he Kenotic Narrative: Reimagining Humanism and the Language of Empathy in Slavic Prose (Tolstoy, Franko, Alexievich)

This paper articulates a novel comparative framework for analyzing Eastern Slavic prose through the lens of Kenotic Narrative Theory. Facing systemic crises in institutional diplomacy and legal positivism ("Law / Recht"), Eastern Slavic literature constructs an autonomous ethical matrix centered on absolute existential "Truth" (Pravda). The author argues that within this cultural space, moral authority and aesthetic truth are validated not through institutional contracts or power, but through Kenosis — the act of voluntary self-sacrifice and radical psychological empathy. By tracing the evolution of this code across three historical nodes — Leo Tolstoy’s Hadji-Murad, Ivan Franko’s Crossed Paths and The Stone-Cutters, and Svetlana Alexievich’s documentary polyphony — the study demonstrates how literature operates as an active mechanism of Track II Cultural Diplomacy and conflict de-escalation.