Symbolist Conceptualization of Myth: Vyach.I. Ivanov, A.F. Losev, L.A. Gogotishvili

This article analyzes one of the concepts of myth by Vyacheslav Ivanov, Alexei Losev and Lyudmila Gogotishvili. The object of this research is Ivanov's studies related to the theory of myth (“Excursus: The Primary Myth in the novel “the Possesse”, “Dionysus and Pradionysianism”, “Dostoevsky: Tragedy – Myth – Mysticism”, etc.), “Dialectics of Myth” and “Supplement to the Dialectics of Myth” by Losev, as well as a series of contributions by Gogotishvili, where the concept of myth is used. In order to correlate the ideas of thinkers and reveal their conceptual continuity, we used historical-philosophical comparativism, methods of ideas history analysis, as well as the method of conceptual analysis of the use of the concept of myth. The main goal of this article is to investigate the mythological dimension of Gogotshvili's linguophilosophy in relation to its continuity with Ivanov's symbolism and Losev's dialectics, from an immanent and historical-contextual (from the point of view of continuity) perspective. It is shown that the linguistic dimension of myth (the myth language), according to Ivanov, implies a posteriori (in relation to mystical experience) character of its own formation. Myth language, according to Losev, implies it’s a priori givenness, epistemologically limited for a particular consciousness by sense bearing detachment. It is shown that the a posteriori givenness of myth, according to Ivanov, and the detachment of myth, according to Losev, ensure the “indirectness” of the meaning expression (or mystical reality) in language, which can be overcome by an intentional understanding of the meaning implied by language, i.e. by personal action. It is revealed that Gogotishvili believing the concept of myth as one of the basic categories of Russian symbolism. From the perspective of Gogotishvili's work, we consider the distinction between mythological and ordinary judgments, the relationship between myth and language in poetic and logical perspectives, as well as the nature of the application of the myth concept in the phenomenology of language and in the author's concept of binary and ternary symbols. It is shown that in Gogotishvili's linguophilosophy myth is “responsible” for mediating the expression of meaning in language and implies adequation between word and subject.