Decadent truncation: liberated Eros in Arthur Vincent Lourié's The Blackamoor of Peter the Great

2008 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-213
Author(s):  
KLÁRA MÓRICZ
Keyword(s):  
Subject Matter ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Silver Age ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Russian People ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
The Erotic ◽  
Musical Forms

AbstractRussian composer Arthur Vincent Lourié (1881/2–1966) dedicated his The Blackamoor of Peter the Great (1948–1961), an opera based on Pushkin's story about the poet's African great-grandfather, to ‘Russian culture, the Russian people and Russian history.’ Neoclassical in its subject matter, reliance on conventional musical forms, and adherence to tonality, Lourié's Blackamoor is nevertheless also an exemplary symbolist opera. This article explains three symbolist aspects of the work: the sources of its libretto (Lourié's librettist Irina Graham interspersed the libretto with symbolist texts), its multi-layered cultural associations, and Lourié's decision to liberate and embody the erotic drive of the main character Ibrahim by representing it as the figure of Eros. Eradicated during the years of Stalinist terror, the culture of Silver Age Russia thus continued to find a voice in the emigrant Lourié's last opera.

The History and Culture of Galician Rus’ as Viewed by Galician-Russian Enlighteners and National Activists in the 20th Century

2020 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 349-358
Author(s):  
Kirill V. Shevchenko
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Organic Part ◽  
Russian People ◽  
The First World War ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Russian Intelligentsia ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
First World

The article analyzes the views of the leading Galician-Russian socio-public and cultural activists of the 19th century on the history and culture of Galician Rus. Most Galician-Russian intelligentsia of the 19th century shared the idea of Galician Rusyns being an inseparable and organic part of the triune Russian people consisting of Great Russians, Little Russians and White Russians. Galician Rusyns were considered by Galician-Russian intelligentsia as a kinship branch of Little Russian people. Galician-Russian cultural figures stressed the primordial tradition of cultural and historical unity of all Russian lands as well as the important role of Galicia in common Russian history. Thus, they considered the native of Galicia Metropolitan Peter to be one of the major figures in mutual Russian history as he supported the policy of Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita and played the crucial role in turning Moscow into the church capital of Russian lands in early 14thcentury. Moreover, the Galicians and Little Russians by birth played very important role in developing Russian culture, education and public thought in the period of the 17th –19th centuries. Traditional orientation of Galician-Russian intelligentsia on Russian culture and Russian literary language in the 19th century was strongly opposed by the representatives of the Ukrainian movement, which supported the idea of Galician Rusyns being a part of the Ukrainians, not belonging to Russian nationality. Due to political reasons, Ukrainian movement was widely supported by Austrian and Polish authorities, who used the First World War as a suitable pretext for mass repressions against the representatives of Galician-Russian movement in Galician region.

Russian Idea, the

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Walicki
Keyword(s):  
Russian History ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
The Third ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
First Case ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time ◽  
Vladimir Solov'ev ◽  
Russian Idea

‘The Russian Idea’ is a term used by Russian thinkers to define specific features of Russian culture, the spiritual make-up of the Russian nation, the meaning of Russian history and, as a rule (although not always), Russia’s unique mission in the universal history of humanity. The term was introduced for the first time in 1861 by Dostoevskii, for whom the essence of the Russian Idea was the ‘universal humanity’ (or ‘all-humanity’) of the Russian spirit. At the same time however, Dostoevskii linked the Russian Idea with Russian imperial messianism. Thus, the notion of the Russian Idea included from its beginning a characteristic tension between striving for universalism and nationalist self-assertion.. The first philosopher to devote a special separate work to the Russian Idea (l’Idée russe, Paris, 1888) was Vladimir Solov’ëv, for whom the national idea was ‘not what a given nation thinks about itself in time, but what God thinks about it in eternity’. He was influenced by Dostoevskii but, challenging Russian nationalists, put much greater emphasis on universalism, stressing that the peculiar greatness of the Russians consisted in their capacity for ‘self-renunciation’. The first case of this self-renunciation was the so-called ‘calling of the Varangians’, that is, the voluntary acceptance of foreign rule; the second was the reforms of Peter the Great: rejection of native traditions for the sake of universal progress. Now the Russian nation should commit itself to the third, most important act of self-renunciation: to submit itself to the authority of the pope, restoring thereby the unity of the Universal Church and bringing about the reconciliation between East and West. But this act of humility was seen by Solov’ëv as a precondition from the fulfilment of Russia’s great mission of creating the universal, freely theocratic Christian Empire. Solov’ëv invoked in this connection the monk Philotheus’ idea of ‘Moscow as the Third Rome’ but reversed its meaning by putting emphasis on symbolic Rome, that is, not on national isolationism and keeping intact the purity of the Orthodox faith, but on ecumenical universalism and the messianic task of the Christian transformation of the world. Owing to Solov’ëv, the term ‘Russian Idea’ came to be applied retrospectively, as a designation of a set of problems characteristic for Russian philosophical discussions about the essence of ‘Russianness’. Most historians agree that these problems were formulated under the reign of Nicholas I and that the first thinker who posed them forcefully was Pëtr Chaadaev.

The soul of Russian culture

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evgeniy Kazakov
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Spiritual Life ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Silver Age ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Modern Russian

The monograph is devoted to the study of one of the "eternal" philosophical problems: the soul as a metaphysical essence of Russian culture, its structure, functioning and genesis. Special emphasis is placed on the analysis of the turning point for the modern Russian history of the Silver Age, which set the direction of events up to the present time. The study is the result of many years of work by the author, which is reflected in the books "The Genesis of spiritual life", "Soul: the metaphysics of self-determination", "Homo nudes", "The Heartbreaker". It is addressed to teachers, graduate students, students and anyone interested in the metaphysics of the existence of Russian culture.

scholarly journals An Archaic Layer of the Russian Revolution in the Ideological Field of Russian Religious Philosophy

2021 ◽  
Vol 163 (4–5) ◽  
pp. 230-237
Author(s):  
E.A. Nagornov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Historical Development ◽  
Philosophy Of History ◽  
Russian Revolution ◽  
Traditional Society ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Religious Philosophy ◽  
Silver Age ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Liberal Philosophy ◽  
Basic Ideas

This paper attempts to find out how the entire preceding course of Russian history predetermined the October Revolution’s outcome. With this aim, the structures and character of the Russian Revolution were analyzed by comparing the basic tenets of the theory of modified inversion cycles of historical development, introduced by the Russian sociologist A.S. Akhiezer, with the philosophical ideas of the representatives of Russian religious philosophy. It was suggested that the dominant Universalist view of revolution, with its idealization, should be replaced by M. Foucault’s singular “intermittent” method. As a result, the ideological affinity between the views of the modern liberal historical project on the Russian Revolution and the basic ideas of the philosophers of the Silver Age of Russian culture was revealed. Particular attention was paid to the “underdeveloped and undisclosed” character of personality in Russia (as understood by N.A. Berdyaev), which manifested itself most clearly in the phenomenon of the Revolution of 1917 and led to the triumph of pre-state and pre-political ideals of a traditional society. The legacy of Russian religious philosophy was reinterpreted by comparing it with the ideas of modern liberal philosophy of history.

scholarly journals A form of creating historical consciousness: The Russian academy and Varangian question

2015 ◽  
pp. 471-486
Author(s):  
Djordje Djuric
Keyword(s):  
18Th Century ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Russian People ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Ideological Attitudes

The establishment of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg gave a great impetus to the development of historiography in Russia, and likewise to the development of other sciences. The idea of establishing the Academy of Sciences in Russia came from Peter the Great. Because there did not exist a system of higher education or a university in Russia at that time, scientists who were to become the first members of the Academy, had to be brought in from abroad. The enlightened ruler did not regret spending effort and money for this purpose. Large sums of money were assigned to the purchase of books and to the salaries and awards of the future members of the Academy. The Academy started its activities in December 1725, and during the first few decades it was led by scientists from abroad, mainly from German countries. That was also the case with the Humanities Section, which, among other things, supposed to deal with Russian history. The bases for work at the Russian Academy in St. Petersburg in the following decades were set by: Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer, Gerhard Friedrich M?ller and August Ludwig von Schl?zer. On the bases of the Russian historical material that they collected, primarily Nestorov letopis (Nestor?s chronicle) that describes the events of the 9th century, they came to far-reaching conclusions about the origin of the Russian people and the establishment of the Russian state and its institutions. This way was opened the so called Varangian question and formulated Norman theory of the origin of the Russians. In the first half of the 18th century, Russian historian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, academician Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov and other Russian scientists opposed to these theories. During the 19th century, these theories were accepted, with certain modifications, by the most distinguished Russian bourgeois historians Karamzin, Soloviev, Pagodin and others. The Bolsheviks mostly rejected these theories or they were simplified and reduced to the social segment that the Russian people were oppressed, and that the majority the oppressor elite was of foreign origin. As is the case with the interpretations of many historical events and processes, the conclusions related to the Varangian question and Norman theory were widely influenced by the time in which the author wrote, and by his political and ideological attitudes. That was perhaps more pronounced in this case, because it was the question of the origin and ethnogenesis of the Russian people and the establishment of the Russian state and its institutions.

scholarly journals Peter the Great in the historiosophy of Vasily Rozanov

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 132-137
Author(s):  
Irena A. Yedoshina
Keyword(s):  
World History ◽  
Russian History ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
Cultural Method ◽  
Fallen Leaves ◽  
First Time ◽  
Final Work

The article is in the problematic field of the historiosophy of Russian culture. In understanding the essence of historiosophy, the author of the article focuses on the deontology by Nikolai Kareev and the “passionarity” theory of Lev Gumilyov. In addition, the works of contemporary researchers of Russian historiosophy are involved. The texts of Vasily Rozanov, associated with his understanding of the personality of Peter the Great, the first Emperor’s place and role in Russian history. In choosing Vasily Rozanov’s texts, the author of the article uses a chronological method, a way to present V. Rozanov’s historiosophical views in development. In addition, the historical and cultural method is used to explain the essence of the meanings of historical phenomena, sometimes their inconsistency. The article notes that for the first time Vasily Rozanov turns to the personality of Peter the Great in his philosophical treatise “On Understanding”, where he points to the originality of Peter I and inscribes him in world history. It turns out that in the articles of the 1890s, Vasily Rozanov discovers in Peter I a person who brings suffering to the country and at the same time sincerely loves it. In a special article about Peter I and later in “Fallen Leaves”, Vasily Rozanov reveals the most significant ideals realised by the Emperor. In his final work, Vasily Rozanov emphasises the need for Peter I and, at the same time, the tragic consequences of his reforms for the country. As a result, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that Peter the Great is the alpha and the omega of Vasily Rozanov’s historiosophical views.

“The last chord of the Silver Age”: science and culture in Crimea in 1920

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-4) ◽  
pp. 4-14
Author(s):  
Vladimir Kalinovsky ◽  
Alexander Puchenkov
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
The South ◽  
Silver Age ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Crimea ◽  
Science And Culture ◽  
History Of ◽  
Russian Intelligentsia

This article is devoted to the development of science and culture in the short period of the Wrangel Crimea - 1920. At this time, the brightest figures of Russian culture of that time worked on the territory of the small Peninsula: O. E. Mandelstam, M. A. Voloshin, B.D. Grekov, G.V. Vernadsky, V.I. Vernadsky and others. The article provides an overview of the life and activities of the Russian intelligentsia in 1920 in the Crimea, based on materials of periodicals as the most important source for studying the history of the Civil war in the South of Russia whose value is to be fully evaluated.

A Russian Mystic Faces the Age of Rationalism and Revolution: Thought and Activity of Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin

1967 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-188
Author(s):  
Alexander Lipski
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The State ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Peter The Great ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Western Influence ◽  
The World ◽  
Extreme Degree ◽  
State Of Mind

It is generally accepted that even though rationalism was predominant during the eighteenth century, a significant mystical trend was simultaneously present. Thus it was not only the Age of Voltaire, Diderot, and Holbach, but also the Age of St. Martin, Eckartshausen and Madame Guyon. With increased Western influence on Russia, it was natural that Russia too would be affected by these contrary currents. The reforms of Peter the Great, animated by a utilitarian spirit, had brought about a secularization of Russian culture. Father Florovsky aptly summed up the state of mind of the Russian nobility as a result of the Petrine Revolution: “The consciousness of these new people had been extroverted to an extreme degree.” Some of the “new people,” indifferent to their previous Weltanschauung, Orthodoxy, adopted the philosophy of the Enlightenment, “Volter'ianstvo” (Voltairism). But “Volter'ianstvo” with its cult of reason and belief in a remote creator of the “world machine,“ did not permanently satisfy those with deeper religious longings. While conventional Orthodoxy, with its emphasis on external rites, could not fill the spiritual vacuum, Western mysticism, entering Russia chiefly through freemasonry, provided a satisfactory alternative to “Volter'ianstvo.”

The Image of Petrushka in Russian Children’s Books of the 1920s — Early 1930s

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 424-435
Author(s):  
Dmitry V. Fomin
Keyword(s):  
Complete Loss ◽  
National Character ◽  
Children's Books ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Children’S Books ◽  
Book Art ◽  
Russian Culture ◽  
Source Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
Visual Range

The image of Russian puppet theater’s main character, Petrushka, played an important role in the history of Russian culture and embodied some important features of the national character. His images are quite widely and variously represented on the pages of children’s books. At the beginning of the 20th century and in the first post-revolutionary years, publications about the adventures of Petrushka fulfilled an important mission: they recorded characteristic examples of folk art, preserved the memory of farcical performances, and supported the tradition of the art of “Petrushka makers”. The books served as manuals for novice puppeteers.In the 1920s — early 1930s, Petrushka continued to be one of the most popular characters of children’s books and aroused interest of many Russian writers and graphic artists. This indicates their desire to find a basis and support in the popular laughter culture, to continue its traditions, to bring elements of theatrical aesthetics into books.Using a complex of methods of book, art and source studies, the article aims to consider the transformation of the image of Petrushka in children’s books of the 1920s — early 1930s.The author draws attention to the significant differences between the literary component of such publications and their visual range. Writers, as a rule, sought to “re-educate” the areal joker and brawler, to ennoble his manners, modernize his appearance, and involve the popular character in solving actual ideological and pedagogical problems. Artists were more careful about the canonical, historically formed image of Petrushka, resisted too radical reinterpretation of it. Of particular interest in this regard are the illustrative cycles of I.S. Efimov, A.I. Sokolov-Asi, A.A. Radakov, V.M Konashevich, L.V. Popova, F.F. Kondratov.The best writers and artists of those years managed to preserve the most essential features of the character, breathe new life into him, save him from oblivion, from complete loss of identity, and pass him on to new generations of creators and readers of children’s books.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document