安德烈·普拉东诺夫

Andrei Platonovich Platonov (Russian: Андрей Платонович Платонов, IPA: [ɐnˈdrʲej plɐˈtonəvʲɪtɕ plɐˈtonəf]; né Klimentov [Климе́нтов]; 28 August [O.S. 16 August] 1899 – 5 January 1951) was a Soviet Russian novelist, short story writer, philosopher, playwright, and poet. Although Platonov regarded himself as a communist, his principal works were banned until thirty years after his death because of their skeptical attitude toward collectivization of agriculture (1929–1940) and other Stalinist policies, as well as for their experimental, avant-garde form infused with existentialism which was not in line with the dominant socialist realism doctrine. His famous works include the novels The Foundation Pit (1930), Soul (1935) and Chevengur (1928).

Early life and education

Platonov was born in the settlement of Yamskaya Sloboda on the outskirts of Voronezh in the Chernozem Region of Central Russia.

His father was a metal fitter (and amateur inventor) employed in the railroad workshops and his mother was the daughter of a watchmaker.

Early career

Meanwhile, Platonov had begun to write poems, submitting them to papers in Moscow and elsewhere. He was also a prolific contributor to local periodicals. These included Zheleznyi put ("Railroad"), the paper of the local railway workers' union; the Voronezh Region Communist Party newspapers Krasnaia derevnia ("Red countryside") and Voronezhskaia kommuna ("Voronezh commune");……

Chevengur, The Foundation Pit and For Future Use

When he returned to writing prose in 1926, a number of critics and readers noted the appearance of a major and original literary voice. Moving to Moscow in 1927, he became, for the first time, a professional writer, working with a number of leading magazines.

Official support and censure

In 1934, Maksim Gorky arranged for Platonov to be included in a "writers' brigade" sent to Central Asia with the intention of publishing a collective work in celebration of ten years of Soviet Turkmenistan.……

Stalin's ambivalence and Platonov's son

Stalin was ambivalent about Platonov's worth as a writer. The same informer's report in July 1931 claimed that he also referred to the writer as "brilliant, a prophet". For his part, Platonov made hostile remarks about Trotsky, Rykov, and Bukharin but not about Stalin, to whom he wrote letters on several occasions.……

Legacy

Platonov's influence on later Russian writers is considerable. Some - but not all - of his work was published or republished during the 1960s' Khrushchev Thaw.

Style and subject matter

One of the most striking distinguishing features of Platonov's work is the original language, which has no analogues in world literature. It is often called "primitive", "ungainly", "homemade".

Platonov actively uses the technique of ostraneny, his prose is replete with lexical and grammatical "errors" characteristic of children's speech.

Tribute

Asteroid 3620 Platonov discovered in 1981 by Soviet astronomer L. G. Karachkina was named after Platonov.

Works

Novels

Chevengur – 1928 (1972)

The Foundation Pit – 1930 (1969)

Happy Moscow (unfinished) – 1933–1936 (1991)

Short fiction

• "The Motherland of Electricity" – 1926
• "The Lunar Bomb" – 1926
• Yepifan Sluices (novella) – 1927
• "Meadow Craftsmen" – 1928
• "The Innermost Man" – 1928

"Che-Che-O" (Central Chernozem Oblast) - 1928, written together with Boris Pilnyak

• "The City of Gradov" - 1929
• "Makar the Doubtful" – 1929

Other

Blue Depths (verse) – 1922