«Modernism» and «Avant-garde» in (Post) Soviet and German Study of Literature
(An Attempt of Terminological Unification)
The article is an attempt to analyze the key concepts of «Modernity
», «Modernismus» and «Avant-garde». The presented analysis reveals the
ambiguity of perception of these concepts in the (Post-) Soviet literary works.
The mentioned problem is discussed on the example of «central» texts (encyclopedia,
literary encyclopedia, literary dictionaries, textbooks, and so on) of
Soviet and German literary criticism. The stated problem is relevant because of
the existence in the Soviet times of the so-called «Iron Curtain» and ideological
differences. Western and Soviet literature were on different sides of the barricades, which resulted in terminologically «noise» in the scientific literature of
the USSR. In addition, the post-Soviet Russian-language literature has not yet
been revised the Soviet-era training manuals, dictionaries and encyclopedias;
hence the semantic «noise» of those terms penetrates into the post-Soviet Russian-
language scientific literature as well. In the course of the analysis of the
theoretical and educational literature, the «sources» of conceptual «noise» (in
the semiotic sense) are identified that have influenced and still partly govern as
stereotypes the understanding of these concepts in the post-Soviet Russianlanguage
literary thought.
The analysis of the empirical material has shown that after the medieval
epoch New Times or the Moderne era (Moderne), Modernity as «ein
unvollendetes Projekt» came, and in Russian two other «functioning» signifiers,
namely «модерность» («modernity») и «модерный» («modern»), can be considered
as equivalents at this stage. The concept of «modern» in German philosophical,
sociological discourses is chronologically divided into two periods:
«first modern» (around 1500 to 1960–1980), «second modern» (from the 1990\s
to the present). Different understanding of the concept of «modern» is connected
with different approaches, traditions, criteria and codes of interpreters.
In the Russian-language literary discourse, the problem of the possible unification
of the understanding of the terms «modern», «modernism» and «avantgardism
» remains open. As far as the empirical material at the level of literary
dictionaries, encyclopedias and textbooks on the theory and history of literatures
shows that, there is still semantic «noise» between not only the concepts of
«modern» and «modernism», but also between «modernism» and «avantgardism
». So far, there has not been any «dialogue» between post-Soviet Russian-
speaking and Western literary criticism. It can be clearly seen that the understanding
of the signified (content plane), modern, modernism and avantgardism
depends also on the criteria by which the temporal extent of modernity,
modernism and avant-gardism is shared. If, for example, subjectivism is taken
as a criterion or the disclosure of the inner world (lyric, novel) of the hero in the
space of literature, then even Dostoevsky and Nietzsche become modernists.
Besides, confusion arises from the fact that often in the Russian-language scientific
discourse does not specify in which (in a narrow or broad sense) the terms
«modern», «modernism», «avant-gardism» are used. Based on the analysis of
empirical material, the author of the present article suggests using terms in a
narrow sense in order to avoid semantic «noises».
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