“The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor” as a Metaplot of Traditionalist Prose

Abstract

The article deals with the analysis of the refraction of the metaplot about the Grand Inquisitor in the traditionalist prose of the turn of the 20^th - 21^st centuries. The complex of motives presented in the legend of the Grand Inquisitor corresponds to the crisis of the value system characteristic of the traditionalism of this period (new traditionalism). The crisis is accompanied by the loss of reference points as such, a situation of extreme uncertainty: the worldview dualism inherent in ‘classical’ traditionalist prose is replaced by multivariance. The role of the Grand Inquisitor, creating a false but acceptable system of values, plays a patriarchal way. In the works of B. Ekimov, M. Tarkovsky, R. Senchin the following the patriarchal way of life, traditional peasant work on the land does not allow one to support the family, to ensure the continuation of the family. The only alternative found by F. Dostoyevsky is forgiving love, which opens the way to otherness, which was previously open to any patriarchal hero. In crisis periods, it is given only to those who are capable of conscious choice, to sacrifice / self-sacrifice for the sake of another, which allows to overcome chaos and non-existence.