Historiosophical Concept Research Articles

The Role of the Individual in History according to Historiosophical Concepts of G.W.F. Hegel and N.A. Berdyaev

The Role of the Individual in History according to Historiosophical Concepts of G.W.F. Hegel and N.A. Berdyaev

THE IMAGE OF RUS’ TROIKA IN RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19TH CENTURY

The article examines the philosophical and cultural meaning of the symbol of Russian troika in the Dead Souls of N.V. Gogol as the Russian logos. The phenomenon of the ‘vast’ Russian space turns out to be metaphysically mysterious and axiologically ambivalent. In Gogol’s metaphysics, death is thought of as stillness, immobility (“They don’t move. Death strikes the unmoving world”), and life is like movement. Vast expanses open up an endless possibility of movement, moreover, they generate it. Therefore, the road ‘saves’ [Gogol 1951: 222], and fast riding on a troika, rooted in Russian nature, becomes a symbol of the life of the soul, resurrection and renewal. The article examines several works where the troika is understood as the archetype of Russia. This is the poem Fields by A.N. Maikov, where a frenzied ride on a troika symbolizes the aspiration of the Russian people to enter a new unexplored future after the abolition of serfdom. On the contrary, in N.A. Dobrolyubov’s poem In the Prussian Carriage, behind the ironic opposition of the Russian ‘living’ troika to the ‘dead machine’ of the West, one reads the criticism of Gogol’s historiosophical concept of inexhaustible ‘liveliness’ of Russia, embodied in the free movement of the troika. Although Dostoevsky is outraged by a caricature of the image of Russia-troika presented by the prosecutor in The Brothers Karamazov, he agrees that the structure depicted is true to life. Metaphysically, the phenomenon of ‘karamazovschina’ understood as Russian nature with its width, passionate desire to transgress all boundaries in everything, is based on Gogol’s symbol, whereas Russian love of fast ride, also noted by Gogol, in Dostoevsky’s novel turns out to be a desire for violent flight and come-downs of his characters. The article aims to show how consistent Dostoevsky was in his reproduction of the Russian metaphysics in Gogol’s sense, giving it a fatal, catastrophic character, yet retaining its positive sense and salvatory intention.

Crime in the Context of Philosophy of History

Methodological foundations for improvement of criminological science involve the expansion of its interdisciplinary connections, including its connections with philosophy and history. This makes it possible to study crime as a certain social process taking place in the general logic of the development of society and subordinate to it. The classical philosophy of history offers several options for understanding the meaning and driving forces of the historical process that predetermine competing views on the history of crime. Theology and Marxism, fundamentally differing in their view of the mechanism of history, provide an understanding of crime as a linearly developing process that has its origins in the past, but inevitably disappears in the future as the «end of history» is reached. Cyclical concepts of the historical process allow us to look at crime as an eternal, indestructible phenomenon that changes its basic forms as historical cycles change and in accordance with the basic parameters of this cycle itself. The concepts of multifactorial historical development determine an emphatically sociological explanation of crime, within which its state can be assessed outside the context of the past and future. The postmodern challenge to universal classical historiosophical concepts has actually destroyed their explanatory significance and methodological value. At the same time, postmodernism creates favorable opportunities for understanding the process of crime as an integral part of many parallel and overlapping histories: the history of liberalism, the history of economics, the history of preserving national identity, etc. In this case, crime stories (plural) appear in place of crime history (singular). And only such a multi-layered view of the processes of crime development and its connection with social processes can provide adequate methodological support for criminological research. In this regard, the results of the study can be considered as a contribution to the development of historical criminology, which is gaining relevance.

Влияние позднего творчества Вл. Соловьева на философию истории А. Кожева

The later work of Vladimir Soloviev, more specifically his Three Conversations on War, Progress, and the End of World History, is considered as one of the origins of Alexander Kozhev's philosophy of history. The general characteristics of Kozhev's anthropological and historiosophic views and their comparison with the concept of history presented in Solovyev's Three Conversations are given. The comparative analysis of the views of both philosophers revealed eight conceptual points, which are presented in both historiosophic doctrine of the late Soloviev and in Alexander Kozhev's philosophy of history as well. The attention is drawn to the fact that both French thinker and Russian philosopher believe that post-historical state is characterized by the absence of wars and termination of existence of separate national states, replaced by supranational structures of government, which will later be abolished in favor of a single World Empire, based on radical egalitarianism. It is noted that both philosophers agree that the world after history is an undifferentiated culturally homogeneous space in which an apparent material prosperity coexists with a latent spiritual crisis characterized by primitivization of the man, disappearance of culture, domination of atheism, devaluation of Christian values. The emphasis is placed on the affinity between Kozhev's image of Napoleon and Solovyov's figure of the antichrist, whereas in both cases the question is about a personality who expansively imposes his individuality on the world, a subject who moves humanity by his actions into a posthistorical space by means of the establishment of the Total Empire. The main difference between Kozhev's historiosophical concept and Solovyov's is also considered. It consists in the fact that Kozhev's 'end of History' takes place in a purely secular dimension, while Solovyov, who stands on a religious position, leaves room for messianism. In summary, based on the many considered conceptual coincidences between Solovyov's and Kozhev's doctrines, we conclude the late Solovyov's work has influenced on Kozhev's historiosophy.

Arnold Toynbee as a philosopher and the theologist: (post)metaphysical meanings of history

The article is devoted to the explication of post-metaphysical tendencies in the philosophy of history based on the concept of A. Toynbee. A comparative analysis of the historiosophical ideas of Toynbee with the teachings of O. Spengler, N.O. Lossky, A. Augustine and F. Nietzsche. The thesis is substantiated that the key points in determining the meaning of the historical process in Toynbees theory are the ideas of deification and the superman. It is concluded that Toynbees historiosophical concept is an attempt to respond to the situation of total devaluation of meaning-forming paradigms during the crisis of Western civilization.

REVIEW ON BOOK: POLYAKOVA L.V. E.I. ZAMYATIN’S PROSE: HISTORIOSOPHICAL QUESTS OF AN ARTIST. TAMBOV: PUBLISHING HOUSE “DERZHAVINSKY”, 2022. 748 p.

The monograph by L.V. Polyakova collects and systematizes the material concerning the creative biography of E. Zamyatin, his ideological priorities, poetics, the history of publications, relations with writers. The historiosophical concepts of the fi rst third of the century, facts and phenomena of literary life, disputes of critics, as well as modern literary thought are presented. A broad context is being built that allows us to perceive the philosophical depth and artistic power of Zamyatin’s prose in its integrity, multidimensionality, connections with the humanitarian insights of the twentieth century. Zamyatin’s creative individuality is revealed through the correlation of his views on the people, the revolution, world history with the views of N. Berdyaev, A. Blok, M. Gorky, S. Yesenin, I. Ilyin, T. Mann, N. Trubetskoy, S. Frank, O. Spengler and many others. Hermeneutical approach to the comprehension of works is effective, comparative analysis is actively used. L.V. Polyakova’s research is marked by a vivid polemic and reasoned judgments.

Художественное воплощение историософской концепции в романах Д.С. Мережковского

The review gives a general description of T.I. Dronova’s monograph “D.S. Merezhkovsky’s Historiosophical Novel in the Perspective of the 20th Century,” published in 2021 by the Saratov University Publishing House. The analysis of the book structure reveals the original concept of the historiosophical novel, which is presented by the author. The postulates of the research are based on theoretical studies and results of the genesis and genre novelty’s study of the historiosophical novel of the writer-thinker, as well as on the serious methodological basis and fundamental historical and literary works. The author of the monograph appeals to the controversial issues of the genre in modern literary studies and identifies the dominant and meaningful content of the concept “historiosophical novel.” The problem gets a practical solution in the analytical chapters. The transfer of the attention from the religious and philosophical concept of the writer-thinker to the cognitional method of history and the analysis of poetics prioritizes in further. It is declared that the attitude to history as a text leads D.S. Merezhkovsky to the aestheticization of the Past. The paradoxical nature of genre synthesis in the historiosophical novel, which T.I. Dronova brought out due to the conjugation of concrete historical and metahistorical narrative plans, has a deep impression. The monograph convincingly reveals the features of the artistic embodiment of the author’s historiosophical concept in the trilogy Christ and the Antichrist, as D.S. Merezhkovsky leads the reader outside the concrete historical epoch to metahistorical conflicts. The question of the nature of artistic historicism in the trilogy The Kingdom of the Beast is actualized, the author analyses the importance of the “historicity of narrative” problem for the Writer. A large section of the monograph about the nature of connections in the prose of the 1920–1930s (A. Platonov, M. Bulgakov, M. Aldanov) with D. Merezhkovsky’s works is also of interest.

Феминизация топонима: «Петропавловская крепость» М. М. Шкапской

The paper examines the urban originality of the poetic diptych by M. M. Shkapskaya “Peter and Paul Fortress” (1922). The author highlights the way the “Russian Bastille” is perceived in the literary tradition and in which of the reception lines the poetess fits herself. The architectural structure receives an individual author's interpretation, becoming the bride of Peter the Great in M.M. Shkapskaya`s creative world. Thus, one of the key motifs of the poetess's creativity (the motif of motherhood) develops. The study shows that the image of the Petropavlovsk bride originates in the poem “About Petersburg” (1915), written in Toulouse. The poetess likens St. Petersburg to a bride “with a smoky crumpled veil”. The unexpected feminization of the city, to which the literary tradition attributes a “masculine” character (in comparison with the “feminine” Moscow), does not receive further development in the poem, remaining unexplained. After the revolution, the image of bride reappears in Shkapskaya's poetry. Using the example of a specific locus of St. Petersburg, the poetess builds a historiosophical concept associated with Peter I. The Peter and Paul Fortress turns out to be the bride of the first Russian emperor, raising his children. Shkapskaya's poem should be considered as a response to the discussion of the early 1920s about the role of Peter I in the history of Russia. The fortress becomes a symbol of the historical existence of the city, which did not stop with the arrival of the Bolsheviks.

ОЛЕНІВСЬКИЙ ТЕРАКТ ЯК АКТ СВІДОМОГО НИЩЕННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ЯФЕТИЧНОЇ ЕЛІТИ

The tragedy in Olenivka on July 29, 2022, forced historiographers to rethink the deliberate destruction of the Ukrainian elite, including the military, by the Russians. This trend was traced back to imperial times, continued by the сommunists, and «revived» by the modern Russian neo-fascist government. Ideological warfare is waged not only against specific historical figures, but also against the very ideal of the Ukrainian elite, which was best described by the prominent historiosophist V. Lypynskyi as «Japhethic». The eradication of prisoners from Azov Regiment as the elite of the Ukrainian army is a deliberate partial genocide of the people, an attempt to level the Ukrainian statehood itself, which is supported by a military elite that consciously professes and shares national traditions and values. The aim of the article is to provide a historiosophical analysis of the ideological foundations of the terrorist attack in Olenivka as an act of deliberate destruction of the Ukrainian Japhethic elite (according to the historiosophical concept of V. Lypynskyi), including: understanding the role of the Azov Regiment as a symbol of the military elite in modern history; identifying possible ideological causes of the terrorist attack in Olenivka; proving the importance of a comprehensive study of the tragedy in Olenivka for understanding the confrontation between the Ukrainian national ideal and the «Russian world». Methodology. The main methods of the study are descriptive and historiosophical analysis, comparative historical method (in particular, when comparing the ideological background of the tragedies in Katyn and Olenivka), generalization, inductive method (finding out the ideological causes of the tragedy on the basis of specific historical facts). Scientific novelty. The causes of the genocide of the Japhethic Ukrainian elite as carriers of the national ideal have not been studied by Ukrainian historians, so the article contains scientific novelty. Conclusions. Understanding all aspects of the confrontation between the Ukrainian national elite ideal and the anti-ideals of Russian neo-nazism, including the ideological basis of the massacre of the people from Azov Regiment, will help restore historical justice and prevent manifestations of partial genocide by the military elite in the future.

О парадоксах времени истории

The article is an attempt to comprehend the radical changes in the historical self-con­sciousness of the modern era and their impact on modern political practices. The position of the author is that our attitude to the time of history crystallizes deep transformations of the political sphere. It is shown that the historicity regime at the turn of the 20th–21st centuries is characterized by an orientation towards today’s needs and interests (so-called presentism) and at the same time increased attention to the past (“memorial revolution”), which, in the absence of major socio-political projects of the future, plays the role of a consolidating social factor. These changes required, on the one hand, significant efforts by historians to revise the methodological foundations of their science and, on the other hand, philosophical reflection on key historiosophical concepts and mean­ings. The most significant discussions concern, first of all, the concept of the past in its relation to the present, “modernity”. Understanding the ontological and epistemological foundations of these concepts has become today a “bone of contention” in building mod­ern political strategies and practices. The article demonstrates how the past from the con­cept of clear and self-evident, as it appeared within the framework of the historicist con­cepts of the Modern era, has become a philosophical and political problem in our days. There are two approaches to solving this problem. These are, firstly, those philosophers and historians who defend the modernist idea of the past as different in relation to the present, although they significantly modify it with the help of the idea of a “living past”. And secondly, those philosophers who defend the thesis about the “non-past” of the past and the continuation of its existence in the present. It is concluded that, with all the differ­ences, both types of concepts proceed from the concept of “living past”, which implies a non-linear and “multi-layered” understanding of historical time.

Mykola Kostomarov’s historiosophical views on Ukrainian history: formation and evolution

The aim of the article is to study the formation and further evolution of Mykola Kostomarov’s historiosophical views on Ukrainian history, to determine the essence of his historiosophical concept. Research methods are historiosophical analysis and synthesis. Sources of the article: autobiographical, scientific, journalistic, polemical and historical works of M. I. Kostomarov, archival materials, the latest works of modern historians. The main results: the author analyzes the historiosophical heritage of the thinker from the first half of the 1840s to the mid of the 1880s. The article proves that in the second dissertation M. I. Kostomarov approved his credo as a historian of the romantic and patriotic trend, put the past of the people in the context of their linguistic and cultural heritage, their consciousness, spiritual, historical and social life. It is emphasized that romantic and patriotic ideas led the intellectual to comprehending the national character and the national ideal and to understanding the national idea as a core in the historical process. It is shown that in the mid-1840s Kostomarov’s historiosophical views were based on the ideas of Ukrainian patriotism, historical romanticism, Christocentrism, utopian socialism, messianism, republicanism, Cossack and Slavic love. During the period of activity of the Cyril and Methodius Society, the thinker went beyond national culture and joined the socio-political issues. M. I. Kostomarov was aware of the past and present of the Ukrainian people through the prism of democracy and freedom, and he represented the future of Ukraine in the democratic federation of sovereign Slavic peoples. After the defeat of the Cyril and Methodius Society, his arrest, imprisonment and exile, the scholar continued to assert the Ukrainian national principle in history, which he opposed to autocratic despotism. In the early 1860s the thinker outlined the concept of the Rus people, which was embodied in two nationalities. This was the evidence of double loyalty phenomenon and identity in his self-consciousness. At the same time, he did not think about the present and historical future of Ukraine outside the empire, although he advocated the preservation of Ukrainian ethnocultural identity, emphasizing the manifestations of the federalist principle in the past. With the rise of Russification and conservative-protective tendencies in the domestic policy of the tsarist regime, he was forced to make significant concessions, speaking of the necessity for “close merging and interaction” of the Ukrainian and Russian nationalities. However, the Ukrainian figure did not betray the idea of national and cultural revival of Ukrainians. Brief conclusions. In essence, Kostomarov’s historiosophical conception represented a synthesis of the ideas of historical romanticism, Ukrainian patriotism, and Christian values, and it was patriotic, federalist, dualistic in the sense of national consciousness and identity. However, it contributed to the ideological separation of the Ukrainian historical process from the Polish and Russian ones in time and space. The practical significance of the article: it can be of interest to historians, young scientists and students in the process of studying Ukrainian historiosophy. The originality of the article is in understanding the insufficiently studied aspects of the intellectual heritage of M. I. Kostomarov. Scientific novelty: the original interpretation of the formation and evolution of historiosophical ideas of M. I. Kostomarov. Article type: analytical.

“Nevertheless, “Dim” Is Coming”: Extracts from an Article by M. Kutorga in F. M. Dostoevsky’s Manuscripts

“A Writer’s Diary” is an example of the unique journalistic style of Dostoevsky, who worked in many journalistic genres, including political review. The writer analyzed current domestic and international events, relying on a large volume of the metropolitan, provincial and foreign press, as well as appealing to examples from distant and recent history. Extracts from an article by the Russian antiquarian M. S. Kutorga, found in the working materials for “A Writer’s Diary” for 1876, are a vivid example of such appeals. Dostoevsky is interested in the thoughts of Plato and Aristotle cited by Kutorga about tyranny, democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, and also about Solon’s reforms. This article provides a factual and textual commentary on the extracts, determines their connection with the contents of the 1875–1876 notebook. The facts of ancient history, interpreted by the ancient Greek philosophers and, subsequently, by the Russian historian, resonate with the historiosophical concept of Dostoevsky, who defends the monarchical and Orthodox positions.

Только сакральная национальная идея спасет Россию

In analyzing the essence of the Russian national idea and the way of reviving spiritual and moral values, it is necessary not only to understand the causes and events that destroyed the Soviet state, but also to build a program of overcoming the systemic crisis based on our own historical experience in the historical and philosophical context. The power perceived in Ancient Russia, along with the adoption of Christianity, gained sacredness from Byzantium, which absorbed all the experience of Antiquity, Ancient Judea and the Roman Empire. The article formulates a historiosophical concept, defines the systemic crisis of statehood, and outlines a way out of the time of troubles through the genuine institution of democracy in Russia, the Zemsky Sobor (Russian People's Assembly), which is inherent in Russian civilization.) from the indigenous classes: the clergy and the peasantry, the officers and the Cossacks, the merchants and the resurgent Russian entrepreneurship, the workers and peasants, the scientific and engineering and creative elite.

Lermontov’s Sketch “Russia Has no Past...” in Context of “Eastern Question”: to Problem of Poet’s Artistic Historiosophy

The subject of the study was the content of Lermontov’s autograph “Russia has no past...” from the “Notebook donated by V. F. Odoevsky” in the aspect of the poet’s historical views. The purpose of the article is connected with the establishment of the historical and cultural genesis of the text and the clarification of its meaning in the context of Lermontov’s work, Russian-Caucasian interaction, as well as the historiosophical concepts of the first third of the 19th century. The research methodology is connected with textological, historical-genetic, cultural-historical, comparative-historical approaches to text analysis. The specific tools are the description of the autograph, as well as the preparation of a textological passport that reflects the technical aspects of the handwritten text. Lermontov’s note is presented in the context of a dialogue with contemporaries and folklore tradition. The historical and literary context of Lermontov’s note, its allusions to the facts of sociohistorical thought and images of Russian literature emphasize Lermontov’s patriotism. As a result of the study, Lermontov’s protoPan-Slavic concept was reconstructed, which correlates with ideas about the ways of Russia’s development as a great power. The conclusion of the study was the understanding of Lermontov’s sketch “Russia has no past...” as an emanation of the poet’s reflections on relations between Russia and the Caucasus in the aspect of the “Eastern question”.

Цивилизационная уникальность России, ее основополагающие ценности и исторический путь: взгляд Ф.М. Достоевского

The study of Dostoevsky’s project is in line with the search for a single Russian project of civilizational development, i.e. own model of life structure (form of government, value system, etc.), studying the cultural and civilizational charac­teristics of Russia and understanding the foundations of national identity. The ar­ticle reconstructs the project of the development of Russia, presented in the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky, and in this context the problems of the origin of the state, the secularization of the church, relations between morality and poli­tics, the church and the state, state and church court, Russia and the Western countries, the stages of civilizational development are considered, the concepts of vsechelovecheskoe and universal are analyzed; three levels of understanding of the universal in the writings of the writer are revealed. The study opens up the metaphysical foundations of Dostoevsky’s project, on the basis of which the writer points out the existence of a universal connection between people, and as­serts the need for the integration of humanity on a new basis in the General Syn­thesis. The article reveals the fundamental values of Russian civilization, which, according to the writer, are brotherhood, universality and vsechelovechnost, in­extricably linked with Orthodoxy. The author traces the development of Dosto­evsky’s socio-political and religious-moral ideas in the philosophy of the begin­ning of the 20th century. The socio-philosophical views of Dostoevsky are considered in the context of the ecclesiastical and historiosophical concepts of Aleksey Khomyakov, Vladimir Solovyov, Nikolay Danilevsky, Konstantin Leon­tiev and others. The article concludes about the relevance of the questions posed by Dostoevsky and the solutions proposed by him. It is shown that Dostoevsky’s ideas, being rethought and filled with new content, exist in modern public con­sciousness. The writer offers examples of new ways of human-human, human-social interaction, and interaction between social communities. The ultimate goal of his project is the transformation of the individual and society.

«А МОГЛО БЫТЬ ИНАЧЕ»: ИСТОРИЯ РОССИЙСКОГО ГОСУДАРСТВА В ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИИ Б. АКУНИНА

The article examines B. Akunin’s project “History of the Russian State” in the aspect of historiosophical concept of the writer, implemented both in historical volumes and in a series of artistic accompaniments to them. It is shown that the project is generally characterized by the special modality of the possible, but not accomplished, the constant articulation of failure’s significance, the specific author’s intonation related to the constant feeling of a missed choice of a more successful historical path. In the writer’s historical narrative, the space of unrealized possibilities is explained both by the special geographical position of the country and by the psychological and even psychophysiological oddities of the main history figures. In artistic applications the author’s optics are changing. If the method of psychological deciphering becomes the dominant technique in historical volumes, then in fiction accompaniments the emphasis is on demonstrating the role of chance and occasionality in formation and development of the Russian state. It is realized by the technique of retroprognostication, forcing the reader to remember (not without disappointment) that history does not know the conjunctive mood.

Mythopoetic Worldview of Bunin: Linguistic and Literary and Cultural Analysis Aspects

The results of the analysis of semantic groups of mythonyms of the poetic heritage of I. A. Bunin as means of explication of various historical-informational and cultural-symbolic worldview meanings are presented in the article. The relevance of the work is due to the interest of literary onomastics in identifying units of the onomastic code of artistic and aesthetic systems of various domestic and foreign writers. The novelty of the work is associated with the inclusion of lexical units with different ratios of the nominated image and denotation into the Bunin mythonymicon, with the synthesis of linguistic and literary-cultural approaches in characterizing each of the selected lexical units. The twelve described semantic groups of mythological names are organized in the form of a field with a core and peripheral parts. For each group, the features of contextual use are noted. The authors come to the conclusion that in the Bunin picture of the world, mythonyms of various semantics perform text-forming and meaning-forming functions. They not only represent archetypal images (Fire, Bottom, Feminine, Garden, etc.), axiological oppositions (light — darkness, good — evil, etc.), key ideas, themes and motives (the idea of being still, themes of love, death, motives of temptation, resurrection, dreams, etc.), historiosophical concepts (moral choice and fortitude), but also participate in the creation of an individual author’s myth.

Славянские мотивы в трагедии Е. И. Замятина «Атилла»

The purpose of the study is to determine the function of the Slavic motifs in E. Zamyatin’s tragedy “Atilla”. The article considers the Slavic motifs in the aspect of the internal reserve of the motif complex as one of the forms of ensuring artistic integrity of the work which displays features of the author’s presence in the text. The study is novel in that it is the first to consider forms of the Slavic motifs representation in the play “Atilla” and identify their role. The research findings have shown that the Slavic motifs in the text act as a kind of markers that manifest Zamyatin’s historiosophical concept, whose formation was based on D. I. Ilovaysky’s views; the Slavic motifs function in the play is to reference not only artistic images but also the entire artistic-semantic structure of the work.

«ИСТОЛКОВАТЬ ЯВЛЕНИЕ ПЕТРА ИЗ ЗАКОНОВ РАЗВИТИЯ ИДЕИ…» – РАЗМЫШЛЕНИЯ О ПЕТРЕ ВЕЛИКОМ В ПУБЛИЦИСТИКЕ А.И. ГЕРЦЕНА

Herzen’s historiosophical concept in general and his attitude to the transformations of the first Russian emperor in particular were largely determined by the specifics of the Russian public dialogue in the second third of the 19th century. A.I. Herzen’s understanding of the historical role of Peter the Great changed in the course of the evolution of his historiosophical concept. From the admiration for the monarch’s transformative energy and the commitment for the Europe’s ideal through the humanistic criticism of absolutism and the skepticism towards European values, Herzen came to recognize Peter’s activities as a catalyst of social discontent and ferment, which in the future will lead Russia to a revolution of a special type, different from the bourgeois revolutions of the European model.

National, Regional, or Just Catholic?—Dilemmas of Church Art in a German–Polish Borderland. Upper Silesia, 1903–1953

The rise of nationalism threatened the integrity of the Catholic milieu in borderlands such as Prussian Upper Silesia. Facing this challenge, the ecclesiastical elite developed various strategies. This article presents interpretations of sacred art works from the first half of the 20th century, which reveal different approaches to national discourses expressed in iconographic programs. The spectrum of attitudes includes indifference, active counteraction to the progress of nationalism by promoting a different paradigm of building temporal imagined communities, acceptance of nationalistic metaphysics, which assumes the division of humanity into nations endowed with a unique personality, and a synthesis of Catholicism and nationalism, in which national loyalties are considered a Christian duty. The last position proved particularly expansive. Based on the primordialist concept of the nation and the historiosophical concept of Poland as a bulwark of Christianity, the Catholic-national ideology gained popularity among the pro-Polish clergy in the inter-war period. This was reflected in Church art works, which were to present Catholicism as the unchanging essence of the nation and the destiny of the latter resulting from God’s will. This strategy was designed to incorporate Catholic Slavophones into the national community. The adoption of a different concept of the nation by the pro-German priests associated with the Centre Party—with a stronger emphasis on the subjective criteria of national belonging—resulted in greater restraint in expressing national contents in sacred spaces.