Abstract: The focus of this study is the literary-critical statements of V.S. Solovyov and Yu.N. Govorukha-Otrok about the poetry of A.A. Fet. The main object of research – articles written in the 1890s, during the formation of the philosophical method of literary criticism: "About lyrical poetry. Concerning the last poems of Fet and Polonsky" (Solovyov, 1890), "Poetry of Fet" (Govorukho-Otrok, 1892; 1893). Vladimir Solovyov, a younger contemporary and opponent of Govorukho-Otrok, can paradoxically be considered as a mentor in philosophical criticism. The purpose of this work is to identify and analyze the views of Solovyov and Govorukho-Otrok on the essence of poetic creativity. The novelty of the research lies in the comparison of the literary-critical systems of the opposing authors. The homogeneity of the methods reveals itself through a combination of journalism and subjectivity, as well as a mandatory focus on social impact. But if for Govorukho-Otrok the main point of support in literary and critical judgments is religion, for V. Solovyov it is history. Only the spiritual and eternal, according to those writers, can be both a source and an object of poetic comprehension. For both critics, the poet appears, if not a sacred, then an exceptional figure.

Abstract: The focus of this research is the book of literary-critical articles as a "big form", a phenomenon of such a special and developing branch of modern science of literature as cyclology. The main objects are authorized collections of articles written in the period from 1986 to 1989, when literary criticism of the philosophical direction was revived. Publications were selected as the research material: "On a live trail. Spiritual Searches of Russian Classics" by I.I. Vinogradov, "The Artist in Search of Truth" by I.B. Rodnyanskaya and "Paradoxes of Novelty: On the Literary Development of the XIX–XX centuries" by M.N. Epstein. The purpose of this work is to identify and analyze the principles that make it possible to talk about the philosophical nature of books that have become the object of comparative analysis for the first time. The distinctive feature of the books of the period 1986-1989 considered in this article in semantic terms were the "Aesopian language" conditioned by the era, indirect and direct references to the texts of Holy Scripture, concentration on issues related to the problems of Russian classical literature to solve problems of a spiritual and moral order. In general, we can talk about each of the books considered as a conscious attempt by the author to offer his own view both on problems relevant to the current state of literature and on issues of universal importance based on philosophical concepts and special ideological attitudes.