The Unintended Consequences of a Surge in Orthodox Pilgrimages in Late Imperial Russia

2009 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76
Author(s):  
Christine Worobec

AbstractBased on archival materials, this article explores the ways in which the Holy Trinity St. Sergius Monastery and Solovetskii monasteries at the turn of the twentieth century dealt with the challenges of serving increasing numbers of pilgrims, which ranged from security to public relations. Intent upon maintaining the strict regimens of their communities and raising the spiritual and national identities of worshipers, the abbots unsuccessfully tried to control pilgrims and pilgrimages. Individuals continued to flock to monastic institutions to satisfy their own spiritual and physical needs, bringing with them their human flaws and frailties.

Author(s):  
Yuriy V. Varfolomeev ◽  

The review analyzed the characteristics and content of a unique ego-source, the memoirs of a prominent figure in the revolutionary movement of late Imperial Russia S. A. Nikonova, on the pages which come to life fragments of revolutionary struggle and cultural-public life of Russia at the turn of the twentieth century, and presents a gallery of historical portraits and sketches prominent and often little-known characters of that era. The reviewer pays special attention to the evaluation of the scientific and publishing work on the preparation of this publication, done by Associate Professor V. A. Solomonov.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 461-493
Author(s):  
Sharyl Corrado

This article examines evolving constructions of nature on Sakhalin Island in late imperial Russia, emphasising changing Russian views of not only the island, but of science, modernisation, mankind's power over nature and the borders of the empire. From a European land of plenty in the 1850s, welcoming to its Russian visitors, after a quarter-century of penal colonisation, the island had become a monster devouring its prey. This article argues that contradictory and evolving descriptions of Sakhalin's nature reflect tensions Russians faced in a modernising world, as they questioned the relationship between mankind and nature; the reliability of science; and the correct borders of their state. In the 1850s, Sakhalin seemed normal and bountiful, a gift to Russia, while two decades later, it was wealthy but hostile, although, with science, Russians could prevail. By the 1890s, that was called into question, and the island was portrayed as not only hostile, but foreign, desolate and unsubmissive to science; while activists of the early twentieth century reimagined it as abundant, comprehensible and vital to the empire. The image of Sakhalin as hostile and unintelligible prevailed, reflecting a widespread disillusionment with Western modernity. In 1905, Russia surrendered the southern half of the island to Japan.


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-682
Author(s):  
Alfrid Bustanov

AbstractThis article explores the practices of private communication of Muslims at the eclipse of the Russian empire. The correspondence of a young Kazan mullah with his family and friends lays the ground for an analysis of subjectivity at the intersection of literary models and personal experience. In personal writings, individuals selected from a repertoire of available tools for self-fashioning, be that the usage of notebooks, the Russian or Muslim calendar, or peculiarities of situational language use. Letters carried the emotions of their writers as well as evoking emotions in their readers. While still having access to the Persianate models of the self, practiced by previous generations of Tatar students in Bukhara, the new generation prioritized another type of scholarly persona, based on the mastery of Arabic, the study of the Qur’an and the hadith, as well as social activism.


Author(s):  
Oksana Babenko ◽  

The review presents new publications on the Belarusian and the Polish historiographies of the history of the late Imperial Russia and the Soviet State. Such problems as the number and conditions of detention of foreign prisoners of war in the Belarusian territories of the Russian Empire during the First World War, the influence of the military conflicts of 1914-1921 on the identity of the inhabitants of the Belarusian lands, the initial stage of the formation of academic science in the BSSR, the question of the «invasion» of Poland by the Red Army in September 1939 are highlighted.


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