Volume 10, 2012 year

LITURGICAL TEXT IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE. PROBLEM STATEMENT

Abstract:

The article analyses artistic expressions of liturgical language in the literary text and its interaction of the Holy Tradition. Many Russian authors knew the liturgical text well. Studying it reveals the crucial meaning of the Gospel and liturgical texts (as part of the Holy Tradition) for Russian literature. Authors saw the essence of every phenomenon in the word for it, and the nature of God in His name. Some ideas and sayings of the authors and their characters find their sources in liturgical texts. The article focuses on liturgical sources of some characters' commemorations and invocations, as well as poetical topics of the symbolists, Dostoevsky's famous dictum on beauty which will save the world (The Idiot), etc. De-cyphering this liturgical code will help us learn and comprehend the hidden endless meaning of a literary text. The specific feature of Russian literature is its pursuit of the spiritual liturgical exploration of the world, an exploration when truth takes shape and thus becomes real in both literary text and history.

Keywords: liturgical word, text, literary process, archetype, language, beauty

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POCHVENNICHESTVO IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE: THE METAPHOR AS IDEOLOGEME

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Original as it was, the phenomenon of pochvennichestvo (roughly translated as «native soil») in Russian thought and literature is often accompanied by a number of myths, misperceptions and erroneous commonplaces. It is not infrequent that those who never shared the ideas of pochvennichestvo are described as its adepts, and those who did, are often misquoted, with some notions, ideas and phrases misattributed to them. The ideological and literary agenda of pochvennichestvo was formed by the Vremya (1861-1863) and Epokha (1864-1865) magazines published by the brothers Dostoevsky — Fedor and Mikhail. Their outlook and vigorous action, discussions of submitted articles at board meetings, polemics with other periodicals — all of these factors contributed to the general trend of pochvennichestvo with its typical mutual influence of all its members. Fedor Dostoevsky's role on its development was decisive, as he kept consistently substantiating ideas which were new for Russian literature. Our article analyses the pochva (soil) metaphor in the ideology of new school of literature and political movements which Dostoevsky helped set up in 1860s-1870s. According to him, pochva includes everything that gives birth and unites: people, homeland, native language and mother earth. They are all linked together by the mystery of Russia as the keeper of Orthodox faith and Christ as the «ideal of the people». One has to reunite with the pochva by becoming one with the people and strive to see all estates united. To be a pochvennik meant to love Russia and its people, to be a Russian and identify as one, to follow the faith of the fathers and honour the native land. In the 20th century, pochvennichestvo resolved the old argument between the Westernizers and Slavophiles. The word pochvennik was applied to the authors who stayed loyal to Russian traditional values, rural communities and traditions of Russian literature. Various authors and critics have been included in this circle, but it definitely includes D.S. Likhachev and A.I. Solzhenitsyn, V.G. Rasputin and V.P. Astafiev, V.I, Belov and V.M. Shukshin.

Keywords: pochvennichestvo, Slavophilism, Westernism, metaphor, the soil, ideologeme, Dostoevsky, Strakhov, Apollon Grigoryev

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ON THE SACRED MEANING OF "THE STATION MASTER" BY ALEXANDER PUSHKIN

Abstract:

In the article the author demonstrates the diference between the external “study“ and the internal “comprehension“ of the artistic text on the example of Pushkin’s masterpiece – The Station Master. Studying and comprehension are not synonymical. The German didactic pictures on the walls of the station master’s home are by no means an adequate analogue of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, but rather its moralistic simplification. In his artistic intuition Pushkin follows the evangelical logic of miracle and not the legalistic logic of the German pictures. In the end, the heroine finally performs a return, albeit it is her father's grave that she returns to. She herself 'dies' in her sole function of being just a daughter to the station master, but at the same time is 'resurrected' as a person who sloves and is loved. In the prosaic world there is a place for love, which can be compared to wonder – such is the deep meaning of the Pushikin’s text.

Keywords: Law, Grace, love, wonder, meaning of the text

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“The day of Borodino” and the Menaion

Abstract:

Natasha was P.A. Katenin's first work to be published, famous for its lyricism which made it the author's greatest success with both critics and readers. Traditionally Natasha was classified as a ballad, with G.A. Burger's Lenora named as its source. We claim to have discovered a more obvious source of this text - The Martyrdom of Sts. Adrian and Natalia in St. Dimitry of Rostov's version of the Menaion. It was included in the Menaion entry for August 26 – the day of the Battle of Borodino. This hagiographic source sheds light on numerous episodes in Katenin's lyrical tale - a text which started the “Natalia text” tradition in Russian literature. The symbol of birth (the name Natalia is derived from the Latin word for birth) is thus linked to death (via the day of one of the bloodiest battles of the 19th century). Katenin introduces the idea of death as a chance for a happy future, as his protagonist dies to keep on living with her beloved. Katenin's tale opens the new type of poetic expression of patriotic consciousness. Natasha was the first war text in Russian literature to glorify peaceful life of common people, rather than war.

Keywords: source, ballad, biography of saint, “Natalia text”, new type of patriotic consciousness

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Love, duty, motherhood: Tatyana Larina as seen by Belinsky, Dostoevsky and Rozanov

Abstract:

The article looks at the interpretation and assessment of the most important female protagonist in Russian literature – Pushkin's Tatyana Larina – by authoritative figures in literary criticism in pre-revolutionary Russia. In 1840s, 1870s and 1900s key figures in various schools of thought: Westernizers (V.G. Belinsky), Slavophiles (F.M. Dostoevsky), representatives of “new religious consciousness” (V.V. Rozanov) repeatedly returned to the same texts to interpret them in accordance with radically different ideals, which turned their assessments into polar opposites. The primary moot point was Tatyana's choice between love to Onegin and spousal duty to her husband. A positive or negative take on the choice Tatyana made characterizes the religious stance and worldview of the three authors and the strands of 19th and 20th century Russian culture they represent. Our study has allowed us to underscore and compare the deep currents of Russian religious and artistic thought, their interconnections and mutual influence within the cultural field of contemporary Russia. It has found resonance in the 'national idea' of the turn of the 21st century as expressed by A.I. Solzhenitsyn - “the preservation of the people”.

Keywords: Pushkin, Tatyana, Belinsky, Dostoevsky, Rozanov, morality, Christianity, reason, love, family

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Gospel motives in the dying notes of Nikolai Gogol

Abstract:

The article analyses several notes made by Nikolai Gogol shortly before his death in the light of their links to his other works and the Gospel text. The author seems to have understood that he was dying and was preparing to meet his death as a Christian should, to an extent matching the events around him with those in the Gospel. His artistic eye and hand did not fail him. His dying notes feature a brief sketch of a man in a cab and a profile of a man being shut by a closing book. Calligraphic handwriting Gogol had developed by mid-1840s differs from both the large scribble of the draft text of Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka in the 1830s and the small hand of his historical notes, articles and novellas of the mid-1830s. His new hand was that of a man who knew the value of words, and not of a copyist working with government papers. Overall, the notes are permeated with the mood of contrition and humility. Gogol writes that Satan has already entered the world and the last days are approaching when man is abandoned by God and considers solitude the highest good. He sees his actions as the only true way and takes pride in his sins and ignorance as if they were virtues. The decay of “the temple of his soul” leaves no chance for love and harmony, disconnecting people and ruining the world. Gogol wants to prevent this by uniting people in the Gospel. The longest of his dying notes is addressed to his friends. Every true Christian can be viewed as such.

Keywords: Gospel motives, Gogol’s dying notes, Apocalypse

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THE SHEPHERD AND THE ARTIST: IGNATIUS BRYANCHANINOV’S SPIRITUAL PROSE

Abstract:

The article looks at the works of St. Ignatius Bryanchaninov. His dialogue Christian Shepherd and Christian Artist (1851) reflects the holy bishop's views of art. In its highest form, art should follow the Gospel, said St. Ignatius. In this article we analyse his meditative prose (Ascetic Experience, A Word on Death, etc.) A special focus is made on lyrical and philosophical autobiographic fragments which can be compared to Turgenev's Poems in Prose. These texts describe the moments of spiritual balance and inner peace which are rare in secular prose. Citing some fragments from Ascetic Experiences as an example, we show how “strong and profound spiritual impressions” take the shape of aesthetic expression. Our study of Ignatius Bryanchaninov's works led us to the notion of epiphanic vision and writing, and to a more general conclusion that these works can be described as belonging both to the patristic tradition and Russian literature.

Keywords: spiritual prose, Christianity, artist, miniature, biblical story, epiphany

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MEMOIRS OF THE SIBERIAN ORTHODOX CLERGY OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND THE REGIONAL SIBERIAN LITERATURE

Abstract:

The initial thesis of my article is the unity between ecclesiastic and secular literature which Russian culture has preserved in the Modern period. The interrelation of ecclesiastic and secular traditions is shown here on the example of the Siberian regional literary process in the 19th century. We primarily focus on non-fiction written by the Orthodox clergy: memoirs, autobiographies, travel notes. Memoirs were a new phenomenon in church literature of late 18th – early 19th centuries. These compositions were of special significance for the literature of Siberia: half of all memoirs of Siberians at that time were written by priests and missionaries. We argue that memoirs of the clergy can be considered not only as sources on the history of the Russian church, but also as cultural texts and literary monuments. All major features of the 19th century Siberian regional literature are conspicuous here: a focus on Siberia proper, a combination of art and non-fiction, a special importance of prevalence of a genre of travel notes, etc. In their genre poetics and language, memoirs of the clergy also followed the practices of secular literature, which made them an integral part of the regional historical and literary process. At the same time, literary works of the clergy preserved the specific features of religious consciousness and the link with traditional church literature, primarily hagiography and pilgrim travelogues. It can be seen, for example, in the sacralization of the Siberian space and the strong emphasis on apostolic service.

Keywords: Orthodox clergy, memoirs, regional Siberian literature

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BIBLICAL PARALLELISM IN “THE MYSTERIOUS DROP” BY F.N. GLINKA (LIGHT AS WORD AND IMAGE)

Abstract:

The article deals with the uses 19th century Russian poetry made of parallelism as a biblical stylistic device, with a special focus on The Mysterious Drop, a religious poem by F.N. Glinka. We have traced a firm connection between biblical stylistics and that of Glinka's poem. Fearing to distort the basics of Christian teachung, the poet both included the words of Christ or biblical prophets almost verbatim into his poem and borrowed stylistic figures and devices from the Old and New Testaments. Hence, one of the most frequent words and images in The Mysterious Drop is that of light. We use it as a test case to study the semantics of various kinds of parallelism (direct, synonymical, antithetic, synthetic, progressive and chiasmatic). Our final conclusion is that the stylistical figures and devices are used by Glinka in his poem to help readers better understand the biblical message.

Keywords: parallelism - simple, backward, synonymical, antithetic, synthetic, progressive, chiasmus, light, image, symbol, semantics

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THE INEXPRESSIBLE IN THE WORKS OF DANTE, GOETHE AND DOSTOEVSKY

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The article looks at the 'eternal' problem of the inexpressible in the cultural and historic forms and motives it took in the works of Dante, Goethe and Dostoevsky. We view the inexpressible as a product of subject-object type of relations. In the case of Dante, the issue of the 'inexpressible' stemmed from strict subordination of subject-object relations in the Middle Ages, where the object was universal and sacred (with God as its highest form) and the subject was something 'under' (cf. the meaning of Latin prefix 'sub'), something incomplete and not self-sufficient, with their cognitive capacity limited. The integrity of the world according to Goethe is achieved through the dynamic unity of its constituent parts rather than through their vertical hierarchy. In this unity, the external (objective) mingles with the internal (subjective) and vice versa. In the vision of earthly paradise in Dostoevsky's The Dream of Ridiculous Man the visual dominant is set up by the protagonists's cosmic guide: “To see everything...” Dostoevsky adds a new twist to the issue of the inexpressible, which takes the shape of a certain metalanguage the paradise dwellers use to communicate. The issue of the inexpressible has remained urgent since the days of Dostoevsky, as indeed it had been long before Dante. Multifaceted as the problem may be, it can be defined as a translation issue, if we view translation itself as a cultural rather than simply a linguistic phenomenon. Analysed this way, translation includes: 1) the translation of creative process into its outcomes; 2) translating the visual into the verbal; etc.

Keywords: inexpressible, visual, verbal, Dante, Goethe, Dostoevsky

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THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF DOSTOEVSKY AS EVALUATED BY I. S. AKSAKOV AND ARCHBISHOP NIKANOR

Abstract:

Our article is an analysis of two opinions on the Christian meaning of Dostoevsky and his role for Russian society. One of the opinions was voiced by the famous Slavophile I.S. Aksakov, the other by Nikanor, Archbishop of Kherson and Odessa. We provide a brief overview of Dostoevsky's relations with the Slavophiles, including K.S. Aksakov's critical reviews of his earliest works, Dostoevsky's criticism of Slavophiles in Vremya, the convergence between the pochvenniki and Slavophiles at the Pushkin celebration in Moscow in summer 1880. We have analysed I.S. Aksakov's article and short note on the death of Dostoevsky, as well as the Slavophile's letter to O.F. Miller discussing the sad event. To correctly understand Aksakov's critical stance and ideological position we must turn to the obituary he published under the title Several words on Gogol (1852). We also focus on Archbishop Nikanor's sermons where he mentions Dostoevsky and I. Aksakov, emphasizing the similar assessment of Dostoevsky by both thinkers. The Archbishop's sermons prove the spiritual affinity between Dostoevsky and the Slavophile thought.

Keywords: Slavophiles, Dostoevsky

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THE GOSPEL TEXT IN DOSTOEVSKY'S NOVEL "NETOCHKA NEZVANOVA"

Abstract:

The article looks at the parallels with the Gospel text that arise in F.M. Dostoevsky's novel Netochka Nezvanova. We analyse and compare the parables of the New Testament that implicitly appear in the text of the novel, as well as their artistic transformation. The main focus of our comparative analysis is on God's judgement of the fallen man and human judgement (that of the Pharisee). Among the parables woven into the fabric of the novel we find that of the Pharisee and Publican, of the prodigal son, the lost sheep, the called and the chosen, of the talents and the narrow gate. The comparative analysis is run on both lexical and semantic levels. Biblical allusions are important signals which allow us to reach the deep layer of the text's original meaning. Both the characters and their possessions have an allusive level of meaning. The article also deals with the issue of sacralization of the female protagonist.

Keywords: kenosis, sacralization, parable, actip

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ARCHETYPICAL MOTIF OF A PACT WITH THE DEVIL IN THE NOVELS BY DOSTOEVSKY: "GOD-FORSAKING SCRIPTURE"

Abstract:

The article looks at the motif of a pact with the devil in the plots of Dostoevsky's novels. Just as in the medieval plots the pact with the Devil had to be verified with a written bond, Dostoevsky's ideological characters (Rodion Raskolnikov, Ivan Karamazov) justify their theomachic ideas in the articles they write. A slightly less intense version of this motif can be found in the 'atheistic poem' written by Stepan Trofimovich Verkhovensky. As such, the “God-forsaking scripture” can take the form of a suicide note (Ippolit Terentiev, Nikolai Stavrogin), followed by suicide as a God-denying act. In accordance with mythological views, Dostoevsky treats spoken and especially written Word as capable of influencing the world and man's fate. The writer's interest in the archetypical plot of the pact between man and devil stemmed from his remythologization of the novel. This mandated the actualization of the motif of “God-forsaking writing” in the texts of his novels.

Keywords: novels by Dostoevsky, archetypical motif, pact with the devil, the prodigal son

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POLEMIC WITH DOSTOEVSKY ON “DEMONS”: THE PROBLEM OF MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE NOVEL IN THE LIFETIME CRITICISM (1871–1873)

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The criticism that Dostoevsky's Demons attracted in his lifetime is relatively unpopular with modern scholars. The reason for this is clear: the critics did not understand Dostoevsky's novel. Our article provides an analysis of the reviews of both the journal and the book versions of Demons (1871-1873). The earliest responses to the novel appeared immediately after the publication had begun in 1871. For two years, the author had been reading the critics' opinions which in this or that way could have influenced his creative process. Dostoevsky could have accepted or rejected these contributions, but the criticism definitely did leave a mark on his writing. Among those who took part in the critical discussion of Demons were the reviewers from the Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti, Golos and Iskra newspapers, as well as the magazines Otechestvennye Zapiski and Delo: V. Burenin, L. Paniutin, A.G. Kovner, M.G. Vil'de, A.M. Skabichevsky, D. Minayev, N. Mikhailovsky, N. Demetr, P. Tkachev, etc. Common for all of them was the claim that the novel is a phantasmagory and thus has little artistic merit. On the whole, critics did not react positively to Demons, attacking their author as a reactionary, a renegade, obscurantist, or deranged epileptoid. Dostoevsky was accused of slandering the youth. We make a special focus on the Christian aspects of the novel and the earliest critics' discussion of these aspects, including negative responses.

Keywords: Dostoevsky, literary criticism, polemic, Demons, Russian journalism

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CORRECTING THE MISREADINGS OF DOSTOEVSKY’S MANUSCRIPTS (THE CASE OF DEMONS AND THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV)

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The article deals with graphological and textological aspects of studying Fedor Dostoevsky's manuscripts, with a special focus on non-creative changes in the author's text, in particular, the semantic misreading of the manuscript by the publishers. We have attempted to define and describe the main causes and types of such distortions. The article also looks at some examples of misinterpreting the syntactic structure of the manuscript in the course of preparing for print. Also analysed are the cases of misinterpreting the intonational nature of Dostoevsky's punctuation, when the publishers adapt the text to the contemporary orthography, paying no attention to the author's use of punctuation. We have complemented the analysis with the overview of the commentary on the novels. The article contains new facts from the history of Demons, discovered by additional elaboration of the existing textual commentary. Locating and correcting misreadings helps us restore the genuine text written by Dostoevsky.

Keywords: Dostoevsky’s work, textology, concept, semantics of the text

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DIALOGIC CONVERGENCE OF BIBLICAL AND LITERARY FABULAS IN THE ADOLESCENT BY F.M. DOSTOEVSKY

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The article discusses the issue of dialogic convergence of biblical and literary fabulas in The Adolescent by Fedor Dostoevsky. We also examine the issue of the author's creative dialogue with the previous traditions, and the synthesis of biblical and literary sources in the novel's fabula. A special emphasis is made on the author's attention to biblical fabula tradition and the role of biblical subtext in the plot of the novel. We have outlined a set of images and motifs which link The Adolescent with its source in the Old Testament and provide a comparative analysis of the fabulas in Pushkin's The Station Master and Dostoevsky's Humiliated and Insulted and The Adolescent within the general context of the Old Testament tradition. The article examines the transformations of classical fabulas, their convergence and resurgence in The Adolescent thanks to the open, convergence-oriented type of artistic consciousness that we find in Dostoevsky.

Keywords: fabula, motif, convergence, precedent text, reception, transformation, interpretation

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THE GOSPEL TEXT AND THE TRADITIONS OF OLD RUSSIAN LITERATURE IN DOSTOEVSKY’S NOVEL THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV

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The article looks at two parts of Fedor Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov – A Russian Monk and Alyosha – as texts written in the hagiographic tradition. Alyosha is a direct continuation of A Russian Monk (which includes the life of Zosima) and a start of a new vita centered on Alexei Karamazov. Both parts of the novel follow the traditions of old Russian literature, comprising the heritage of such spoken genres as confession, sermon, public address, homily, hymn, prayer, the disciple's memories of the mentor and the last will and testament. The two books of the novel are distinguished by the accent on spoken word and by the concord with the Gospel text. Thus, they are juxtaposed to Ivan Karamazov's 'poem' of The Grand Inquisitor which is in the dialogic relations of disagreement or discord with the Gospel text. The Gospel here is not quoted in the Church Slavonic as in happens in Cana of Galilee, but retold with additions which complement its meaning.

Keywords: genre system, Old Russian literature, liturgical traditions, genre of vita sanctorum, The Brothers Karamazov

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HYMNOGRAPHIC 'CANON' AS A “FORM OF THE PLAN” IN “THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV” BY DOSTOEVSKY

Abstract:

The article draws a parallel between divine service and art, using Dostoevsky's last grand masterpiece as an example. We begin by defining the canon as a genre and as a liturgical order. The order of songs in the canon and the liturgical order resemble the sequence of Dostoevsky's novel and make it ordered and recognizable. The form chosen by the author was more organic for Russian consequence than the novel in its Western version and more expressive for a piece of art. By shaping his novel into a canon as a hymnographic piece, Dostoevsky created a special form which helped his novel attain perfection. The form of canon as a hymnographic text is found in the novel's structure (“a form of a plan”) which is made clear by the positioning of the life of Zosima. The novel's hidden meaning was thus expressed in its form. The structure of a canon reproduced in a piece of fiction allowed Dostoevsky to link the contemporary and the all-embracing, bring up eternally important issues of losing faith in God and provide true answers in the discovery of new faith in Jesus.

Keywords: Hymnography, canon, novel, kontakion, vita, form, Russian Christian consciousness, empathy, good fortune, perfect form of a work of art

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RASKOLNIKOV, STAVROGIN, VERKHOVENSKY, IVAN KARAMAZOV – ELDER ZOSIMA: THE ATHEISTIC IDEA IN THE LIGHT OF THE CHRISTIAN CONSCIOUSNESS

Abstract:

The article is a study of a set of personological features of atheist characters in Dostoevsky which reveals their status as overcome by evil. Detailed symptoms appear together as a single complex, typical for all atheist characters – anger, resentment, hatred, contempt, revulsion, and finally, a desire to kill and strangle. The reason for this is found in demonology, with the climax in the meeting between the atheist hero and the primary source of his idea, the devil. The situation is presents from the point of view of Christian consciousness as embodied in Elder Zosima. Through his view, Dostoevsky provides answers to all Ivan's seemingly insoluble questions and provocative challenges. Within the novel's internal structure we can trace a strict hierarchical interconnection of various viewpoints. They do not arise as equal, but are subordinated to one which acts as an outcome of all questioning. Such is the meaning of the apposition of characters – atheists and the Christian protagonist - in Dostoevsky's creative world.

Keywords: Dostoevsky’s personology, system of features, idea of a characters, atheistic consciousness, Christian consciousness

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DOSTOEVSKY’S RELIGIOSITY AS A METHODOLOGICAL PROBLEM OF SOVIET LITERARY CRITICISM

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Soviet literary criticism, especially in the first decades after the 1917 Revolution, was quite biased in its treatment of Dostoevsky and his works. The reasons for this bias lie both inside and outside the sphere of political ideology. We suggest that there exists a genetic link between some Soviet readings of Dostoevsky and a number of interpretations made in the author's lifetime. Also analysed are the attempts to 'domesticate' Dostoevsky and adapt his works to drastically different cultural conditions and political norms. It is indicative that this adaptation has always passed the stage of mythologizing the writer and his works. This mythologization paradoxically became a convergence point for Soviet (Lunacharsky), anti-Soviet (Berdyayev) and purely philosophical (Bakhtin) readings of Dostoevsky. Ultimately, the central Dostoevsky myth in post-revolutionary Russia was a version of Romantic mythology often directly expressed in comparing Dostoevsky with Prometheus. We also look at the negative readings of Dostoevsky, which construed the author as a certain mythological antagonist of the proletariat as the collective messiah. Such readings (exemplified in our article by Pereverzev's and Livshits') point at the ultimate limit of ethical assessment of Dostoevsky from the standpoint of rational secular humanism and the Soviet humanitarian thought as its version. Dostoevsky's artistic practice incorporates this tradition within the intranovel dialogue as just one of the voices and demonstrates its ethical insufficiency, which in its turn provokes the mixed reaction of 'appropriation' and 'rejection' from both Soviet thinkers and their contemporary heirs.

Keywords: Dostoevsky, history of literary criticism, perception, interpretation

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THE GENRE OF A. G. DOSTOEVSKАYA'S DIARY

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The shorthand diary of Anna G. Dostoevskaya, the writer's wife, comprises her notes on the creative and family life of the couple in 1867-68 during their stay in Europe. Scholars of Dostoevsky have looked at the diary of his wife as a source of biographic data, with little to no attention paid to its value as a literary text. In this article, we aim to analyse Anna Dostoevskaya's shorthand diary as a piece of literature, with a special emphasis on the history of its writing and publication, as well as on the diary's genre implications, structure, spatial and temporary features, its author and the main protagonist. This diary was the first in Russia to be written by the wife of a famous author. Since the diary was never intended for print, it was written in a very frank manner. Our conclusion is that Anna Dostoevskaya was the originator of the genre of personal shorthand diary.

Keywords: 19th century Russian literature, F. Dostoevsky, A. Dostoevskaya, memoirs, personal family and household shorthand diary

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IMPUDENCE AND BOLDNESS IN N.S. LESKOV'S STORIES OF THE RIGHTEOUS: CHRISTIAN ASPECT OF APPREHENSION

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The issue of frequent confusion of the notions of impudence and boldness in patristic texts is explained through the problem of confusing vice and virtue. In the context of virtuousness and sinfulness, these two notions became the focus of two stories from N.S. Leskov’s cycle on the righteous: - Odnodum (The Singlethought) and The Pygmy, where they are crucial for understanding and interpreting the notion of official duty. Leskov's characters both show Christian mercy and prove a wonderful example of a Christian view of official duty, when every dutiful act turns into a higher service that requires true boldness. The choice between an act of justice and an act of mercy, therefore, turns into a choice between the word and spirit of law stemming from Evangelical lawfulness and legalism. In the context of the two approaches to justice, we also touch upon the question of royal service under Emperor Nicholas I.

Keywords: impudence, boldness, duty, betrayal, power, righteous man, police officer

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THE STROGANOV OR OLD BELIEVERS’ ICON PAINTING TRADITION IN THE WORKS OF N.S. LESKOV

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N.S. Leskov is known to have been a collector of icons and a connoisseur of history and techniques of icon painting. In his work as a writer he made use of his visual impression of icons painted in the old believers' tradition. Unlike modern scholars, when acting as an iconographer, Leskov did not classify old believers' icon painting as a separate trend, subsuming it within the “Stroganov school”. In the 19th century, the Stroganov school icons were distinguished by the mark of the Stroganov family name on the icon's reverse side. Such icons were believed to have been painted in the workshops officially set up by the Stroganov family. “An old believers' school icon” would be the one painted by at a workshop owned by old believers for the use in their prayer rooms or churches. Leskov's opinion on the insoluble link between the Stroganov and old believers' school of icon painting well agreed with the works of I.P. Sakharov the writer was quite familiar with, as well as with the ideas old believers themselves expressed concerning the history and traditions of icon painting. Leskov knew these opinions through communication with icon painters who professed the old belief version of Orthodox Christianity.

Keywords: N. Leskov’s work, history of icon painting, iconography, Stroganov school, old believers’ icon painting tradition

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THE BIBLE IN THE STRUCTURE OF N.S. LESKOV’S THE SINGLETHOUGHT

Abstract:

There are a lot of facts to prove that Nikolai Leskov placed great emphasis on the Bible in his career as a writer. His earlies contributions to newspapers were devoted to the issue of the Bible's accessibility. As a publisher and editor, he did a lot to improve the knowledge of the Bible among the Russian people, viewing this process as a basis for moral education. Leskov's works of fiction often feature biblical quotes, reminiscences and imagery. The objective of our article is to assess the importance of the Bible for the structure of Odnodum (The Singlethought) - a short story Leskov wrote in 1879. Set against other texts of the same author, The Singlethought stands out as a text where the link to the Bible is more accentuated both in form and content. We provide an analysis of how the Bible influenced the personality growth of the protagonist, Alexander Ryzhov, and his behavior models, as well as how the society views him. It is also important to provide the historical context of the discussions of the role of the Bible in the life of the Orthodox community, namely the debates on the Russian Bible Society and the Russian translation of the Bible. Ryzhov's reputation of “an eccentric” and “of doubtful faith” put him in the same class with Leskov's other righteous characters, making this protagonist timeless and important.

Keywords: N. S. Leskov, Bible, prophet, yurodivy, Russian Bible Society

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EARLY BYZANTINE TRADITIONS IN THE NOVEL «ODYSSEUS POLIHRONIADES» BY K. N. LEONTYEV

Abstract:

Despite the current interest in the works of Konstantin Leontyev, scholars have so far mainly addressed his philosophic and political essays, with his works of fiction attracting considerably less attention. Our article is devoted to one of Leontyev least studied text — the novel Odysseus Polihroniades, which the author himself considered his best work. The novel is written as memoirs of a Greek man from Zagora and is based on real-life events. We have traced a link between the writer's outlook as reflected in his essays and the proto-Byzantine tradition as defined by S.S. Averintsev which plays an important role in the novel. An important feature of the early Byzantine culture is the synthesis of the Christian and the heathen. We examine the issue of mutual influence of the classical and Christian traditions in Leontyev's texts. We also suggest that “old age in infancy” is one of the key motifs of the novel. Greek characters have specific speech features, with the emphasis on Gospel language preserved in patriarchal Greek society. The article concludes by reaffirming the thesis of affinity existing between Leontyev's view of the world and the early Byzantine religious consciousness.

Keywords: K. Leontyev, early Byzantine tradition, aesthetics, Odysseus Polihroniades, Mount Athos

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The christian symbolism of flowers in V.V. Gofman`s lyrics

Abstract:

The article examines the poetry of a relatively unknown poet of the Russian Silver Age, V.V. Gofman (The Book of Introductions, 1904; Iskus (Temptation), 1910) in the light of its links with the Gospel. As early as in Gofman's first collection of poems motifs from the Gospel come together with flower imagery. Flowers in Gofman's poems act as markers of the Paradise, the locus of eternity, truth and harmony. Flower imagery is also an important element of the image of the Faraway Lady – one of the centerpieces of Gofman's poems. Gofman's second collection, Iskus (Temptation) (1910) reveals more conscious and clear allusions to the Gospel: the title refers to the Christian tradition, and the most important flower in the poetic 'flowerbed' is the lily with its clear biblical symbolism. We conclude by reaffirming the conceptual importance of the biblical plane in the poetry of V.V. Gofman.

Keywords: V.V. Gofman, the Gospel, Christianity, symbolism, flower poetics

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MOTIFS OF STRUGGLING WITH GOD IN V. MAYAKOVSKY’S POEM A CLOUD IN TROUSERS

Abstract:

The article examines the problem of struggling with God in the works of Vladimir Mayakovsky, with a special focus on his poem A Cloud in Trousers. The poem's original title – The Thirteenth Apostle – presents the quintessence of its content and witnesses the rise of the struggle with God and the poet's protest against the Church dogma. Our article looks at a number of theomachic motifs in A Cloud in Trousers, as well as the means of their transformation in the futurist world. A zoomorphic image of the Universe which appears at the ending of the poem lacks both God and Man. The conflict with the world that had forgotten its God drives the lyrical protagonist into the 'madness' of struggle against God. This conflict keeps bringing him back to Golgotha, surrounded by the crowd who chooses to let Barabbas go. This is the highest tragedy of Mayakovsky's poem.

Keywords: Bible, struggle with God, motif, Mayakovsky, A Cloud in Trousers

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THE HERO’S ROAD TO CALVARY: OLD TESTAMENT AND NEW TESTAMENT MOTIFS IN MOSCOW BY ANDREY BELY

Abstract:

The aim of our article is to discover biblical allusions, motifs and plots in Andrey Bely's last and least studied novel, Moscow (1925-1930). Besides the biblical plane (both Old and New Testaments), the novel features a lot of eschatological imagery. We have analysed the key scenes of the novel where biblical motifs and imagery acquire the status of a sign. Our analysis allowed us to conclude that the Gospel plane of the text helps the reader comprehend the overall idea of the novel, i.e. the protagonist's initiation, his departure from the Old Testament regulations to the Christian idea of mercy and compassion, as well his discovery of the spiritual laws of nature and the universe. The image of the eccentric in the novel helps us more profoundly understand the continuity and transformation of the biblical, eschatological and anthroposophic motifs throughout the whole creative heritage of Andrey Bely.

Keywords: biblical motifs, Andrey Bely, Moscow, lifebuilding

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REMINISCENCES, QUOTATIONS AND MOTIFS OF THE PSALTER IN THE WORKS OF I. A. BUNIN

Abstract:

The article examines the reminiscences, quotations and motifs borrowed from the Book of Psalms by I.A. Bunin in his poetry and prose. Discovering such reminiscences and quotations helps to clarify some debatable issues of the writer's personal position and outlook. The Book of Psalms acts as a major text of precedence in Bunin's works. Some of his poems are poetic variations of psalms (The Psalter, 1916; To Russia, 1922). Day and night as dominant images of Bunin's poetry are viewed as constants of being due to their creation by God. Night as an especially important and most frequent image in the whole heritage of I.A. Bunin becomes for him the time of self-knowledge and discovery of God, which is quite consistent with the poetic world of the Psalmist. In Bunin's prose, reading from the Book of Psalms often appears after a character dies. Death is thus viewed as a solemn and majestic event, and eternity becomes the main motif of such stories as The Pine Trees (1901), The Exodus (1918), Transfiguration (1923). It is from the psalmodic tradition that the title of one of Bunin's most conceptually important stories comes – Many waters (1911-1926). In this story, the author views the eternal through the lens of revolutionary perturbations in the 1917 Russia. The whole host of symbols associated in the Book of Psalms with 'many waters' finds a new life in Bunin's story. The author shows facing God as a profoundly Christian feeling. His protagonist feels not only fear, but primarily “the love and joy of being”. Cosmological, historical and providential 'plots' and images borrowed from the psalms prove that the Orthodox tradition was very important for Bunin's creative consciousness.

Keywords: Bunin, Book of Psalms, motif, Orthodox tradition

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On the history of creation of I. S. Shmelev`s novella the Inexhaustible cup

Abstract:

The article deals with the history of I.S. Shmelev's novella The Inexhaustible Cup. By analysing the draft manuscripts of the novella we have retraced the chronology of the text. Numerous rounds of correction found in the draft copies reveals the high intensity of the author's work on the text. We have outlined 7 draft versions which can be grouped in 2 stages of working on the novella. Stage 1 comprising the first three draft versions shows the author's intention to create the images of physically and spiritually perfect people and express the transforming power of beauty understood in the spirit of Vladimir Solovyev's philosophy. Stage 2 (draft versions 4 to 7) witnesses the author's change of the idea of his work. The structure of the characters evolves, with the protagonists developing new features echoing the types of Old Russian literature.

Keywords: Russian literature of the 20th century, the history of creation of I. S. Shmelev, Inexhaustible Cup, textual criticism, manuscript, edition, text-copy, text-type, the evolution of the author’s intention, the genesis of images, idea, theme, conflict

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THE ICON IN WAR STORIES BY A. PLATONOV

Abstract:

The article deals with the role of icon in the world of war stories by Andrei Platonov (Nikodim Maksimov, Recovery of the Fallen) as compared with his early prose of the 1920s-30s (The Homeland of Electricity) on the basis of archival research and the texts of Platonov's wartime works. In his early texts the icon, while described at length, is re-coded into the anti-icon both visually and semantically. Our analysis has shown that in his stories written in 1941-1945 Platonov moves away from lengthy descriptions of icons and also from their artistic re-coding and destruction. In the poetics of his war stories, the icon appears at strategically important narrative positions (title, buildup, main plot focus) and acts as a sacral sign witnessing the renewal of religious memory, the profundity and power of people's faith. During the Second World War addressing the spiritual experience of the past, including its religious dimension, was vitally important for the Russian people and the Russian writer Andrei Platonov.

Keywords: icon, story, poetics of genre, A. Platonov, World War II literature

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CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS IN 20TH-21ST CENTURY RUSSIAN FANTASY WRITING (ARTICLE 2)

Abstract:
The article looks at the various aspects of appropriating the Christian traditions by Russian fantasy writing. We show that the Christian tradition has most significantly revealed itself in the genre of fantasy writing which is in high demand among early 21st century readers. Both the content and the formal poetics of this tradition have been taken into account here. One of the typical fantasy protagonists is a hero yearning for God, which is a familiar staple of Russian literature. By default fantasy deals with demonolog, thus becoming closely linked to Christian tradition of the struggle against evil. Demon (or devil) being a popular character in fantasy writing, the forgotten traditions of Old Russian literature get re-actualized in 20th and early 21st century and the demonological image includes both the demonic and the human. We conclude that contemporary fantasy authors develop their own versions of the Christian tradition, removing the conflict between the “faith” and “invention” typical for fantasy writing.

Keywords: Christianity, tradition, fantasy writing, demon

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FREUDIAN COMPLEXES OF SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET PHILOLOGY IN STUDYING THE GOSPEL TEXT IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE

Abstract:
The article looks at a number of marginal concepts of Freudian theory and at his articles on Dostoevsky that revealed the 'cultural unconscious' of the founder of psychoanalysis. We point at the similarities between Freud's cultural unconscious – with its negativity against of the “Christian God”, historical Russia and Russian people – and the Soviet type of culture, especially in its early period (1920s – early 1930s). The ardor of Freudo-Marxism typical for the highest levels of Soviet power and humanitarian studies lay in their striving towards a complete restructuring of Russian culture, state and man itself. Russian literature is interpreted on the basis of anti-Christian tenets and a set of criteria absolutely alien to Russian literature. We show that this mental attitude has not been overcome by post-Soviet literary criticism. Our article is a call on scholars of Russian literature to get rid of their Freudian complexes in the treatment of Russian culture.

Keywords: Freudism, cultural unconsciousness, axiology of Law and Grace, history of literature and its interpretations, Russian, Soviet, post-Soviet

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