• V. G. Gaidarov's Philosophical Project on Combining K. S. Stanislavsky’s System with I. P. Pavlov’s Reflexology

УДК: 792.01

DOI: 10.35852/2588-0144-2024-2-188-203

EDN: SKTXNJ

Full text (PDF): Download

Victor N. Zatsepin

Cand. Sc. in Philosophy, Publisher (Rosebud Publ.), Independent Researcher
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: victor@rosebud.ru

V. G. Gaidarov's Philosophical Project on Combining K. S. Stanislavsky’s System with I. P. Pavlov’s Reflexology

Abstract

This publication is the first to examine in detail the project of the Russian actor and philosopher V. G. Gaidarov (1893–1976) to bring Stanislavsky's System closer to Pavlov's teachings on higher nervous activity. As an introduction to the sphere of Gaidarov's thoughts, a fragment from his post-war notebooks is published, showing the emergence of the idea, which resulted in a series of interdisciplinary seminars at the Pushkin’s Leningrad Drama Theatre. Gaidarov also wrote numerous notes on the psychology of the actor, which are still awaiting their publication. As far as one can judge, this part of V. G. Gaidarov's legacy, partly due to its interdisciplinary nature and difficulties in categorizing the material, has been largely overlooked by researchers so far. However, it is of interest for at least two reasons: in a historical sense, as an attempt to work with the legacy of great teachers who have passed away, dictated by the desire and duty to continue their work, and in a Weltanschauung sense, as a desire to reconcile the latest discoveries of physiology and Stanislavsky's method, and to make both work together for the benefit of art and the audience. One of Gaidarov's constant attitudes in his texts from the 1920s onwards is the idea that an actor should be a well-educated person — a position with which it is difficult to disagree. We have also aimed to show that V. G. Gaidarov's philosophical views correspond to the questions that had arisen at the same epoch in Western philosophy of science.

Keywords

V. G. Gaidarov, K. S. Stanislavsky, I. P. Pavlov, higher nervous physiology, K. S. Stanislavsky’s System, psychology of the actor, methodology of acting, T. Kuhn.

For citation

Zatsepin V. N. V. G. Gaidarov's Philosophical Project on Combining K. S. Stanislavsky’s System with I. P. Pavlov’s Reflexology. Theatre. Fine Arts. Cinema. Music. 2024, no. 2, pp. 188–203.

DOI: 10.35852 / 2588‑0144‑2024‑2-188-203

EDN SKTXNJ

References

  1. Gaidarov V. G. V teatre i v kino [On Stage and Screen]. Leningrad; Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1966. 239 p.
  2. Litavrina M. G. “…V Berline byli v roli gidov”: V. G. Gajdarov o berlinskom kul’turnom prostranstve 1920‑h gg. [“…We Were Guides for Many in Berlin”: V. G. Gaidarov on the Berlin Cultural Space of the 1920s]. In: Ezhegodnik Doma Russkogo Zarubezya imeni Aleksandra Solzhenitsina [Yearbook of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad]. Moscow: Dom russkogo zarubezhya im. A. Solzhenitsina, 2012, pp. 69–90.
  3. Gaidarov V. G. Russkie na chuzbine [Russians in Foreign Lands]. Publ., text prep. and comm. by M. G. Litavrina. In: Ezhegodnik Doma Russkogo Zarubezya imeni Aleksandra Solzhenitsina [Yearbook of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad]. Moscow: Dom russkogo zarubezhya im. A. Solzhenitsina, 2012, pp. 69–90.
    4. 4. Ol’ga Vladimirovna Gzovskaja; puti i pereputja [Olga Vladimirovna Gzovskaya: Paths and Crossroads. Portraits. Articles and Memoirs about Olga Gzovskaya]. Comp. by V. V. Gaidarov, introd. by I. Schneiderman. Moscow: Vserosijskoe teatralnoe obshchestvo, 1976. 430 p.
  4. Yangirov R. M. “Raby Nemogo”: ocherki istoricheskogo byta russkikh kinematographistov za rubezhom. 1920‑e gody [“Slaves to Silents”: Historical Sketches of Russian Emigree Filmmakers in the Twenties]. Moscow: Russkoe Zarubezhie; Russkiy Put, 2007. 496 p.
  5. Hoyningen-Huene P. Systematicity: The Nature of Science. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. xiii+287 p.
  6. Eisenstein S. M. Stanislavsky i Loyola [Stanislavsky and Loyola]. Publ. and comm. by N. I. Kleiman. Kinovedcheskie zapiski. 2000, no. 47. Available from: https://www.kinozapiski.ru / ru / article / sendvalues / 384 / [Accessed 29th November 2023].
  7. Stanislavsky K. S. Rezhisserskij plan “Otello” [Director’s Plan for Othello]. Moscow; Leningrad: Iskusstvo, 1945. 392 p.
  8. Besedy K. S. Stanislavskogo v studii Bolshogo teatra v 1918–1922 gg. [Conversations by K. S. Stanislavsky in the Studio of the Bolshoi Theatre in 1918–1922] / recorded by K. E. Antarova; ed. by Yu. S. Kalashnikov. Moscow: Vserosijskoe teatralnoe obshchestvo, 1947. 182 p.

Received: 29.11.2023

Revised: 28.04.2024

Accepted: 12.05.2024