Chronotope as Generative Model of the Artistic Anthropology of Aging in Dmitry Lipskerov’s Play “Elena i Shturman” and the Short Story “Neznakomets”

Abstract

The present article seeks to interpret the artistic construction of the chronotope in selected works by Dmitry Lipskerov. The chronotope is examined as a structural and semantic layer that not only performs the function of organizing the narrative but also acquires the qualities of a closed and fluid continuum in which the past and the present merge into an indivisible whole, while the subjective perception of reality becomes fragmented and elusive. The spatiotemporal structure in Lipskerov’s texts is built as a reflection of the inner state of the characters who lose their sense of stability and the logical continuity of being. Within such an artistic model, time ceases to be linear, turning into a metaphor for aging, where memories and real events intertwine, creating an effect of cyclicality and enclosure of existence. This kind of spatiotemporal composition of the artistic world allows old age to be perceived as a process of losing ontological grounding and the disintegration of identity, in which corporeality takes on traits of alienation and simulation. The aging body in Lipskerov’s fictional world is seen as a sign of a disintegrating self rather than as a physical reality. The chronotope in the play Elena i Shturman and the short story Neznakomets is regarded as an instrument of philosophical reflection on old age, revealing the existential dimension of human experience and showing how the breakdown of temporal and spatial integrity in the artistic world reflects the crisis of personal being.