Mythological consciousness in Soviet philosophical theories

The article considers some trends in Soviet philosophy, which studied myth and mythological consciousness in 1950-70th. Their connection with European myth theories, in particular with French structuralism and German symbolism, is revealed. The conceptions of Aleksei Losev and Mikhail А. Lifshits demonstrate two ways of describing myth in Soviet philosophy of consciousness. A deep connection between Losev’s theory of myth and the ideas of the Silver Age is traced, in particular, with V. B. Shklovsky’s method of distancing. Myth and distancing remove the “cultural-symbolic content of the world”, focusing on the form that represents it, and seeking to restore to man the sense of authenticity of the world. The formalists’ method of distancing and Losev’s concept of myth treat text as a representative of reality, thus anticipating the post-structuralist attitude of the late 20th century. A different approach is demonstrated by the aesthetic theory of Mikhail А. Lifshits. For him, as well as for Losev, it is important to discover logic (logomiphy) behind the seemingly nonsense of mythology and to reveal the objective truth of myth. Creating his own myth theory, Lifshits always keeps in mind the apology of the “high” Soviet myth of communism.