The anthropocentrism of Vladimir Nabokov in the presentations of Russian classics to the American audience

The article presents the results of the analysis and interpretation of the "Lectures on Russian Literature" delivered by Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov in American audiences (1942–1958), which testify to the unique experience of promoting the values of Russian culture beyond the borders of Russia and inspiring people worldwide to read Russian classics for several decades. The publication contains a brief and conceptual analysis of Nabokov's essays included in the critical cycle of works on Russian writers, allowing for an assessment of the critic's views on the place of man in the world and the position of the artist in a situation of intercultural dialogue. The anthropological level of understanding in V. Nabokov's critical works is realized through the perspective of the thematic organization of each specific text and in the system of leitmotifs characterizing the critical experience as a whole. The work was carried out using an interdisciplinary approach, relying on the ideas and methodological foundations of the sciences that converge in their interest in humanity and the results of its intellectual activity – philology, philosophy, and anthropology. In the analysis of the texts, hermeneutic and comparative-typological methods were employed, along with thematic analysis and retrospective experiences of philosophical reflection on the principles of anthropocentrism. Approaching the understanding of V. V. Nabokov's critical legacy through the idea of anthropocentrism allows the authors of the article to discuss the writer's worldview attitudes, which are formed under the influence of the traditions of Russian anthropocentrism while simultaneously existing in a state of "intershore," i.e., in constant dialogue and diligent reflection on the traditions of writing and thought. "Nabokov's Lectures on Russian Literature" are a testament to the profound and dramatic reflections of the renowned word artist on the philosophical foundations of his own creativity, juxtaposed with traditions – European (American) and Russian. Looking at Nabokov's well-known texts through the lens of anthropocentrism is not only important and interesting but also novel, as it is being explored for the first time, although it is based on established approaches to the writer's critical legacy.