Studia Litterarum Studia Litterarum 2500-4247 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2500-4247-2024-9-3-256-271 Research Article Articles Confessional Narrative in Leonid Andreev’s “Thought” and “My Notes” Chieh-han Chiang red@studlit.ru September 25, 2024 2024 October 16, 2023 This paper examines the role of confessional discourse in Leonid Andreev’s “Thought” and “My Notes.” In these works, confession not only serves as a significant narrative device that creates a particular mode of psychological reality. It is also directly related to the interpretation of the meaning of the stories. On the one hand, the confessional intention presented in the texts shows the struggle to gain self-knowledge and the urgency of overcoming the isolation of one’s existence. On the other hand, it does not lead to the discovery of truth and only unveils its elusive quality. With a particular focus on the representation of existential consciousness and the realization of the poetics of play, this study examines, among others, the principle of dialogism and the significance of paratextual elements. The paper argues that the desire for selfdisclosure reflected in “Thought” and “My Notes” reveals the paradoxical nature of the confessional narrative, which is transformed into a certain kind of play, leading to selfdeception and the fictitious construction of identity. Leonid Andreev “Thought ” “My Notes ” confession madness play Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 1. 1 Antoshchuk, L.K. “Novyi opyt bezumiia: eksperimenty s soznaniem (rasskaz L. Andreeva ʽMysl’’ kak model’ bezumiia nach. XX veka)” [“A New Experience of Madness: Experiments with Consciousness (L. Andreev’s ʽThought’ as a Model of Madness of the Beginning of the 20th Century)”]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriia: Gumanitarnye nauki (filologiia), issue 6 (15), 1999, pp. 27–31. (In Russ.) 2. 2 Babicheva, Iu.V. “Dramy-ispovedi Leonida Andreeva (ʽRekviem’, ʽSobachii val’s’) [“Confessional Plays of Leonid Andreev (ʽRequiem,’ ʽThe Waltz of the Dogs’)”]. Russkaia literatura XX veka (dooktiabr’skii period) [Russian Literature of the 20th Century (Pre-October Period)], vol. 8. Tula, Tula State Pedagogical Institute named after L.N. Tolstoy Publ., 1976, pp. 52–67. (In Russ.) 3. 3 Bakhtin, M.M. “Avtor i geroi v esteticheskoi deiatel’nosti” [“Author and Hero in Aesthetic Activity”]. Bakhtin, M.M. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works], vol. 1. Moscow, Russkie slovari Publ., Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury Publ., 2003, pp. 69–263. (In Russ.) 4. 4 Bakhtin, M.M. “Problemy poetiki Dostoevskogo” [“Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics”]. Bakhtin, M.M. Sobranie sochinenii [Collected Works], vol. 6. Moscow, Russkie slovari Publ., Iazyki slavianskoi kul’tury Publ., 2002, pp. 5–300. (In Russ.) 5. 5 Boeva, G.N. Tvorchestvo Leonida Andreeva i epokha moderna [The Works of Leonid Andreev and the Modern Era]. St. Petersburg, Petropolis Publ., 2016. 520 p. (In Russ.) 6. 6 Vislova, A.V. “Serebrianyi vek” kak teatr: Fenomen teatral’nosti v kul’ture rubezha XIX– XX vv. [“The Silver Age” as Theater: The Phenomenon of Theatricality in the Culture of the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries]. Moscow, Russian Institute of Cultural Studies Publ., 2000. 212 p. (In Russ.) 7. 7 Generalova, N.P. “Vstupitel’naia stat’ia k publikatsii ʽAndreev L. Dnevnik 1891– 1892 gg.’.” [“Introduction to ʽAndreev L. Diary: 1891–1892’.”]. Ezhegodnik Rukopisnogo otdela Pushkinskogo Doma na 1991 god [Yearbook of the Manuscript Department of the Pushkin House for 1991]. St. Petersburg, Gumanitarnoe agentstvo “Akademicheskii proekt” Publ., 1994, pp. 81–88. (In Russ.) 8. 8 Generalova, N.P. “ʽMoi zapiski’ Leonida Andreeva (K voprosu ob ideinoi napravlennosti povesti)” [“Leonid Andreev’s ʽMy Notes’ (On the Question of the Ideological Orientation of the Story)”]. Russkaia literatura, no. 4, 1986, pp. 172–185. (In Russ.) 9. 9 Zasse, S. Iad v ukho: Ispoved’ i priznanie v russkoi literature [Poison into the Ear: Confession in Russian Literature]. Moscow, Russian State University for the Humanities Publ., 2012. 400 p. (In Russ.) 10. 10 Ibatullina, G.M. Ispovedal’nost’ i refleksiia v literaturnom tekste [Confession and Selfreflection in Literary Texts]. Moscow, Flinta Publ., 2022. 148 p. (In Russ.) 11. 11 Kariakina, M.V. Fenomen igry v tvorchestve Leonida Andreeva [The Phenomenon of Play in the Works of Leonid Andreev: PhD Dissertation]. Ekaterinburg, 2004. 214 p. (In Russ.) 12. 12 Koz’menko, M.V. “Dnevnik-roman Leonida Andreeva” [“Diary-Novel of Leonid Andreev”]. Andreev, L.N. Dnevnik. 1897–1901 gg. [Diary. 1897–1901]. Moscow, IWL RAS Publ., 2009, pp. 3–34. (In Russ.) 13. 13 Kolobaeva, L.A. Kontseptsiia lichnosti v russkoi literature rubezha XIX–XX vv. [The Concept of Personhood in Russian Literature of the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries]. Moscow, Moscow State University Publ., 1990. 336 p. (In Russ.) 14. 14 Lotman, Iu.M. Struktura khudozhestvennogo teksta [The Structure of the Artistic Text]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1970. 384 p. (In Russ.) 15. 15 Mikheicheva, E.A. O psikhologizme Leonida Andreeva [On the Psychologism of Leonid Andreev]. Moscow, Moscow Pedagogical University Publ., 1994. 188 p. (In Russ.) 16. 16 Moskovkina, I.I. Mezhdu “pro” i “contra”: koordinaty khudozhestvennogo mira Leonida Andreeva [Between “Pro” and “Contra”: Coordinates of Leonid Andreev’s Literary World]. Kharkiv, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University Publ., 2005. 288 p. (In Russ.) 17. 17 Petrova, E.I. “Igra, simuliakry i psevdopodobiia v povesti Leonida Andreeva ʽMoi zapiski’.” [“Play, Simulacra and Pseudo-Semblances in Leonid Andreev’s ʽMy Notes’.”]. Vestnik Moskovskogo gosudarstvennogo oblastnogo universiteta. Seriia: Russkaia filologiia, no. 2, 2010, pp. 208–215. (In Russ.) 18. 18 Silard, L. “ʽMoi zapiski’ L. Andreeva. I. K voprosu ob istorii otsenok i polemicheskoi napravlennosti povesti” [“L. Andreev’s ʽMy Notes.’ I. On the Question of the History of Reception and Polemical Orientation of the Story”]. Studia Slavica Hungaricae, vol. XVIII, 1972, pp. 303–342. (In Russ.) 19. 19 Silard, L. “ʽMoi zapiski’ L. Andreeva. II. Metamorfozy russkogo pozitivizma v zerkale literaturnoi parodii” [“L. Andreev’s ʽMy Notes.’ II. Metamorphoses of Russian Positivism in the Mirror of Literary Parody”]. Studia Slavica Hungaricae, vol. XX, 1974, pp. 41–69. (In Russ.) 20. 20 Silard, L. “ʽMoi zapiski’ L. Andreeva. III. Velikii Inkvizitor L. Andreeva, ili ʽdushegreika noveishego unyniia’.” [“L. Andreev’s ʽMy Notes.’ III. L. Andreev’s Grand Inquisitor, or ʽCoat of the Latest Despondency’.”] Studia Slavica Hungaricae, vol. XX, 1974, pp. 271–304. (In Russ.) 21. 21 Uvarov, M. Arkhitektonika ispovedal’nogo slova [Architectonics of the Confessional Word]. St. Petersburg, Aleteiia Publ., 1998. 243 p. (In Russ.) 22. 22 Iasenskii, S.Iu. “Iskusstvo psikhologicheskogo analiza v tvorchestve F.M. Dostoevskogo i L.N. Andreeva” [“The Art of Psychological Analysis in the Works of F.M. Dostoevsky and L.N. Andreev”]. Dostoevskii. Materialy i issledovaniia [Dostoevsky. Materials and Studies], vol. 11. St. Petersburg, Nauka Publ., 1994, pp. 156–187. (In Russ.) 23. 23 Axthelm, Pete M. The Modern Confessional Novel. New Haven, London, Yale University Press, 1967. 189 p. (In English) 24. 24 Brooks, Peter. Troubling Confessions: Speaking Guilt in Law and Literature. Chicago, London, The University of Chicago Press, 2001. 224 p. (In English) 25. 25 Iezuitova, L. “Povest’ L. Andreeva ʽMoi zapiski’ kak iavlenie modernizma (predavangarda)” [“L. Andreev’s ʽMy Notes’ as a Phenomenon of Modernism (Pre-Avantgarde)”]. Russian Literature, vol. XXXVI, 1994, pp. 29–44. (In Russ.) 26. 26 Kaun, Alexander. Leonid Andreyev: A Critical Study. New York, B.W. Huebsch, 1924. 361 p. (In English)