Russian Idea Research Articles

From the ‘Russian idea’ to the ‘Russian World’

Abstract The article examines the concept of the ‘Russian idea’ and its transformation into a conservative political ideology for the establishing of the so-called ‘Russian world’ in contemporary Russia. The analysis focuses on three levels of conceptual development of this idea: at the level of political technologies—a state level, at the level of university philosophy, and at the level of militarized so-called Z-philosophy. At the state level, the author argues, this idea represents a specific set of values aimed at creating a state identity of Russians and emphasizing their exclusive position in the modern world. At the level of university philosophy, it turns out to be an ontological concept used to demonstrate the necessary teleological character of the Russian idea. The Russian idea of Z-philosophers appears as a purely ideological construct serving the political establishment and justifying the war against Ukraine. In this connection some ideas of Aleksandr Dugin concerning the concept of the Russian idea are discussed.

«Русская идея» Вл. Соловьева и «О русской идее» Вяч. Иванова: риторика пророческого слова и тезаурус мысли

The paper examines the significance of the philosophy of all-unity and moral philosophy of Vladimir Solovyov based on the little-studied problem of comparative analysis of his essay “The Russian Idea” (1888) and Vyacheslav Ivanov’s essay “On the Russian Idea” (1909). Ivanov's essay was supplemented and published in Germany in German language under the title “The Russian Idea” (“Die Russische Idee”) (1930). Both essays address the issues of overcoming the crisis of humanistic and religious consciousness in Russia and Europe. The cultural-philosophical ideas and thesaurus of the essays are analyzed. The thesaurus approach, as a basis for comparative analysis, allows for the identification of constants in the thinking of Solovyov and Ivanov, which are based on the concepts of “the Russian idea”, “Russia and Europe”, “national idea and nationalism”, “religious consciousness”, “religious culture and all-world unity” and “Christian revival”. It is shown that in Ivanov's understanding, the concept of “the Russian idea” represents the ideal of a revived Christian self-consciousness, similar to that of Solovyov and his predecessor F.M. Dostoevsky. It serves as “the first principle” of religious and national self-determination and stands in opposition to the notion of “nationalism”. These issues are also addressed in Ivanov's essay “The Religious Case of Vladimir Solovyov” (1916), his collection of essays “Native and Universal” (1917), and his book “Dostoevsky: Tragedy – Myth – Mysticism” (1932). Analyzing the thesaurus of Solovyov's and Ivanov's essays leads to the conclusion that they are characterized by rhetoric based on universal words, which are united by the symbolic significance of the concept of “the Russian idea”. Its meaning is determined by the humanistic and religious mission of Russia, which is important for preserving a space of cultural and religious unity between Russia and Europe, overcoming enmity among nations, nationalism, and authoritarianism. A comparative analysis is conducted between the ideas of Solovyov and Ivanov and the problematic aspects of Oswald Spengler's book “The Decline of the West” (1918–1922). The cultural-philosophical prophecy of Spengler regarding the cyclicality and “decline” of European culture is considered. The problem of the revival of Christian culture on the basis of the “Russian idea”, which represents the direction of thought of Solovyov, Ivanov, Dostoevsky, is of interest for understanding the meaning of Solovyov's Christian universalism, the ideas of which are relevant today.

RUSSIAN SOCIALISM OF N.G. CHERNYSEVSKY AND RUSSIAN IDEA OF F.M. DOSTOEVSKY

The article deals with the polemics between Dostoevsky and Chernyshevsky as a factor in the formation of the Russian idea in the works of the author of “Notes from Underground” and “Crime and Punishment”. For the first time the Russian idea of Dostoevsky is considered from the standpoint of polemics as a source of the factor of the evolution of the writer's literary views and his hero, the movement from the underground man to the anti-hero who personifies the values of Christianity in the process of transformation. His comparison of the social ideal in philosophy, journalism and the work of the two writers is subordinated to the understanding of the factors of Russian realism and its two branches, appealing to Christianity - Chernyshevsky's secularization of it and Dostoevsky's apologia of Christo centricity. Comparative-philosophical, historical and literary analyses contribute to the identification of the factors of formation and specificity of Dostoevsky's Russian idea. The object of the article is Chernyshevsky's ideal of Russian socialism and Dostoevsky's religious utopian system of views. The polemic of the writers is analysed in the aspect of differences in the philosophical foundations of the two writers and the phenomenology of Dostoevsky's hero's consciousness. The concepts of suffering and guilt as components of Dostoevsky's Russian idea draw the main boundary between idealistic and rationalistic utopias as two branches of Russian realism. Establishing the connection between the philosophical and literary views of the writers actualises the role of Christianity in the model of social reorganisation of Russia.

Russian ideas. Discursive organisation of Vladimir Sharov’s novel “Return to Egypt”

The article investigates the discursive organisation of novels by our contemporary writer Vladimir Sharov (1952–2018). As a model of such an organisation, typical of V. Sharov’s works in general, we study the structure of the novel “Return to Egypt” (2013). It combines the thematic discourse of national consciousness and culture (on the role of Russian literature, on the cyclical nature of Russian history, on the significance of its split, on the nature of Russian revolutions, etc.), which are translated into the author’s novelistic discourse. According to the author, palimpsest interposition of discourse pieces creates a model of national identity. In the work, discourse analysis is carried out in the paradigm of M. Foucault’s interpretation of discourse. Discursive interactions determine the historiosophy of the author, based, as the analysis has shown, on the ideas of Russian religious philosophy. Within the novel, the discursive model works as a hierarchy, where the metanarrative (usually based on a biblical motif or other mythologeme) is immersed in the diverse pieces of national history discourse, manifesting their archetypal meanings.

Образы России в прозе Ю.В. Мамлеева

The author of the article examines the dynamics of images of Russia in the works of art of Yu. V. Mamleyev. In the writer’s early works there is no refl ection on Russia as a historical and cultural whole. Mamleyev depicts the hidden world of Soviet marginals who undermine their consciousness with crimes and sexual deviations. The fear of death awakens the attraction to it and the desire of the heroes to know death, finding themselves in an uncertain state between life and death. The image of “external” Russia in Mamleyev’s early works is also deeply pathological and demonstrates all kinds of mental disorders among its inhabitants. The writer’s departure for emigration awakened an interest in artistic reflection on the present and future of Russia in him. Now madness and lack of depth (two-dimensionality) seem to the author to be its essential characteristics. The story “Reflection” captures this image of Russia, which has lost its cultural identity and is deprived of historical memory. After returning to his homeland, the writer’s work became increasingly marked by apocalyptic motifs, characteristic of the national cultural tradition. In the novel “After the End,” Mamleyev creates an image of Russia in the distant future after the End of the World. It is inhabited by creatures deprived of the image and likeness of God, and seized by all kinds of madness. Their existence is an existence between life and death. It’s unbearable. But there are only two ways to get out of it: either to disappear completely from all levels of reality, or to leave the divine Creation into the Abyss of Non-Existence, devoid of any potential. In both cases, this means the end of the Russian Idea, the end of Russia. The author’s inability to fi nd an artistic embodiment of a different, positive image and meaning of Russia’s existence forces him to turn to philosophical journalism, where he constructs his ideal of “eternal Russia.”

Henry H. Remak. ‘Comparative literature at the crossroads: Diagnosis, therapy, and prognosis’

Henry H. Remak established his reputation as one of the active and productive participants in the comparative literature ‘crisis’ events, and it is no wonder that his extensive contribution prefaced the summing-up issue of the Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature (1960, Vol. 9, pp. 1–28) where the discussion started five years earlier. A Jewish émigré to the USA from the fascist Germany, Remak stood in the position that provided him an opportunity to bring together the approach and ideas advanced by American and European scholars. Ready to acknowledge the former French achievement, he avoided the extremes of its ‘old factualism’ and adopted a broader cultural position supported by analogy studies. He closed his article pinpointing general tendencies and embraced among them some Russian ideas concerning translation (the Russian formalists, Zhirmunsky) and ‘transition in cyclic stages’ (Plekhanov); though not directly, but through Gleb Struve, Remak was introduced to Aleksandr Veselovsky’s poetics of plot and his ‘theory of borrowings.’ Remak closes his article in hopes of growing cooperation in comparative literature, when many new factors would be brought in to provide a multidisciplinary character to this approach.

The Problems of the “Russian Idea” and the “Kosovo Testament” in the Comparative Study of the Works by F. M. Dostoevsky and P. P. Njegosh

lassics – F. M. Dostoevsky and P. P. Njegosh; representatives of Russian and Serbian literatures, outstanding religious writers of the 19th century – becomes especially relevant. The scientifi c novelty is the fact that for the fi rst time the issue of comparative analysis of the poetics and problems of the works by Dostoevsky and Njegosh is raised, as well as the fact that the concepts of the “Russian way” and the “Kosovo Testament” at the comparative level have not been the subject of a separate study to date. The purpose of the work is to identify the connection between the concepts of the “Russian idea” and the “Kosovo Testament”, refl ected in the complex artistic worlds of Dostoevsky and Njegosh. Particular attention is paid to the problems of comparative historical literary criticism in modern conditions. An attempt is made to review Russian and foreign scientifi c works on comparative literary studies – when comparing ontological problems in the works of the analyzed authors. To achieve the goal, an integrated approach is used, which includes a number of classical methods – biographical, comparative, mythopoetic, and intertextual analysis. Using the biographical method, the author demonstrates how the concepts of the “Russian idea” and the “Kosovo Testament” arose and developed in the life and work of the Russian and Serbian authors. With the help of comparative analysis, the problems of faith and reason, conciliarity, and national identity that are of deep interest to both writers are revealed. By means of the mythopoetic method, the author tried to characterize the concept of the “Kosovo Testament” and display the reasons for its emergence. We make a conclusion that both writers touch upon gospel themes in their artistic testament. On the one hand, the novelist Dostoevsky focuses on the issues of redemption of sin, on the other hand, in Njegosh’s lyrics, personal destiny is intertwined with national destiny, microcosm with macrocosm, and the issues of knowledge of God and the origin of the world are touched upon. Finally, the mutual infl uence of Dostoevsky’s “Russian idea” and Njegosh’s “Kosovo Testament” contributes to the enrichment of national literatures and the enrichment of comparative literary discourse.

СИМВОЛИЗМ В ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОМ ПРОЦЕССЕ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ НА ПРИМЕРЕ ВЕНЧАНИЯ ГЕОРГИЯ РОМАНОВА

The subject of this article is the political reaction in Russia to the wedding ceremony of the head of the Romanov Imperial House as a symbol of the formation of the monarchical idea in Russia. The analysis of the reaction of various political forces to the perfect symbolic act of the political process is carried out. On the example of the wedding of Georgy Romanov, the political reaction of church, secular, administrative, as well as foreign circles as an important phenomenon of the political process is considered.

Рецепция «Русской идеи» в контексте переосмысления представлений о прошлом

The article presents the results of a study of the reception of the "Russian idea" in the context of rethinking the concepts of "past", "tradition", "continuity". Methodological innovations are highlighted, the sequence of which led to a rethinking of the relationship between the past and the present and allowed us to formulate the theory of reception as a methodological basis for the perception of broadcast ideas. Two types of reception of ideas are distinguished: spontaneous and theoretical. It is shown that any attempts to think of the "Russian idea" outside the dialectical unity of universality and "Russianness" turn it either into a nationalist idea or into a logically contradictory concept. The theoretical reception of the "Russian idea" does not consist in searching for or defending its specific formulations but in restoring and clarifying the ambivalent nature of its inherent universality, the meaning of which Russian religious philosophy derives from Byzantine culture. Among the historical conditions for the articulation of the "Russian idea" is the decisive role played by the emancipation of culture that began in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century, when thinkers, writers, poets, and publicists turned into heralds of ideas and leaders of the masses. This creates prerequisites not only for the articulation of the "Russian idea" but also for its subsequent reception within the framework of socio-political discourse. The Russian idea concept is articulated by representatives of the Russian religious Renaissance as a philosophical system based on the principle of unity, the ambivalent meaning of which is derived from the Byzantine culture. The specificity of the universalism of the "Russian idea" discovered in the course of theoretical reception allows us to correlate the Messianism inherent in it with the highlighted meanings of unity. The Russian idea is "loaded" with interpretations that turn it into a set of competing ideologies and is unilaterally associated with the peculiarities of national identity and Russian mentality as a result of the transfer to the field of political discourse.

Этос и хронос Владимира Сергеевича Соловьева

The paper presents the theses of reflections of a member of the editorial board of the journal “Solovyov Studies”, which complement the discussion of the topic “Vladimir Solovyov and the Future of Russian Philosophy” held within the framework of the international “round table”. The special role and significance of the journal “Solovyov Studies” in the scientific study of the work of the outstanding Russian religious thinker is pointed out. Over the decades of its existence, the journal has published hundreds of scientific articles by highly qualified domestic and foreign authors, outstanding scientists and novice researchers who have made a significant contribution to the study of the work of Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. These works are in demand today in a variety of areas of humanities – in cultural studies and philosophy, history of literature, literary criticism, religious studies and theology. This work also presents a thesis statement of the conceptual ideas of V.S. Solovyov, which have not lost their relevance in our days, but on the contrary, have acquired special acuteness and significance. In particular, it is shown that the “theocratic project” of the thinker, despite its seeming utopianism, attracts the attention of not only intellectuals, but also public and political figures in the West and in Russia. In modern Russian society, the topic of the ethos and chronos of the “Russian idea” is again being discussed with particular acuteness. One of its sources was precisely the philosophy of V.S. Solovyov. Russia, in the understanding of V.S. Solovyov, realizes God's plan for it, this is its providential ethos. Its historical mission is simultaneously moral (ethos) and providential (chronos) – it is the mission of uniting Christian civilization.

Zootropes in V.I. Dal

INTRODUCTION. The article examines human nominations formed using animal names (zootropes) included by V.I. Dal in the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language”. This aspect of the analysis of the work, unique in its composition and volume of vocabulary, has not previously been the subject of research. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that Dal’s dictionary presents a real, living language used in a vast territory of Russia. The purpose of the study is an analytical description of the animal names used to designate and characterize, evaluate a person in Dal’s dictionary (19th century), as well as identifying nominations preserved in the modern language, according to the lexicography of the 21st century.MATERIALS AND METHODS. The research material is zootropes contained in the “Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language” by V.I. Dal: in the heading of the article, in the text and illustrations, as well as the latest version of the “Large Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language” of 2014. Semantic, comparative, word-formation and pragmatic methods were used.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. About 90 units naming animals (beasts, birds, fish, insects, snakes and reptiles) were identified, which native speakers in the 19th century used to designate humans. 80 % of them are included in the corpus of zootropes of the modern Russian language and are recorded in modern lexicography of the 21st century. As the analysis shows, the names of animals are used to characterize a person’s appearance, internal qualities and behavior, to express a positive, sharp negative assessment and abuse.CONCLUSION. Zootropes of the modern Russian language constitute a significant layer of vocabulary that has absorbed traditional Russian ideas about their values. The most important condemned human qualities that are designated with the help of zootropes in the 19th and 21st centuries are greed, anger, untidiness and sloppiness, immodesty, and uncommunicativeness.

Русская идея: понятие, проблемное поле, современные интерпретации

The article is devoted to the concept of Russian idea and its interpretations in the works of Russian thinkers of the late 19th – early 21st century. At first, the author of the article analyzes the concepts of V.S. Solovyov and V.I. Ivanov, their main theses in works on the Russian idea. Then he proceeds to consider the book by N.A. Berdyaev “Russian idea”, which covers all ideological diver­sity in the works of Russian thinkers of the 19th – early 20th century. For N.A. Berdyaev “Russian idea” is the idea of community (“commonality”), “brotherhood of people and peoples”, turned to future universal salvation. On the example of the works of V.S. Solovyov, V.I. Ivanov and N.A. Berdyaev, the author of the article shows general problem field, which includes various as­pects of research in connection with the “Russian idea”. From Russian thinkers of the late 19th – first half of the 20th century the author of the article goes on to analyze works on the Russian idea of the beginning of the 21st century. In these studies, the authors not only follow the tradition established by their pre­decessors in understanding Russian idea, but try to make additions and offer their own interpretations (A.V. Gulyga, V.I. Gidirinsky, S.N. Kocherov, O.V. Pa­rilov, V.Yu. Kondratyev). An exception to the general direction is A.G. Dugin, proposing not just to explore Russian idea, but to reveal on the basis of M. Hei­degger’s philosophy the “Russian Beginning”, which will become the leading idea for philosophizing in Russia, will create conditions for the “possibility of Russian philosophy”. Modern interest in the topic of “Russian idea” shows its relevance and the need for further philosophical research

Русский менталитет как модальная целостность

The aim of the article is to develop the author's interpretation of the Russian mentality, allowing it to be presented not through a set of features but as a whole, having a subjective status and expressed through its modes. The task posed in this way requires for its solution a rethinking of the content of the concept of mentality beyond the "homeland" of its appearance – anthropologically oriented history – and its introduction into the field of philosophical discourse. In historical science, various research approaches are aimed at studying different types of mentality, but they have in common the tradition of understanding mentality as an inferior form of thinking, not processed by consciousness, coming from L. Levy-Bruhl and the sociological school of E. Durkheim. In this capacity, mentality appears as a program, thanks to which human communities function as special wave-like objects, characterized by both variability and stability. It is shown that in the transition from the general abstract concept of mentality to its specific forms, the automatism of its action decreases; Russian mentality as a form of the special has a subjective status, responding to the challenges of anthropogenesis not only by transforming the cognitive schemes and mental structures of cultural and historical subjects but also by forming new cultural meanings. In contrast to the general concept of mentality as an ensemble of ideas and intellectual attitudes that acts as a prism between man and the world, Russian mentality as a form of the special acts as an acting subject that leaves traces in culture. A conclusion is made about the legitimacy of using a subjective modal attitude expressing the modality of expression of will for studying Russian mentality. The modal approach to Russian mentality allows us to analyze it as a way of setting the due (fixed by the operator "necessary") and the volitional, expressing various types of motivation of actions by a volitional attitude to implement or not implement these actions (fixed by the attitude "I want"). As a modal integrity, the Russian mentality realizes its subjectivity through the modes of "Russian soul", "Russian spirit", and "Russian idea", which serve as a prototype of unity and the "assembly point" of the Russian people into a single whole.

To Cancel or Not to Cancel? – Questioning the Russian Idea

To Cancel or Not to Cancel? – Questioning the Russian Idea

Commissioned Book Review: Andrei P Tsygankov, The ‘Russian Idea’ in International Relations: Civilization and National Distinctiveness (Worlding Beyond the West Series)

Commissioned Book Review: Andrei P Tsygankov, <i>The ‘Russian Idea’ in International Relations: Civilization and National Distinctiveness (Worlding Beyond the West Series)</i>

The concept of an ideocratic state

Relevance.It is quite obvious that the modern world has entered a new stage of its development, the prospects of which are very vague. The model of the mondial world order with its ideas of faceless globalization, depopulation, universalization, de-Christianization, etc. are rejected by Russia. Recently, in political discourse and in official strategic planning documents, Russia has been called a civilization state with a pronounced identity. In the Russian conservative legal doctrine, the definition of specific features of Russia's state identity was a key topic, and the priority of intangible values was noted as the main feature of Orthodox civilization. It is no coincidence that Russian socio-political thought has always been puzzled by the search for a Russian idea. In this regard, the concept of ideocratic statehood is of particular interest, the main meaning of which was to search for a key idea or system of ideas on the basis of which the state should be built.The aimis to reconstruct and interpret the theory of the ideocratic state of the Russian conservative political and legal doctrine of the late XIX - first half of the XX centuries.Research objectives:to study the evolution of the concept of an ideocratic state, to analyze its conceptual apparatus, to comprehend the importance of state ideology for the modern stage of development.Methodology.It is based on the historical method of cognition, which contributed to the disclosure of the evolution of the theory under study, the method of diachronic and synchronous comparison, as well as a problem-theoretical one, which allows determining the degree of modern relevance of the concept under study.Results.The conducted research allowed us to establish that the concept of ideocratic statehood was mainly formed in the works of representatives of the socio-political movement of Eurasians, which originated in the 20-30 years among Russian emigration. The most significant contribution to the theoretical development of the doctrine of the ideocratic state was made by N.N. Alekseev. It was he who generalized the ideas of the Eurasians, conceptualizing them into a legally sound theory of demotic ideocracy or a guarantee state.Conclusion.Ideocracy is a concept of governance based on the postulate of idealism, based on which the definition of the state as a single super-organic entity, where the idea shared by all the people rules.

The ‘Russian Idea’ in International Relations: civilization and national distinctiveness

The ‘Russian Idea’ in International Relations: civilization and national distinctiveness

KEY CONCEPTS OF THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE "RUSSIAN IDEA" IN A PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT

The author of the article presents a study on the dialectics of the universal spirit from the perspective of Russian philosophy. The interrelation of concepts such as "national spirit," "folk soul," "national self-consciousness," "national character," and others is analyzed. The significance of the "Russian idea" for Russian self-consciousness is shown, revealing the uniqueness of the worldview of the Russian people, basic traditional values, and the distinctive path of civilization development. A historical overview and the stages of the development of ideas about the "Russian idea" are provided, highlighting the peculiarities of the development of national self-consciousness. The author elaborates on the idea that the "Russian idea" is one of the philosophical foundations of national self-consciousness, representing a unique understanding of the Russian soul and national character. The author employs methods of historical-philosophical analysis and the cultural studies method, allowing for an analysis of the course of historical changes in ideas about the Russian idea over centuries.

Reception of Mandelbrot and his economic ideas in Russia

Reception of Mandelbrot and his economic ideas in Russia

Уникальность концепции русского пути в ракурсе философского познания

This paper explores the influence of various philosophical movements, such as Orthodox Christianity, Slavophilism, Westernism, and Eurasianism, on the formation of the distinct path of Russian civilization. It examines the contribution of the Russian emigration after the October Revolution to the development of the national idea, as well as the role of leading Russian thinkers like Ivan A. Ilyin, Nikolai A. Berdyaev, among others, in both apologetics for and criticizing the Russian idea. The study convincingly develops the thesis that the Russian path is not merely a quest for national distinctiveness but also a messianic idea, combining idealism and pragmatism in the pursuit of a synthesis of Eastern and Western cultures. Moreover, it evaluates the concept of the Russian path through the lens of historical uniqueness, Russia's cultural calling, and in the context of contemporary issues such as globalization, political life, and cultural identity. The author of the article raises issues of criticism and realism in philosophy, focusing on debates among representatives of various philosophical movements regarding the role of science, religion and social order in the Russian idea. It centers on concepts such as conciliarity, collectivism, and Russia's messianic role, which are juxtaposed with the individualism and rationalism of Western traditions. In conclusion, the discourse surrounding the concept of the Russian path, as explored through various philosophical lenses, unveils a complex interplay between historical context, cultural heritage, and contemporary challenges. The synthesis of Eastern and Western thought, embodied in the Russian idea, reflects not only a quest for national identity but also a broader aspiration for global significance. This study underscores the ongoing relevance of philosophical inquiry in understanding the trajectory of Russian civilization, inviting further exploration into the dynamics of national identity, cultural distinctiveness, and the global mission of the Russian people.