PERSONALITY AND HISTORY IN THE D. BALASHOV’S NOVEL “THE GREAT THRONE”

Abstract

The article deals with the peculiarity of the artistic interpretation of the question of the role of the individual in history in D. Balashov's novel “The Great Throne”.
The writer based on the wide knowledge of Russian reality and rethought the classical traditions of Russian and world literature according to his own concept of Russian history, which is based on the passionary theory of ethnogenesis.
Innovative method to the artistic analysis of history, which is combined with the desire to comprehend the eternal moral and philosophical problems and a thorough psychological analysis of the inner world of man is realized in the cycle "The Rulers of Moscow", which shows the formation and strengthening of the Moscow principality.
When the historical process is researched, the question of the role of a particular person in it inevitably arises. This is topicality to each generation, and topicality grows immensely in the age of globalization, when the activities of individuals can to affect on the whole world.
Philosophers and writers sought to solve the problem of the role of personality in history, starting with antiquity, but today it remains far from the final solution. The ambiguity of its solution is largely due to the difference in methodological approaches to revealing the very essence of the historical process.
D. Balashov artistically investigates the problem of the extent of the individual’s influence on history throughout the cycle "The Rulers of Moscow", each of the novels reveals a new aspect of it. From this point of view, the novel "The Great Table" is the most interesting. The D. Balashov’s hypothesis of on an alternative "Tver’s variant" of Russian statehood reflected in this novel: the center of union of Russian lands could not be Moscow, and Tver. The purpose of the article is
to reveal the peculiarity of the artistic interpretation of the problem of the role of personality in the history of this novel.
D. Balashov uses the historical conflict "Tver or Moscow" and creates images of rulers-antagonists (Mikhail Tversky and Yuri Moskovsky) for research the relationship between the activity of an individual and the history of the people. Conceptually-based artistic images are intended to represent the author's answer to the main question: why the "Tver’s variant" of Russian statehood was not realized, given the significant advantages of Tver to Moscow? D. Balashov
considers what the discrepancy between high moral qualities of the Tver’s princes and state of Russia at the initial stage of ethnogenesis is one of the decisive reasons for their death.
Moral and ethical aspects of solving the problem of the role of an individual in the historical process of D. Balashov is connected with the motive of choice. Historic figures and numerous fictional characters appear before the choice. The reader is witnessing how the "choices" of heroes connect with each other, interact with one another, and thus determine the fate of the country. The writer thoroughly reveals the complexity of the relationship between the aspirations of the individual and the general trends in the historical development of the nation.
It is concluded that the writer focuses the main attention to the images of rulers, but he does not absolutize the role of the individual in history. He shows that the effectiveness of a policy is determined by the measure of its conformity with national mood and interests; aesthetic views of the writer are based on the recognition of the socio-historical significance of each individual human life.