Article

Name: Spontaneous Semiotics of Nikolay Akhsharumov

Authors: A. E. Kozlov

Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, Russian Federation

Abstract:

The article is devoted to the phenomenon of the spontaneous semiotics of the critic and writer Nikolai Dmitrievich Akhsharumov. A contemporary of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, well studied today as a fiction writer, Akhsharumov is practically not known as a researcher, who for a long time created a series of fundamental works. These works were not intended for publishing, nevertheless, they were consecutively examined, they indicate tense methodological searches. Moreover, that texts aren’t far beyond the aesthetic interests reflected in the published works of the writer. In particular, relying on the works of I. Bentham, O. Comte, E. Renan, H. Steintal, and others, Akhsharumov formulates a number of fundamental theses: 1) psychology is the science of signs, which must deal with the study of their «upcoming meanings»; 2) the connection between the signified and the signifier is realized at the level of abstraction from the called object, and in many respects is associative; 3) the value is determined by the communication and is adjusted depending on the recipient's pragmatics.

In fact, hereby, there are two spheres of activity – public, connected with criticism and fiction, and private, chamber, are a curious contrast. The less successful the literary career of Akhsharumov, who apparently realized the secondary importance of his texts after the cultural explosion of 1866, the more intensive his scientific search became, allowing him to be in his eyes and the eyes of his closest friends to scientists. In addition, in unique cases, such accumulation of inert material gives an explosive effect. That’s case of the specificity of the philosophical chapters the Tolstoy novel «War and Peace». Existing as a separate whole of Tolstoy’s record indicates a lack of academicism and gross scientific assumptions that are not acceptable in the historical science of the 1860s. Nevertheless, in the structure of the aesthetic whole, their connection with the artistic text determines the uniqueness of the poetics of Tolstoy’s nove.

Despite the obvious dilettantism in presenting the existing theories, Akhsharumov-researcher deserves attention in the context of studying «spontaneous intuitions» that determined the scientific revolution of the beginning of the 20th century. The reference to draft notes indicates that many semiotic ideas, without a clear language of expression, literally «rushed in the air», and were familiar to readers who go beyond the academic circle. «Secret», not known to contemporaries side of Akhsharumov’s personality is a private evidence of intuitive anticipation of large scientific discoveries.

Keywords: Aksharumov, spontaneous semiotics, dilettantism, literature reputation, secondary and alternative

Bibliography:

Alpatov V. M. Ferdinand de Saussure and the World Linguistics (to the 100th Anniversary of the First Publication of «Course of General Linguistics»). Critique & Semiotics, 2017, no. 1, p 10–24. (in Russ.)

Kozlov A. E. On the question of the boundaries of philosophical and aesthetic discourses (S. Kierkegaard, F. Dostoevsky, L. Tolstoy). Critique & Semiotics, 2015, no. 2, p. 354–366. (in Russ.)

Mayorova O. E. Akhsharumov Nikolay Dmitrievich. Russkie pisateli. 1800– 1917: Biograficheskiy slovar’. Moscow, 1989. (in Russ.)

Penskaya E. N. Problemes of alternative ways of Russian literature. Moscow, 2000. (in Russ.)

Postovalova V. I. Ferdinand de Saussure and his role in the evolution of linguistic and philosophical thought of the 20th – 21st centuries. Critique & Semiotics, 2017, no. 1, p. 25–68. (in Russ.)

Shatin Yu. V. Three Vectors of Semiotics. Discourse, 1996, no. 2, p. 41–47. (in Russ.)

Volodina N. V., Lavrova S. Yu. Aksharumov’s fiction. Monographic description. Cherepovets, 2018. (in Russ.)

Yanushkevich A. S. Philosophy and Poetics of Gogol’s universe. Gogol phenomenon. St. Petersburg, 2011. (in Russ.)