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If Only We Could Know: An Interpretation of Chekhov

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A noted Russian scholar takes on Chekhov in what looks like an intriguing book.  According to Kataev,

The key to understanding Chekhov is to understand his epistemology or philosophy of knowledge. Basically, in Chekhov’s world the characters do not have access to a privileged perspective or to ultimate truth. "The relative, conditional nature of ideas and opinions, and of stereotyped ways of thinking and behaving; the refusal to regard an individual solution as absolute; and the baselessness of various claims to possession of ’real truth’: these are constants in Chekhov’s world." (p. 164) Thus, the characters communicate poorly and often end up inadvertently causing pain, or sabotaging their own life projects.

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  1. Ioannis GeorgakakisApril 18, 2012 at 1:41 PM

    http://ioannisg22.tumblr.com/
    In this blog I post some short story and paintigs, all from the wonderful Russian 19th century

    ReplyDelete
  2. James FergusonApril 21, 2012 at 8:32 AM

    Thanks for dropping in. Glad to have another Chekhov fan. Will take a look at your blog.

    ReplyDelete

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