L. Tolstoy and the formalists about the plot

The article deals with the issue of the scientific and philosophical origins of the theory created by representatives of the Russian school of formalism. Recognizing the influence of Western European aesthetics, the impact of not only the artistic experience of classical literature, but also of the arguments of Russian writers (L. Tolstoy on the technique of writing in particular) on the authors' concept is proved. A number of the writer's judgments are shown as a possible source of the ideas for the formalists. As an example, the words device, material, thing are often used in Tolstoy's notes and have become terms in the concept of formalists. It is concluded that the similarity of the thoughts of the writer and critics (researchers of his works) was hidden by the inconsistency of their assessments of contemporary art, which Tolstoy refused to accept, whereas the formalists welcomed. The article highlights the writer's reflections on the plot, which also largely precede the concept of the Formalists. A number of similar concepts used by the writer in his letters and notes, indicate that he did not understand this aspect of the form as a monolith, but distinguished different sides in it ahead of the appearance of V Shklovsky's concept of plot and fable. Thus, the theory of formalism was not only “composed”, but also inherited, Tolstoy's theory was to a large extent the source of the ideas of the Formalists, which can explain the frequency of their appeal to the works of the author of “War and Peace”.