Grammatical and psychological reading of Platonov’s ‘Sharmanka’ (Barrel Organ)

Abstract

The article deals with Andrei Platonov’s play “Sharmanka”. Its analysis shows how the author’s original and hidden language relates to the meaning of the text and to the author’s life. The play is also considered in the context of the poetics of the writer’s works close in time: the general tendency of thought, invariance of details and themes; different combinations of motifs and development of some leitmotifs are revealed. The method used is hermeneutics, as it is defined by Friedrich Schleiermacher – the art of understanding and interpreting the text. The “grammatical” and the “psychological” sides in such analysis remain identical – they are not separated, but constantly touching and mutually percepting, like part and parcel in a hermeneutic circle. First of all, that allows to approach the interpretation of difficult parts through the prism of the author’s life, thereby giving them a reasonable and convincing explanation; and secondly, to call “Sharmanka” partly an autobiographical work. Thus, the article studies the originality of Platonov’s language, its connection with the realities of Soviet times in the 20s and 30s; the intersection of the plot with important events in the writer’s life, such as the repudiation of the literary community, in particular his patron and comrade Alexander Fadeev; as well as the place of “Sharmanka” in the creative legacy of Andrei Platonov.