the etymology and semantics of the word. In all the aspects, platitude is such a phenomenon that “kills” the idea of dignity and brings spiritual and ethical values of a person to vulgarization, to the level of philistine understanding, where the narrow-minded understanding of the “meaning of life” turns into a life moral principle. Thus, platitude can be considered in the context of aesthetics as an integral element of society and of an individual`s spiritual existence.
The purpose of this article is clarification of the aesthetic meaning of such a notion as “platitude”, its understanding in different historical periods and its conceptualization, primarily in the Russian literature of the XIX century.
We find it interesting to consider the aesthetics of platitude in the light of the works by the classics of the Russian literature – N.V. Gogol and A. P. Chekhov, who laid the basics of the platitude image in the Russian literature. If in the first half of the nineteenth century platitude was understood only as externally ugly and ridiculous attempt to look greater and more significant, then nowadays platitude is just falseness and parody, claiming to be the truth. This understanding of platitude relevant for our time can be traced in the works of the Russian writers.