The Axiological Aspect of the Hermeneutic Process: A Case Study of Leo Tolstoy’s “The Kreutzer Sonata”

The article explores the interaction between axiological and hermeneutical processes while reading literary text. This interaction occurs within the framework of a subject-subject relationship between the reader and the embodied character, who is not just a nominal “partner of communication” for the reader but also a concentrated being through which artistic meaning is conveyed. Several characteristics of artistic meaning are presented and explained: informational value, meeting orientation, artistic potentiality, otherness, intersubjectivity, and axiological dependence. In relation to the subject-subject model of understanding a literary work, the article also highlights the subject-subject nature of aesthetic value realization within a literary text, with the embodied character serving as the carrier and embodiment of an axiological system. The essential nature of aesthetic value is emphasized, its connection with the value system of the individual who experiences it, which allows us to talk about the interdependency of the meaning and value of a work of art. An axiological analysis of Leo Tolstoy’s novel “The Kreutzer Sonata” is conducted. As a result of this analysis, the protagonist’s axiological system is presented, its contrast with the values of other characters is demonstrated, and its direct connection to the value system of the subject is proven. A condition is identified that characterizes the importance of the axiological aspect in understanding a work of art, which involves openness and acceptance of the value system of the reader.