UDC

Authors

Abstract

This article studies the general topics of Andrei Platonov’s novel Happy Moscow and the reflection in it of one of Platonov’s key themes: happiness. The paper analyses the interpretation of this theme in Happy Moscow in comparison with Platonov’s other major works, Chevengur and The Foundation Pit in the first place. In his works of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Platonov reflects on the rational models of building a new happy society, whether they are possible or acceptable. In Happy Moscow, however, the writer focuses on the idea of the organic flow of life. Justifying this statement, the author of this article pays particular attention to reveal the main character of the novel: Moscow Chestnova. The image of Moscow is also considered in the context of Platonov’s works of the 1920s – 1930s; the paper studies not only its importance in the system of the novel’s characters, but also its relationship with other characters of Platonov’s major works of that time and Russian literary tradition of the preceding period. The author of this paper argues that the defining traits of Moscow Chestnova’s character and consciousness are the ability to perceive the organic nature of life and the sense of belonging to the common stream of life, which allows her to feel happy under any circumstances. The main idea of the article is proved through the analysis of the novel’s leitmotif system: the author identified a range of motifs in Happy Moscow, investigated their role and significance in revealing the main idea of the novel, as well as the semantic content of certain leitmotifs in Platonov’s works in general.

Keywords

References

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