On the question of the construction principles of A. P. Chekhov’s plays

Abstract

We would like to present the essay “On the question of the construction principles of A. P. Chekhov’s plays”, by Aleksandr Skafímov (1890 – 1968). One of the most important Soviet literary theorists and critics, Skaftimov, still unpublished in Portuguese, stood out for his works dedicated to the studies of the poetics of folklore and classical Russian literature and, in particular, the dramatic language of Anton Chekhov. Proposing an innovative and original approach to the analysis of the composition of Chekhov's plays from the perspective of the fundamental union between form and content, Skaftimov was the first to unveil some important particularities of the "atmosphere dramas" that are born from the construction of the characters' inner states which, in turn, become an indispensable source of the typical Chekhovian conflicts that are veiled and submerged in dramatic subtext. In this 1948 essay that became a reference for all subsequent studies of Chekhov's dramatic poetics, Skaftímov bases his analysis on the plays “Ivanov” (1887), “The Wood Demon” (1889), “The Seagull” (1896), “Uncle Vanya” (1899-1900), “Three Sisters” (1901) and “Cherry Orchard” (1904).