Volume 6, 2001 year

Christian realism in Russian literature (problem statement)

Abstract:
The article traces the original coinage of the term realism in Russian criticism and literary studies, provides reasons for the realism concept to be a historical form of mimesis, criticizes understanding Russian realism as critical realism, and gives arguments for the existence of Christian realism.

Keywords: Aristotle, mimesis, realism, erroneous conception of realism, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, S. Frank, the ideal of Russian literature, Christian realism

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Intuition of conscience (Aleksey Ukhtomsky’s concept of dominant in the context of XX century philosophy and cultural studies)

Abstract:
The article deals with Aleksey Ukhtomsky’s concept of dominant, which he developed in 1920’s — 1930’s. This theory contains both a scientific aspect (referring to the field of physiology), and a philosophical and moral aspect (being a religious one at the same time).

Keywords: philosophy, culture, intuition, conscience, A. A. Ukhtomsky, dominant theory

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Ekphrasis in Russian literature of the early modern period: a picture and an icon

Abstract:
The author identifies an iconic sacral version, which, one way or another, appears in the Russian ekphrasis, be it a verbal description of a picture or an icon. The author examines ekphrasis in the prose of Nikolai Gogol, Nikolai Leskov, Gleb Uspensky, Maxim Gorky and Boris Pasternak.

Keywords: Ekphrasis, icon, painting, own, others, true

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Fairy tale and hagiography (article 2)

Abstract:
The article analyzes religion and similarities between folk fairy tales and hagiographies. It also examines the reasons for this similarity and its influence on literature.

Keywords: folk fairy tale, hagiography, miracle

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Spiritual verse Repentance for the tempter (the study of a story about repentant Devil)

Abstract:
The article analyzes the spiritual verse (canticle) Repentance for the tempter, currently known as the only hand-written copy made in Nizhny Novgorod in the XX century. Special attention is given to the links of this verse with Russian romantic lyric poetry of the beginning of the XIX century (Vasily Zhukovsky, Andrei Podolinsky, Victor Teplyakov, etc.). The religious basis of the verse is analyzed within the context of theological writings (by Origen, Sergei Bulgakov, Nikolay Lossky) about apocatastasis (i.e., the idea of the restoration of all earthly creatures in the end of time).

Keywords: religious lyrics, Russian romantic poetry, literary demonology, theological doctrine of universal restoration

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Theme of death and immortality in Gavrila Derzhavin’s poetry and Saint Gregory the Theologian’s poetry

Abstract:
The article studies Gavrila Derzhavin’s poetry as the continuation of the spiritual tradition, established by Byzantine theologians. The authors identifies the similarities between subjects, motifs and images in his Derzhavin’s poetry and the poems of Saint Gregory the Theologian. Special emphasis is placed on the religious (spiritual) concept of a human poverty and underlying tradition of an apophatic theology as an essential principle inherent to Russian literature in connection with understanding human nature and the world.

Keywords: God, theology, way, Apophatic, Russian literature, poem

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Paraphrase of psalms in Russian poetry of 1820-s

Abstract:
Парафразм псалмов в русской поэзии 1810-20 гг. представляют собой примеры непрерывности традиции XVIII века Ломоносова и Сумарокова, ее продолжения поэтами-классиками, так и любопытные образцы ее восстановления молодыми поэтами, романтиками, стремящимися отразить величие событий эпохи на языке высокой поэзии. Во время войны с Наполеоном и в последующее десятилетие парафразм псалмов появляются в творчестве у таких различных авторов, как Державин, Шишков, Писарев, Хвостов, Шатров, Глинка, Грибоедов, Кюхельбекер, Языков.

Keywords: Russian poetry, beginning of the XIX century, paraphrase of the Psalms

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Christian aspects of the historiosophical dispute between Alexander Pushkin and Pyotr Chaadayev

Abstract:
The lesson of wisdom and sanity, the lesson of need to tolerate contradiction, to be clearly aware of inescapable conflicts of life, the underside of the advocated ideas, and not only the greatness, but also the misery of human existence — these are the lessons which Alexander Pushkin teaches us in his philosophical dispute with Pyotr Chaadayev. Chaadayev, while being an architect of his time reconstruction, despite his sincere truth-seeking aspiration, was not devoid of the sin of one-sidedness, and thus distanced himself from the desired goal — i.e., the perfection of harmony of literary characters and objects proportioning.

Keywords: Pushkin, Chaadayev, hystory, philosophy, Christianity, debate, dialogue

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Theme of life by Pushkin and Russian literature of the XIX century

Abstract:
В статье рассматривается образ-понятие «жизнь» - один из важнейших для русской литературы. Привлекаются данные из мировой культуры (библейская традиция, литература XVIII века, романтизм, Ницше). Особое внимание уделяется бытованию образа-понятия «жизнь» в поэзии Пушкина, заложившей основы его восприятия в отечественной словесности (славянофилы, Ап. Григорьев, Достоевский, Толстой, Блок).

Keywords: Russian literature of the XIX century, poetry of Pushkin, life, living life

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The study of Alexander Pushkin’s The Tale of Tsar Saltan genre content

Abstract:
The article examines the similarities between genre content of folk fairy tales and Alexander Pushkin's fairy tales, and analyzes the conformity of this content to Nikolai Fyodorov’s philosophy.

Keywords: genre content, story, philosophy of N.F. Fyodorov

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Prophets in Alexander Pushkin’s and Mikhail Lermontov’s poetry

Abstract:
The article examines the theme of the Prophet, which is closely related to the core of Pushkin’s and Mikhail Lermontov's poetry. The connection between their poems and the Holy Writ is made evident. The article presents a comparative analysis of Pushkin’s and Lermontov’s interpretations of the studied theme.

Keywords: Pushkin, Lermontov, the Holy Scriptures, prophet

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Vasily Zhukovsky’s translation of Karl Wilhelm Ramler's cantata The Death of Jesus

Abstract:
Karl Wilhelm Ramler`s cantata translated by Vasily Zhukovsky contains numerous evangelical reminiscences. The article examines Zhukovsky’s evolution path and identifies the main idea in his translation, which is the idea that Christ’s life, preaching, and death predetermined the moral status of each earthly human being, as well as their life journey.

Keywords: K.W. Ramler, V.A. Zhukovsky, cantata The Death of Jesus, translation

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There's no other Door...: Gospel in Nikolai Gogol’s Life

Abstract:
The article examines the role of the Holy Writ in Nikolai Gogol’s personal life and creative work. Among other things, the author analyzes the New Testament reminiscences in the Gogol’s prose, and conceptualizes the problem of the second volume of Gogol’s novel Dead souls and the mystery of his death-bed notes in light of the Evangelical Word.

Keywords: Gogol, the Gospel, patristic tradition, "Selected Passages from Correspondence with Friends", letters, notes, memoirs

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The role of icon in Nikolai Gogol’s life and his novellas Taras Bulba, A Terrible Vengeance, Viy and The Night before Christmas

Abstract:
This article analyzes Gogol’s attitude to an icon (church’s return to the primaeval iconography). An icon plays an important role in his plots and becomes Gogol’s key to understanding some episodes. The writer uses the icon concept for achieving certain literary purposes.

Keywords: Gogol, icons, saints, iconoclasm, painting

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"I am your brother": the study of Nikolai Gogol's short novel The Overcoat

Abstract:
This article is the first Nikolai Gogol research paper aimed at studying the writer’s intention underlying his short novel The Overcoat. The author analyzes the novel in the context of all Gogol’s works, including his spiritual prose, epistolary heritage, non-fiction articles, and the memoirs of his contemporaries, mentioning the creation of the novel. The author stresses the contrast between the novel’s religious content and ideological cliches of Marxist literary studies. The analysis of the main component of the novel — an idea of the sacrifice of a civil servant — allows to find the connection between The Overcoat and the problems raised by Gogol’s novella Taras Bulba, as well as between The Overcoat and the theme of a dead soul of a person who forgot his life’s purpose.

Keywords: N. V. Gogol, symbol, idea, image, spiritual prose

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Unstudied part of Nikolai Gogol’s literary heritage: extracts from the Church Fathers writings and liturgical books

Abstract:
The article analyzes a previously unstudied part of Nikolai Gogol’s literary heritage — the extracts from the Church Fathers writings and liturgical books. Drafts of the writer, containing various extracts, including those from ecclesiastical writings, partly throws light on Gogol’s mysterious prose and helps to understand its greater meaning.

Keywords: Gogol, Holy Fathers Heritage, prayer books, marks in the fields of Bible, churching creativity

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Synthesis instead of chaos: Selected Correspondence with Friends as Nikolai Gogol’s stylistic programmatic statement

Abstract:
The author compares different researchers’ perspectives of Nikolai Gogol’s style and poetics, which was most vividly expressed in his Selected Correspondence with Friends. Gogol aimed to combine Old Church Slavonic language with the common (vulgar) language of the people. His slogan was the synthesis of old and new, meant to substitute for chaos created by romantic bravehearts.

Keywords: Gogol, Holy Fathers Heritage, prayer books, marks in the fields of Bible, churching creativity

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And all the grasses step aside before him... (the study of Aleksey Tolstoy’s poetic interpretation of Saint Pantaleon the Healer’s image)

Abstract:
The article compares folklore and ethnographic materials devoted to Saint Pantaleon the Healer with hagiography and a canonical orthodox prayer to this Saint and Great Martyr. According to Tolstoy, curing a patient means to heal his wounds, i.e., to remove any effect of an injury, backslide or depravity.

Keywords: A. K. Tolstoy, Panteleimon the Healer, herbalists, legends, treatment, healing

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National religious consciousness in Aleksander Ostrovsky’s drama The Storm

Abstract:
This article analyzes problems of poetics embedded in Aleksander Ostrovsky’s most renowned drama The Storm in connection with the image of national consciousness. The author makes a conclusion that this drama represents the conflict between the rigidness of rightful people’s perception of punishment for sins and merciful ideas of forgiving the sins of repentant Katerina.

Keywords: A. Ostrovsky, The Storm, popular religious consciousness, N. Dobrolubov, A. Grigoriev, poetics

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Evangelical sources of Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin’s sorrowful satire

Abstract:
The author identifies a direct connection between Saltykov-Shchedrin’s elegiac tale with its spiritual drama of Poshekhonye’s writer Kramolnikov and The Gospel with its image of Jesus Christ. The conclusion is made that the social aspirations of Russian democratic writers were adjusted under the influence of Christian ethics, which aimed them towards universal human values.

Keywords: Saltykov-Shchedrin, story-elegy, Adventure with Kramolnikov, evangelical allusion

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Christ in F.I. Tyutchev's poetry

Abstract:
In article is analyzed the image of the Christ in Tjutchev's poems These poor settlements … and Over this dark crowd … Тhe Image of the Messiah determines an originality of a сhristian attitude of the poet, is one of the dominants in the poetics of Tjutchev.

Keywords: christian worldview, artistic image, historical poetics, iconography

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Ethnopoetical aspects of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s translation of Friedrich Schiller's drama Don Carlos

Abstract:
Translating Friedrich Schiller's drama Don Carlos, Fyodor Dostoyevsky wanted to introduce Schiller’s text to Russian readers so that they would perceive it without detachment and through personal moral attitudes. Using such Russian words as prvoslavnaya vera (Orthodox faith), triyedinaya vera (triune faith) and pop (priest) was Dostoyevsky’s deliberate decision to russify his translation of Schiller’s drama.

Keywords: F. Schiller, Don Carlos, M. M. Dostoevsky, Russification of translation

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Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Siberian Notebook: Christian, cultural and verbal levels

Abstract:
The article examines Christian meaning of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Siberian Notebook with Dostoyevsky himself playing a role of mediator of people’s (folk) culture and language. The author highlights the diversity of numerous contexts, subtexts and implications embedded into Siberian Notebook, as well as the fact that vox populi was always vox Déi for Dostoyevsky, and that ideas voiced by people revealed the Christian identity of the friends he found in his Siberian exile.

Keywords: Dostoevsky, "The Siberian notebook", people, Orthodoxy

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The study of evangelic meaning of a dream metaphor in Alexander Pushkin's ode The Prophet and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novels Crime and Punishment and The Idiot

Abstract:
The article compares the evangelical and the artistic concept of dream, and examines the variants of using dream as a metaphor for life and metaphor for death in Alexander Pushkin's ode The Prophet and Fyodor Dostoyevsky's novels Crime and Punishment and The Idiot.

Keywords: The Gospel, Pushkin, Dostoevsky, metaphors of sleep, Oskar von Schoultz, St. Iustin Popović

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Fyodor Dostoyevsky and the problem of interpreting Alexander Pushkin’s short novel Egyptian Nights

Abstract:
The article is devoted to the principles of interpreting Alexander Pushkin’s short novel Egyptian Nights (1835) presented in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s article The answer to The Russian Herald (1861). The article covers the main circumstances of a journalistic dispute over Alexander Pushkin’s text. The author also examines the elements of Dostoyevsky’s Christian axiology as the foundation for his critical and other non-fiction articles.

Keywords: Pushkin, Dostoevsky, literary criticism, controversy, Christian axiology, The Banquet of Cleopatra

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Abaddons who abandoned their earthly lives: an unread Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s note

Abstract:
The article is devoted to graphological and linguo-textological aspects of studying Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s hand-written texts — in particular, the analysis of semantic errors appearing in the published copies. The author highlights that such errors detection and correction helps to restore the original author’s text.

Keywords: Dostoevsky's work, textual criticism

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Biblical archetypes in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Idiot

Abstract:
The article examines quotes from the Bible used by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in his novel The Idiot, with most of these biblical reminiscences being large-scale figurative allusions. The novel contains the archetypes of biblical stories about Adam and Eve or Christ and Mary Magdalene, which refer us to the system of their relationships presented as creation followed by the Fall and then by resurrection.

Keywords: Dostoevsky, The Idiot, Book of Genesis, biblical archetypes, allusions to the Gospel

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Idea of salvation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov

Abstract:
The article examines symbolical structures in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov, in particular, the antinomianizm as a structural element of a symbol, and consistently analyzes two oppositions: unity— individualization and whole—part. Finally, the author makes a conclusion that the studied antinomies are symbolically generalized in the novel to express the Christian idea of salvation.

Keywords: idea of ​​salvation, character, antinomy, faith, unity, separation, whole-part

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Fyodor Dostoevsky’s speech about Pushkin: between a troika and a chariot

Abstract:
The article examines the mutual influence of Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s speech at the unveiling of the Pushkin Monument in Moscow and Book XII of the novel The Brothers Karamazov. The author makes a conclusion that the context of discussing Russia and its world history mission in the closing part of Dostoyevsky’s novel is almost identical to that of his Pushkin speech.

Keywords: monument, parable of the twelfth hour, A. S. Pushkin, F. M. Dostoyevsky, N. V. Gogol

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Dostoevsky in perception of some church authors

Abstract:
В статье затрагивается вопрос о взаимоотношениях Достоевского с Церковью. Высказываемые о нем разноречивые мнения придают проблеме остроту и актуальность. В работе приводятся многочисленные отзывы о Достоевском священнослужителей и богословов, свидетельствующие об их пиететном отношении к писателю как к истинному христианину и православному мыслителю.

Keywords: Russian literature of the XIX century, Dostoyevsky, Church and Literature

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Leo Tolstoy’s legend The Restoration of Hell as and objective conclusion from his subjective concept of righteousness

Abstract:
The article examines Leo Tolstoy’s standpoint and asks whether his legend The Restoration of Hell is a piece of conventional fiction criticizing the Church and depicting the Hell, the Devil and his servants or an example of Tolstoy’s using the defamiliarization approach.

Keywords: Hell, spiritual ecumenism, Righteousness, L. N. Tolstoy

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Function of the Christian motif maieutics in Anton Chekhov’s Head-Gardener’s Story

Abstract:
This article shows how Christian motifs actualize the meaning of Anton Chekhov’s Head Gardener’s Story where the problem of punishment for a crime is seen from two perspectives — the Christian (Orthodox) one and the social one — as mercy—justice opposition, which concurrently represents an opportunity and the impossibility to express the highest form of love — love to one’s enemy (agape). Chekhov’s text not so much proclaims the love to one’s enemy, but rather reveals the lack of love for one’s neighbor in people’s relationship.

Keywords: A. P. Chekhov, Christian themes, "The Head-Gardener's Story" crime, punishment, love

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Alexei Remizov’s short novel The Passion of Christ in the context of the Silver Age religious quests

Abstract:
The article examines two versions of Alexei Remizov’s short novel The Passion of Christ. Apocalyptic picture, depicted by Remizov in his novel, is perceived as a common lot of humanity, rather than the fate of those who are seduced.

Keywords: A. M. Remizov, Silver Age, Limonar, that is to say Spiritual Meadow, Orthodoxy

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Biblical eschatological tradition and Alexei Remizov’s diary (1917—1921)

Abstract:
The article analyzes the idea of the end of the world followed by the Last Judgment, which is one of Remizov’s diary cross-cutting ideas, consistently appears in his notes and descriptions of events and Remizov’s dreams during the years of Revolution.

Keywords: A. M. Remizov, diary, symbolism, eschatology, biblical tradition

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Evangelical footprint in a collection of Ivan Bunin’s travel short stories Bird’s Shadow and Vasily Zhukovsky’s poem Ahasuerus

Abstract:
In his collection of travel stories entitled Birs`s Shadow, Ivan Bunin uses evangelical motifs and plots as his narration dominant. His pictures of contemporary life intermingle with relevant quotes from the Gospel, Solomon’ The Song of Songs, the books of prophets, numerous legends and allusions. Both Bunin and Zhukovsky follow the evangelical path, with Zhukovsky choosing the path of Ahasuerus, and Bunin following in the footsteps of Christ.

Keywords: V.A. Zhukovsky, Wandering Jew, Bunin, Bird's shadow, Gospel quotes, motivation, reminiscence

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The role of Alexander Pushkin in Andrei Platonov’s evolution as a writer Abstract:

Abstract:
The article analyzes Alexander Pushkin`s motifs in Andrei Platonov`s prose, as well as Platonov’s articles devoted to Pushkin, in the historical and literary context of the Soviet discussions in 1937. The author makes a conclusion that Pushkin’s code opens the horizons of orthodox spirituality in Platonov`s works.

Keywords: Orthodoxy, Pushkin, tradition, evolution, motif, A. Platonov

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The Paschal Archetype of Russian Literature and the Structure of Boris Pasternak’s Novel Doctor Zhivago

Abstract:
The author of the article pays attention to the fact that the first original composition of Russian literature is Easter preachment of metropolitan Ilarion and the most favorite Gospel among people is the Gospel of John, the beginning of which they always read in the churches when it is the first day of the Easter. Taking this into account, the author of the article insists that the dominant of Russian Culture and Russian literature is the special Easter archetype. The author of the article shows in what way exactly the Easter archetype determines the structure of the novel Doctor Zhivago written by Pasternak which begins with the scene of the burial and ends with the words about the resurrection and appear before God. The subject of the Pasternak’s novel is the pilgrimage to Christ which is concealed in his poetics and which every reader of the novel makes, according to the author’s idea.

Keywords: Easter and Christmas archetypes, liturgy, structure of the novel

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Evangelical text in a modern Russian novel (Vladimir Tendryakov's novel Assassinating Mirages and Leonid Leonov’s novel The Pyramid)

Abstract:
The article analyzes the interpretations of evangelical plots in the novels of two writers who abandoned their atheism, aiming to create an external harmony between science, a novel and the Bible, and to explain sacred history in terms of natural science.

Keywords: V. Tendryakov, L. Leonov, Gospel text, plot, theme

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