Platonov and Dissidence

The enduring essence of Platonovʼs works lies not in their thematic content or verbal style but in the implicit dialog in which they engage with, and in part dissent from, the language of the state. A discourse concerning the structures of social life has, in fact, characterized relations between autocracy and its subjects in Russia since at least the reign of Peter the Great. Important precedents for the planovoe myshlenie (thinking in terms of grandiose plans) which is the subject of so many of Platonovʼs works are examined in the context of utopian thought as well as in works by Chaadaev, Saltykov-Shchedrin, and Radishchev.