Duality of Personality in the Life and Work of Fyodor Sologub

Recently, there has been a lot of interest in the work of Fyodor Sologub, also known as Fyodor Kuzmich Teternikov, one of the most prominent representatives of Russian symbolism. As a continuer of the traditions of classical Russian literature, first of all N. Gogol, F. Dostoevsky and A. Chekhov, F. Sologub developed his own approach to the issues of philosophy, aesthetics, religion, and poetics, creating a unique universe model. This article addresses the crisis of realism in the works of F. Sologub, expressed through the motif of gnoseological disorientation, i.e. destruction of consciousness. The feeling of loneliness provided Sologub with powerful incentives for the creative process. The topic of morbid relationship between his poetic personality and inner, individual self, the hero’s dissatisfaction with his own self and his worries regarding inadequate assessment of his creative capabilities ran like a red thread throughout his entire creative life. Crisis and “duality” in the work of F. Sologub is expressed through the motive of knowledge and delusion, loss of correct orientation, through the destruction of consciousness. The hero of F. Sologub is constantly immersed in a state of madness, frenzied detachment from reality, splitting and degeneration.