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Abstract:

The article addresses the question of how Sergei Averintsev approaches the interpretation of the concept of the “symbol” in the aesthetics of Viacheslav Ivanov. The author notes that, despite the absence of works by Averintsev specifically devoted to Ivanov’s concept of the symbol, this issue did not escape the scholar’s attention. A comparison of Averintsev’s individual statements on how, in his view, Ivanov understands the symbol makes it possible to demonstrate that the most essential aspects of this concept are its transcendence beyond the limits of aesthetics and its dialogical nature. Particular attention is paid to comparing Averintsev’s own conception of the symbol with Ivanov’s views. The article examines such aspects of the symbol as its ontological and epistemological dimensions, as well as the thinkers’ perspectives on the problem of its adequate comprehension. This comparison suggests that Averintsev’s concept of the symbol was formed not without the influence of the Symbolist poet’s ideas, even though Averintsev’s theoretical statements on the symbol do not contain references to Ivanov’s works. The article advances the hypothesis that the scholar’s hermeneutics, as well as the methodological foundations he proposed for a “symbolology”, were shaped in accordance with Ivanov’s understanding of the symbol.