SOURCE: “The Evolution of Platonov's Literary Style,” in Andrei Platonov: Uncertainties of Spirit, Cambridge University Press, 1992, pp. 81–90.

In the following excerpt from his study of Platonov's literary career, Seifrid examines Platonov's verbal style.

Platonov's reputation as one of the major figures in Soviet literature rests more than anything on his verbal style, on his creation of a linguistic medium widely held to be both “strange” and somehow highly apposite to the world view expressed in his works. In fact, an investigation into the poetic principles motivating this “unique” Platonovian style forms the necessary culmination of any discussion of his themes. This is so because, far from serving as mere embellishment, the semantics of literary style in Platonov's mature works comes to serve as the iconic embodiment of his ontological theme. Platonov resembles the modernists in that it is ultimately to language, especially to its odd but ideologically motivated...