Truth as an axiological dominant (V. M. Shukshin in a retrospective of Russian literature)

The concept of “truth” in Russian literature is historically associated with justice, righteousness, verity and fairness. In the second half of the 19th century, this concept was actualized in the works of F. M. Dostoevsky, L. N. Tolstoy, and A. P. Chekhov. In Dostoevsky’s “ideological novel,” the emphasis is on the hero’s finding “truth-verity,” “to live according to the truth” means to live with Christ. Besides the “truth of God,” the “truth of the people” is also of great importance in Dostoevsky’s axiology. It is the people who carry the ideal of Christ in their hearts. The writer also discusses the truth of everyday life in his work: in politics, in the relationships among people in society. Leo Tolstoy created a whole gallery of characters who live “according to the truth.” First and foremost, the works of A. P. Chekhov reveal the truth of life; the writer is interested in the character’s existential choice. God’s truth and the people’s truth, as a rule, are revealed to him in the self-awareness of a character “of the people.” In 20th century Russian literature, the concept of “truth” plays an important role in the work of V. M. Shukshin and other rustic writers. Shukshin suggests distinguishing between truthfulness and truth, the truth of character and the truth of action. The truth of life involves the problem of the meaning of life. According to Shukshin, “people know the truth,” and this is not rational knowledge, but a way of life. The truth becomes the basis of national existence. Shukshin’s Pravda was provocative in relation to the aesthetics of socialist realism with its main principle of partisanship. The writer relied on Russian axiology, rather than on party attitudes. The concept of “truth,” which is associated with the Christian worldview and Christian values, is the foundation of Russian culture and determines the main vectors of its development.