GNOSTIC ASPECTS IN A.V. BARCHENKO’S LITERARY WORK

Khlebus Marina A.

In this article the author analyses to the work of the almost forgotten Russian writer Alexander Vasilyevich Barchenko (1881−1938). His literary works, his research in the field of natural sciences and the hidden possibilities of the human brain, the search for ancient civilizations that possessed universal knowledge, as well as his tragic fate are undoubtedly of great interest and deserve to be saved from the oblivion. The article highlights the main events of Barchenko’s biography, the main directions and ideological foundations of his scientific and creative work. At the beginning of the 20th century, Barchenko was known as a writer and publicist; his novels, short stories, essays and scientific research were published in the popular magazines and journals. Barchenko, who was V.M. Bekhterev’s ally, as well as the founder of the philosophical and esoteric circle, an employee of the secret laboratory of the OGPU of the occult direction, the initiator of an expedition to search for ancient Hyperborea in Russian Lapland and Crimea, was arrested in 1937 and sentenced to death by the “NKVD Troika” trial. The given article is primarily dedicated to the analysis of the most significant novel for the writer's work "Dr. Black: A modern life novel " (1913). Philosophical and esoteric views of the author and the way they correlate with the ideas of P.D. Uspensky throughout the novel are studied in the article. The problems, system of characters, peculiarities of genre the work are discussed. It is justified that in his literary work the writer interested in the search of ancient civilizations and direct practices, made an attempt to combine ancient gnosis with modern scientific and technical knowledge of the world. In the novel, Barchenko expressed his attitude to the ways of knowledge - natural-scientific and mystical, determined the role of a mentor in the accumulation and systematization of research materials. Barchenko's literary work has not yet received proper analytical literary coverage.

Keywords:A.V. Barchenko; P.D. Uspensky; esoteric; Shambhala; “Dr. Black”; “From the Gloom”.