The foundation of an aesthetic of the everyday: Chekhovian resonances in Ozu

This article compares the Russian writer Anton Chekhov and the Japanese filmmaker Ozu Yasujirō, highlighting their shared aesthetic philosophy of the everyday. Their similarities extend beyond their treatment of time: both display a profound awareness of their social and historical contexts. By privileging ellipsis, silence and suggestion over central conflict, their works subvert conventional plot structures and cultivate meaning in seemingly trivial gestures or peripheral moments. This philosophy of the everyday transforms absence and understatement into narrative principles, enabling their works to capture the complexities of evolving societies without recourse to spectacle or resolution. Chekhov and Ozu offer formal, thematic and ethical affinities to storytelling that elevates the ordinary into a site of historical and philosophical significance.