Rostova N.N. Victor Vasnetsov: The Anthropology of the “Other”
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2025.3.7
Natalia N. Rostova
Doctor of Sciences (Philosophy), Associate Professor, Professor, Department of Philosophical Anthropology, Faculty of Philosophy, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Leninskie gory, 1, 119991 Moscow, Russian Federation
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3675-2082
Abstract. The article provides a philosophical and anthropological study of the work of the outstanding Russian artist Viktor Vasnetsov. The author turns to two main subjects of his painting – fairytale images and the image of silence – and uses their example to reveal the key idea of duality of mind for Russian culture. According to this idea, one mind is connected with the world and adaptation to it, and the other mind, literally different from it, is connected with the ideal. The first mind helps us navigate in space; the second mind sets the metaphysical coordinates of our lives. If the European consciousness is defined by the opposition "mind – madness", then the Russian consciousness removes this opposition in "third" terms, such as "superintelligent," that are behind the mind. For Russian culture, the idea of silence is important not as the absence of speech, but as an experience of apophaticity, as well as the idea of madness not as a deviation from reason, but as a source of mind and the search for another transformed being. It is widely believed that Vasnetsov wrote fabulous motifs, wanting to distance himself from the harsh reality. However, bearing in mind the artistic and epistolary legacy of the painter, this assessment should be considered superficial and one-sided. Vasnetsov turned to the fairy tale not as an ethnographer, but as an archaeologist of the national consciousness. For him, a fairy tale is not just folklore but the objectified consciousness of the people, in which we discover its deepest hidden layer. Exploring folk tales and epics, Vasnetsov brings out the picturesque anthropological types of our culture – Ivan the Fool, epic heroes, and knights – and together with them sheds light on our key values: the search for a different, transformed world, valor, kindness, and selfless love for the motherland. In the image of the "Angel of Silence" he reveals the ideal of the inner man.
Key words: philosophy of Russian painting, mind, madness, silence, fairy tale.
Citation. Rostova N.N. Victor Vasnetsov: The Anthropology of the "Other". Logos et Praxis, 2025, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 62-68. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/lp.jvolsu.2025.3.7
Victor Vasnetsov: The Anthropology of the “Other” © 2025 by Natalia N. Rostova is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
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