Seven Russian Archetypes: Recurring Types in Russian History and Culture
Ebook
Seven Russian Archetypes is a description of seven seminal Russian figures: the Victim (zhertva), the Fool (iurodivyi), the Rebel or the Bandit (buntar' ili razboinik), the Wanderer (strannik), the Mother (mat'), the Peasant (muzhik), and the Intellectual (intelligent). Drawing from Russian history, folklore, literature, visual arts, and religion, these seven profiles are analyzed and presented in vivid and evocative detail. The seven portraits help to explain the Russian character and especially the groundedness of Russian culture in Orthodox Christianity. Many experts on Russian politics, business and culture, as well as admirers of Russian spirituality are aware of different features, both favorable and condescending, which display Russian mentality and temperament such as paternalism, messianism, collectivism, poor ability for self-organization, dogmatism, tendency toward asceticism and the penchant to bear suffering, radicalism, and inclination to extremes. From an external point of view, this is all accurate to a certain extent; nevertheless, these features explain neither the origin nor motivation behind the most evident behavioral manifestations. The more profound characteristics can be found only on the level of internal representations, which can best be revealed in symbols and archetypal characters. Seven Russian Archetypes explains these fundamental Russian symbols.
“Can we avoid transforming national archetypes into unjust stereotypes? Svetozar Poštiæ believes we can, if we attend closely to origins and myth. Of his seven Russian archetypes, five—the Fool, Rebel, Mother, Peasant, and Civic Intellectual—overlap with the catalogues of many other cultures, although here they receive vivid Russian Orthodox backstories. The Victim and the Wanderer are outliers. Their blend of humility, piety, and messianic territorial imperialism is a provocative lens on today’s conflicted world.”
—Caryl Emerson, professor emeritus of Slavic languages and literatures, Princeton University
“Svetozar Poštiæ has written a learned and accessible guide to some of the most enduring and illuminating images and characters in Russian culture. It is a very timely book indeed. I defy anyone to read this book and not come away with a more nuanced and profound appreciation for all that makes Russian culture unique.”
—Paul Allen Miller, distinguished professor of classics and comparative literature, University of South Carolina
“In Seven Russian Archetypes, Svetozar Poštiæ tackles Russian philosophy, literature, visual arts, religion, politics, and ideology, exploring the mechanism of creation and functioning of the five archetypes—the Victim, the Wanderer, the Rebel, the Fool, and the Mother—relevant to Russian national and cultural consciousness, and arguing convincingly that archetypes such as the Peasant and the Intellectual determine the values underlying Russian social, economic, and political scenarios.”
—Galina Michailova, professor of philology, Vilnius University
- Title: Seven Russian Archetypes: Recurring Types in Russian History and Culture
- Author: Svetozar Poštić
- Publisher: Wipf and Stock
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666782271, 9781666782264, 1666782262, 9781666782257, 1666782254, 1666782270
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666782271
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-12T22:10:54Z
Svetozar Poštić is an associate professor at the Vilnius University Faculty of Philology in Lithuania. He is the author of Bakhtin and Christianity (2012) and The Precipitous Fall of Russian Culture (1917–22) in Serbian.