Un bosque vivo: Itinerario

B a k h t i n describes solitary s e l f -accounting as a b i d to get to the truth of oneself b y d e n y i n g an immediate interlocutor. Yet this process cannot be carried on in self-referential isolation. B a k htin writes that the denial of an immediate audience pushes the subject out towards an absolute other. By speaking, even for a distant other, the subject breaks free from the confines of his subjectivity and enters into the fray of life. U t t e r a n c e is the point at w h i c h the subject lays bare his s u b j e ctivity for evaluation and comp l e t i o n b y an other:

OTppiqaHKe s gemnero o n p annaHHH n e p e x o n u T b Hyacny b o n p a B f l a H H H pejiHrtiosHOM; o h hojtoh hv^khh b n p o m e n H n h

H C K y n n e H H H x a x abcojnoTHO h h c t o m flape <. ..> 9 t o on p aB^aHHe He H M M a n e H T H O caMOOTueTy, h o neacHT sa r p a H H q a M H ero, b

HenpenonpenejieHHOM p h c k o b s h h o m b y g y m e M netiCTBHTejiBHoro C OÔH T H H <...> CaMH HpOC&Ôa H M O J I B Ô a OCTaiOTCH OTKPHTHMH, H e s a B e p m e H H H M H, o h h kblk 6 h obpHBaiOTCH b nenpenonpenejieHHoe b y n y m e e cobHTH5i.

In a v e r y similar w a y Emmanuel Levinas states that: 'By o ffering a word, the subject p u t t i n g himself forward lays himself o pen and, in a sense, p r a y s . S o l i t a r y self- a c c o u n t i n g and p r a y e r is a form of this s e lf-exposure w hich attempts to p reserve the highest degree of subjectivity, seeking refuge in an other who is the r e p ository of ultim a t e values, but who will n ever speak. S olitary self- a c c o u n t i n g is an evasion of the intrusion of the random evalu a t i o n of another consciousness. The other's immediate prese n c e can act as a completing of the utterance, a defining. A v o i d a n c e of the immediate other is an attempt to prese r v e one's own indefinability, to m a i n t a i n a continuous c r eativity of speech, without h a v i n g to reckon w i t h the listener's judgement. Thus the attempt at self- u n d e r s t a n d i n g is best carried on w h e n words are u t t e r e d for an absolute other, at w h o m one can p i t c h one's words without fear of an immediate evaluation. At this degree of introspection, the immediate other's e v a l u a t i o n becomes an imposition, clouding the process of self-elucidation. In the process of s elf-accounting B a k h t i n descr i b e s a wilful d i s t a n c i n g from the immediate conte m p o r a r y audience w h i c h constitutes a potential threat to the p u r i t y of the writer's r e l a t ionship to himself, and thus to the truth of his words: '^ncToe qeHHOCTHO ogHHOKoe O T H o m e H n e k cede caMO M y - TaKOB npeneji, k K O T O p O M y CTpeM K T C H caMOOTueT- HcnoBeflB, npeonojieBan Bce T p a H c r p e n n e H T H H e m o m o h t h

O np a B n a H H H H OqeHKH, BOSMOJKHHe

B

his reader on the opening page of U e d i n e n n o e is an attempt to free himself from any oblig a t i o n to the immediate addressee, to attempt a pure self-exploration, free from the p o s s i b l e evaluations of other imagined onlookers or judges ;

<. . . > Ax, flobpEM uHTaTejiB, 5Ï yace g a sHO rramy «des UHTaTejui», - n p ocTO n o T O M y u t o HpasHTca. Kax «Ces uHTaTejiH» n HSflaio. . . <...>.

Hy, UHTaTejiB, He qepeMOHiocB h c t o6o h , - MoacemB h tee He q e p e M O H H T B C H co m h o h :

- K

uepTy...

- K

uepTy!

H a u - r e v o i r no BCTp e u H na t o m cseTe. C u H T a T e n e M r o p asno CKyuHee, u e M onnoMy.

ru e d . : 36]

'Writing for oneself' denies a temporal completion in the r e c e p t i o n of another, but is thus all the m o r e in need of an absolute receiver, reader or listener. Bakhtin describes the transition from solitary self-accounting, through degrees of confession, and self-condemnation, towards a direct appeal to God, in p r a y e r and prophecy. He argues that, in the search for freedom from immediate addressees, for the p u r i t y of self-relationship, the subject is forced into a recognition that this is not enough, and his cry turns outwards, towards an ultimate

judge and witness of his solitude, towards G o d . ^ Without this u l t i m a t e source of appeal, u t t e r a n c e w o u l d be senseless. Desp i t e what he claimed, R o z a n o v was never w r i t i n g p u r e l y for himself. Yet the r e n u n c i a t i o n of r e s p o n s i b i l i t y to the immediate reader created a m u c h n e e d e d f r e e d o m for speech, in w h i c h the emphasis in Rozanov's w r i t i n g can shift to the 'unknown' but intimate readers in time, and to God. Rozanov's emphasis on his extreme subjectivity, his lack of a sense of a reader, and his just i f i c a t i o n in G o d can all be read in relat i o n to the B a k h t i n i a n analysis. R o z a n o v describes an acute sense of separation and isolation from the w o r l d and his c o n t e m p o r a r y readers, w h i c h is the source of the 'subjectivity' that he later claims is his 'method':

^To 6h H H K nejiaji, Koro 6h h h B H n e n - ne M o r y h h c k o m

cjiHTfcCH. «He coBOKymu n o m n H C H uejiOBex» - n y x o B H O . HejiOBex - « s o l o » .

Bee 3TO H BHpasHJi CJIOBOM « H H O C T p a H e q » , KOTO p o e y Mens: npomenTajiocB x a x B e j muaHmee ocy^KneHne cede, k b k BennuaHmaii rpycTB o ce6e, b cede.

9T0 - TG3Ke poK.

rued. :90]

<. . . > C T p a H H a a u epTa M o e n ncHxojiortiK saKjno^aeTCH b Ta x o M

CHJiBHOM omymeHHK nycTOTH OKOJio ce6a - nycTOTH, ôesMOJiBHH h

H e B O S M O a C H H M K HeJienEESl, H O 3 T O - T a K .

ru e d . : 1 0 6 ]

Yet Rozanov's intense sense of 'subjectivity' frees him, he claims, from any accountability to others in his writing. It is a matter for himself and God:

rjTyôouaâmaH m o h cyôteKTHSHocTB (na$oc cyb’BeKTHBHOCTu) cnejiajia t o , h t o h t o h h o b c i o s c h b h b

npoactui

CK) CTopoHy

, -

3Toro,

r i o s T O M y M H e u a c T O » : e K a s a j i o c B ( h M o a c e T G h t b , T a K b t o H e C T B ) , H T O H C aM BIH H p a B n H B H H H H C K p e H H H H H H C a T e J l B : X O T H T y T H e c o n e p ^ n T C H h h C K p y n y j i a H p a B C T B e H H O C T H .

«TaK M e n a ycTpoHJi Bor» .

ru e d . : 98]

YMen HCKaTB yeflHHeHUH, yMen HCKaTB yentineHiui, yMen HCKaTB yeflHHeHHH.

Y e n H H e H H e - jiyHmHH CTpaac nynra. 51 x o u y CKasaTB - ee Anreji XpaHHTejiB.

0 3 y e n H H e H H H - B c e . 0 3 y e n u n e n t i H - c h j i h, h3 y e n H n e n n n

Y e f l H H e H K e - «co6paH c y x » , b t o - h oiihtb « q e j i e H » .

rO. 1. I : 275-76]

This sense of spiritual isolation cannot find and does not seek outlet in the traditional forms of address to the reader. Rozanov claims that the only truth he can speak of is intensely subjective and private. The innate sense of isolation from others that Rozanov describes becomes his artistic freedom, a defence against the possible intrusion

of another's judgement, obligation towards, or self-

consciousness before, the other. He claims that he has no obligation to others because of a life-long loneliness and distance from them. Yet he also claims to draw a sense of spiritual strength and invincibility in God from his isolation. The reader is a remote witness to the process of self-uncovery that is undertaken before God. Yet solitary self-accounting, the first stage of this approach to God, is an address seemingly sufficient to itself, although it is dependent on a sense of God's surrounding presence:

TyT, B KOHqe kohi;ob. Ta Taôna (rpamiuamaH c ôesyMHeM) ,

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neTCTBe BErracKHBaji h s neun) - noxoæa na m b h h: ee c o b c b m He BHflHO, He BHflHO ItHHI^OB, KOTOpHMH ee flepaCHmB .

H rocnoflB HepacHT mbhh mtinqaMH. «TocnogB nagEiMHJi mhok)

W r i t i n g is a spiritual self-exploration, b a s e d on the p u r i t y of a s e lf-uncovery without external evaluation. It m ust be w r i t i n g p u r e l y for oneself, an attempt to express in words for one's own understanding.^^ R o zanov's sense of the 'unreality' of a w o r l d of others, his claims of detachment, are an attempt to m a i n t a i n this absolute puri t y of r e l a t ionship to himself. Yet even this stance, w hich m ust be seen at least in part as a literary stance, for the books were p u b l i s h e d and sold, does not r e main completely s ufficient to the self. The dynamic of self - q u e s t i o n i n g is o nly s u stained b y some form of outward relationship. W r i t i n g m a y be for oneself but it m a intains an awareness of the other, w h i c h for R o z a n o v was acute. W h ile claiming solitude, R o zanov's writings b e a r witness to this inability to r e main an eternal subject, sufficient only to oneself.