His Kingdom Come: Orthodox Pastorship and Social Activism in Revolutionary Russia by Jennifer Hedda Holy Fathers, Secular Sons: Clergy, Intelligentsia, and the Modern Self in Revolutionary Russia by Laurie Manchester (review)

Abstract

766 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO omnipotent, external position; insteadhe becomesan historical actor,shaped bythesystem overwhichhepresided. One minorcaveatshouldbe appended: theeditors excludedfromthiscollection thosedocuments and controversies inwhichStalin'srolewas minor, thereby increasing hisrelative prominence. In conclusion, thisvolumeis highly recommended to scholarsof Soviet culture and politics. It willalso be useful in theclassroom, thoughprimarily formoreadvancedstudents as itpresupposes a highlevelofgeneralknowledgeoftheperiod .Although Clarkand Dobrenkoareleadingscholars inthe field, theyhave likewise notincludedanycontextual discussion ofor bibliographical references tothescholarship ofStalinist culture (with theperplexing exception ofTimashefï). This is a minorcriticism, however, ofa significant scholarly contribution to thecultural history ofStalinism. UCL SSEES Susan Morrissey Hedda, Jennifer.His Kingdom Come: Orthodox Pastorship and Social Activism in Revolutionary Russia. Northern IllinoisUniversity Press,DeKalb, IL, 2008. ix + 297pp. Appendix.Notes.Bibliography. Index.$43.00. Manchester,Laurie. HolyFathers, Secular Sons:Clergy, Intelligentsia, andthe Modern Self inRevolutionary Russia. Northern IllinoisUniversity Press,DeKalb, IL, 2008. xiv + 288 pp. Illustrations. Tables. Glossary.Appendix.Notes. Bibliography. Index.$43.00. These twovolumes, bothaddressing theinfluence ofOrthodox clerical culture on lateImperialRussiansociety, are complementary rather thancompeting in approachand content. Manchester uses a hugeamountofneglected primarysourcematerial to drawa composite biography ofthechildhoods, educationsand adultlivesofclericalsons- popovichi - whochosenottofollow theirfathers intothepriesthood, butwho nevertheless carriedtheirfathers' traditional valuesintosecularlifeas doctors, academicsand political activists after theGreatReforms ofthe1860s.WhileManchester's subjects hailfrom manydifferent cornersoftheRussianempire,Hedda explorestheidentity, ideals,concerns and activism of'theparishclergy ofSt Petersburg from the timeof the Great Reforms[.. .] to the eve of WorldWar F. Her study, prompted bycuriosity aboutFatherGeorgiiGapon's actionsin 1905,includes chapters on bothGapon and thelesser-known FatherGrigorii Petrov.Both menentered thepriesthood as a result ofa callingto helpthe'ignorant and impoverished Russianpeople'(Hedda,p. 108)rather thanbyaccident ofbirth, at thesametimeas Manchester's sonswereleavingtheir'clericalcaste'with similarly lofty intentions. Both books are concernedto dispensewiththe stereotype of the prerevolutionary priest as 'a symbol ofgluttony, avarice,sycophancy, bawdiness', inthewordsofBelinskii (citedbyManchester, p. 14);bothsucceedindrawing a nuancedbutpositiveportrait of clericsand theirsonsduringa historical periodthatput beforethemcomplexsocial and politicalchallenges.The REVIEWS 767 questionofwhysuchnegative stereotypes prevailedin pre-1917 Russiais less convincingly addressed. Manchester suggests theclergy's caste-like 'otherness3 contributed (pp.15-16),but recentresearch(byVera Shezov,forexample) suggests thatpeasants,at least,perceived their priests simply as anotherindividualwithin thecommunity. Manchester's book,however, is primarily concerned withhowpopovichi perceived themselves, andherconclusions aredrawn from a massoffascinating (and aptly-named) 'ego-documents' availablefrom thisperiod - letters, diaries,autobiographies, evensuicidenotes- usefully listedin an appendix.While Hedda also uses publishedand unpublished sourcesofclericalorigin, thesedo notdominatethetextto thesame extent and arenotso clearly identified intheendmatter. She does,however, include an appendixlisting identifiable members oftheUnionofZealotsforChurch Renovation in 1906,their clerical status andpositions, andhersourcesinclude the recordsof organizations established by the clergyas well as diocesan reports on theiractivities. Hedda's first chapteroffers a clearand broad contextual overview which beginswitha summary ofthePetrine and post-Petrine legalrestrictions that createda national'clericalcaste',and therelaxation oftheserestrictions that allowedtheexodusdiscussed byManchester. Hedda also addressesin some detailthePetersburg peculiarities: thehugeflocks each priest was responsible for;the lack of a clear parishsystemand the prevalenceof institutional (rather thanparish)churches; theclergy's 'unusualdegreeofmaterial security and socialstatus', theirhighlevelsofeducationand theircohesiveness as a socialgroupwithin thecity(p.29);butperhapsshemight havemademoreof thepeculiarities ofthelaity - thevastnumbers ofmigrant workers released from restricting villagesociety, forexample,whowereofsuchconcerntothe Churchand to thepeasantry towhomtheyreturned 'spoiled'bycityways. Bothbooksseekto explorethewaysinwhichtheclericalcasteresponded to the challengesof modernlife,and (reflecting the current trend)seekto contestthe binaryoppositions of 'tradition' and 'modernity', 'secular'and 'religious'.Hedda focuseson thoseclericswho believedthe Church and clergycould and should adapt in responseto socioeconomicchanges, exploring their ventures intobothsocialworkand politics, and their desireto buildtheKingdomof God on earth.Manchesterarguesthattheinflux of popovichi intosecularsociety significantly influenced thenatureoftheintelligentsia , and one ofHolyFathers' mostfascinating chapters arguespersuasively thatpopovichi 'managedto see themselves as leavingthe clergyin orderto preserve clericaltraditions and imposethemon secularsociety - thevery oppositeof traditional secularization theoryand dechristianization' (p. 155). Hedda's workalso contributes to our understanding oftherelationship and mutualinfluences ofthesecularintelligentsia and theclergy, especially in her discussion ofFatherGrigorii Petrov's ideas. While both books usefully complement the workalreadydone on 'red priests', the positivepicturethatManchesterdrawsof sons faithful to the valuesoftheirclericalfathers leavesone wondering why'thosefrom clerical backgrounds weredisproportionately represented' in theearlyLeague ofthe Godless(Daniel Peris,'Commissars in Red Cassocks:FormerPriests in the 768 SEER, 88, 4, OCTOBER 2OIO League oftheMilitantGodless',Slavic Review, 54, 1995,2, pp. 340-64). One longstohearmoreaboutthefewBolshevik popovichi cited- theonewho,for instance, kissed hisweeping father's handafter making an anti-religious speech in hishometown(Manchester, pp. 166-67),or theone who- at a reunion withseminary friends in 1952- 'sataroundsinging churchsongsforhours' (p. 126). Manchester's bookalso made one longtohearsomefemale voices- how did clericaldaughters perceivethemselves and...