In this chapter I trace the epistemological conflict in Russian culture by examining key moments in what has been called its “counter aesthetic” – the second, reactive stage in a three-stage process by which Russia accommodated itself to western aesthetics. Together these factors account for the negativity with which byt is associated and the positive, self-transformative potential that is the other side of its anti-aesthetic coin. Some of these moments have been analysed in different contexts by other critics (Gary Saul Morson, Irina Paperno, William Mills Todd III) and I draw upon their insights.

The first section begins with a characterization of byt in its modern interpretation, highlighting its associations with triviality, petty intrigue and automatism.