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AParadox inTolstoi's What Is Art?

AParadox inTolstoi's What Is Art? EDWARD WASIOLEK A P a r a d o x i n Tolstoi's What Is Art? Rene Wellek reminds the reader o f an important truism about Tolstoi's What I s A r t ? "One must recognize that What Is Art? is not merely an outburst o f the old man after his conversion but grows out o f the totality o f his life and art: it is a logical consequence o f his constant, basic preoccupations."1 Much o f what Tolsoi says in What Is Art? is already present in precis form in his journal lasnaia Poliana in the early sixties, and some of his convictions about art are expressed in a small scene in his first published artistic work, Childhood. I am thinking o f the poem that Nikolai writes for his grandmoth- er's name-day. This modest effort takes him first to imitation o f the feelings and forms o f others and then to a lie: in order to get the concluding couplet to rime, he must say falsely that he loves his grandmother as much as he does his mother. Art for Tolstoi already manipulates feelings and concern for form leads one http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Canadian-American Slavic Studies Brill

AParadox inTolstoi's What Is Art?

Canadian-American Slavic Studies , Volume 12 (4): 583 – Jan 1, 1978

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
© 1978 Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0090-8290
eISSN
2210-2396
DOI
10.1163/221023978X00475
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

EDWARD WASIOLEK A P a r a d o x i n Tolstoi's What Is Art? Rene Wellek reminds the reader o f an important truism about Tolstoi's What I s A r t ? "One must recognize that What Is Art? is not merely an outburst o f the old man after his conversion but grows out o f the totality o f his life and art: it is a logical consequence o f his constant, basic preoccupations."1 Much o f what Tolsoi says in What Is Art? is already present in precis form in his journal lasnaia Poliana in the early sixties, and some of his convictions about art are expressed in a small scene in his first published artistic work, Childhood. I am thinking o f the poem that Nikolai writes for his grandmoth- er's name-day. This modest effort takes him first to imitation o f the feelings and forms o f others and then to a lie: in order to get the concluding couplet to rime, he must say falsely that he loves his grandmother as much as he does his mother. Art for Tolstoi already manipulates feelings and concern for form leads one

Journal

Canadian-American Slavic StudiesBrill

Published: Jan 1, 1978

There are no references for this article.