Utopian ideas in Gaito Gazdanov's creation

The article discusses the utopian views of Gaito Gazdanov, the writer of the «fi rst wave» of the Russian emigration. On the basis of his stories «Hotel of the Future», «The Beggar», as well as on his novels «Awakening» and «Coup» the author of the article shows the peculiarities of the writer’s utopian ideas and images refracted via the intercultural perception of contemporary to Gazdanov reality, and coming from the “emotional depths” of the human consciousness. He did not follow the canons of the traditional genres of utopia, dystopia, negative utopia. His work is characterized by a utopian-sober view of events in the world and of human nature. «Hotel of the Future» is a kind of miniature of utopia and dystopia with parodic and grotesque elements. «The Beggar» and «Awakening» represent an escape from the “implemented” prosperity into a self-created utopia, an independent search and fi nding of their own inner topos that keeps the characters from dissolving in the standardized society. The unfi nished novel «Coup» is build on philosophical refl ections on the idea of justice which is the foundation of the “new world and new society” project, and on its implementation as a result of the coup that has begun.