Dualism of the Image of the Sun in Chevengur as a Reflection of Nikolai Fyodorov’s Philosophy

The article conducts textual and intertextual analysis of the image of the sun as a secondary but significant figure in Andrei Platonov’s novel Chevengur. A comparison of the sun’s characteristics reveals a striking contrast between its portrayal inside and outside the city of Chevengur. The source of this antithetical duality can be traced back to Nikolai Fedorov’s Philosophy of the Common Task. His teachings define the “common task” as the regulation of nature, both external and internal, transforming this blind, destructive force into something rational and life-giving. The sun in Chevengur functions as a meronym of the whole “nature” and divides the space of the work into two parts. The sun outside Chevengur symbolizes destructive natural forces, as it brings only hunger and death. In Chevengur, after the liquidation of the bourgeoisie, the sun becomes a creative and nourishing force, as the inhabitants of Chevengur managed to regulate it through communal unity. The Chevengurian sun performs various functions and possesses diverse symbols, whose foundations can be found in the pages of Fedorov’s teachings.