Bogdanova, O. and Gracheva, A., eds. (2016). Utopia and eschatology in the culture of Russian Modernism. Moscow: Indrik. (In Russ.)

Abstract

The review contains an in-depth examination of certain articles from the collection Utopia and Eschatology in the Culture of Russian Modernism . The author refers to the first, philosophical, part of the book and offers to view it as its focus. The reviewer suggests that, despite a plethora of utopian and political motifs permeating Russian literature, culture and philosophy, the articles examine a single narrative. The latter, he believes, has historical roots in the Westernists’ and Slavophiles’ political manifestos. Therefore, the entire cultural-philosophical context of Russian Modernism is viewed as determined, pursuing only the political or social agenda. In the reviewer’s opinion, such an angle immediately places the authors of the collection within the framework of the political, post-Soviet assessment of the utopia issue. The result is that utopia is given a two-fold presentation: as interpreted by the authors of the collection, and by philosophers, writers, and cultural influencers of Russian Modernism.