“Refleksija P’er-Čezare Bori o chudožestvennych proizvedenijach L. N. Tolstogo v stat’e “Vmesto smerti byl svet: o nekotorych finalach v proizvedenijach Tolstogo”

Pier Cesare Bori’s reflections on Tolstoy’s fiction in the article “In place of death there was light: about some endings in Tolstoy’s fictional writings” This paper presents Pier Cesare Bori’s reflections on Tolstoy’s fiction. The research which the Italian historian of religions has carried out on Tolstoy is part of his work on universalistic interpretations of Christianity as well as the search for common ethics. Bori noted that the events described in the endings of Tolstoy’s fiction, which invariably involve the death of one of the main characters, often shed light on their entire lives. The historian of religions identifies some recurring patterns, characterized either by what he calls “self-realization” of the hero (often preceded by illumination), or the absence of it. When illumination and self-realization does not take place at the point of death, but during life, illumination marks the beginning of a new life. The topic of Eros plays a main role in those works where self-realization does not occur. According to Bori, the absence of self-realization can be explained by the way Tolstoy perceived Eros as an obstacle to a character’s spiritual life, in contrast with the radical idea of love as a defenceless force. Lastly, some points of contact between the quest characterizing Bori’s studies and Tolstoy’s work are highlighted.