Chekhov’s religious and philosophical thought" in the studies of the 1990s-2000s

The article analyzes the studies of the 1990s-2000s claimed to be research of “Anton Chekhov’s religious and philosophical thought”. It reveals methodological shortcomings of these works, such as non-distinction between the categories of “image of the author” and “author-creator” (according to N. D. Tamarchenko), which leads to a false identification of the ideas in Chekhov’s works of art and the worldview of the writer himself. An analysis of the poetics of Chekhov's short stories, novellas and plays is wrongfully and illogically presented in these studies as a way to clarify Chekhov's attitude to philosophy and religion. The abovementioned studies often ignore or insufficiently discuss the question of the fundamental (im)possibility of the influence of one or another philosophical system on Chekhov, they also often not take into account the facts of Chekhov's biography, his range of reading and correspondence. A methodologically rigorous research of this topic faces limitations of the material, however it remains relevant for Chekhov scholars.