| This study argues that the works of the Russian Symbolist poet, prosaist and playwright Fedor Sologub are a kind of 'spiritual' diary which reveals a continually evolving and maturing world view centered on an essentially religiously oriented quest for the meaning of life. It analyzes the author's poems, short stories, novels, and plays from 1884 to 1912 in the order of their presentation in his collected works and identifies three stages in the evolution of the author's philosophy of reality (embattled youthful idealism, dark pessimism, and messianic optimism), their characteristic concepts of man, nature, dreams, and art, as well as the writer's typical self-images. It concludes that Sologub deals with questions of timeless relevance to the human condition, offering profound insight into man's struggle for freedom and happiness, and that his ideas warrant more serious study than they have generally received. |
