Title of the article:

GEORGE FEDOTOV’S INTERPRETATION OF THE CONCEPT “BYZANTINISM”

Author(s):

Aleksandr V. Antoshchenko

Information about the author/authors

Aleksandr V. Antoshchenko — DSc in History, Professor, Petrozavodsk State University, Lenin St., 33, 185910 Petrozavodsk, Russia. E-mail: antoshchenko@yandex.ru

Section

Theory and history of culture

Year

2017

Volume

Vol. 44

Pages

Pp. 7–20

Received

April 13, 2017

Date of publication

June 15, 2017

Index UDK

930

Index BBK

87.3(2)+63.3

Abstract

The article looks at the constructing of historical narrative in the last George Fedotov’s book “Russian Religious Mind,” published in the USA shortly after the Second World War and addressed to American readers. The author shows that another “implied reader” of this narrative was the conservative-orthodox former colleagues of the historian at the St. Sergius Theological Institute in Paris, with whom he continued a hidden polemic. It was the latter one that determined detailed characterization of the Byzantine influence on the perception of Christianity in Ancient Rus. George Fedotov critically appraised “Russian Byzantinism,” contrasting it to another pole of Russian religiosity — “Kenoticism,” which he understood as the following Christ in love for God and for man. Such a bipolar examination of historical material, aimed at identifying the meaning of concepts, which characterized the ancient Russian religious mentality, allows us to qualify the work of George Fedotov as a research based on structural approach to history.

Keywords

George Fedotov, “Russian Religious Mind,” Byzantinism, Kenoticism, Orthodoxy

References

1 Antoshchenko A. V. Kontseptsiia drevnerusskoi sviatosti G. P. Fedotova (ob odnoi skrytoi polemike v russkoi emigratsii 1930-kh gg.) [The ancient concept of Holiness of G. P. Fedotov (about one hidden polemic in the Russian emigration of the 1930s) ]. Perekrestok kul'tur: mezhdistsiplinarnye issledovaniia v oblasti gumanitarnykh nauk [The Intersection of cultures: interdisciplinary studies in the Humanities]. Moscow, Logos Publ., 2004, pp. 132–151. (In Russian)

2 Bertnes Iu. Russkii kenotizm: k pereotsenke odnogo poniatiia [Russian kinetism: on reevaluation of the concept]. Evangel'skii tekst v russkoi literature XVIII–XX vekov: tsitata, reministsentsiia, motiv, siuzhet, zhanr [The Gospel text in Russian literature of the XVIII–XX centuries: quote, reminiscence, motif, plot, genre]. Petrozavodsk, PetrGU Publ., 1994, vol. 1, pp. 61–65. (In Russian)
3 Galiamicheva A. A. Georgii Petrovich Fedotov: zhizn' i tvorchestvo v emigratsii [Georgy Petrovich Fedotov: life and work in emigration]. Saratov, Nauka Publ., 2009, pp. 197–214. (In Russian)
4 Gumerova Zh. A. Ideal sviatosti u G. P. Fedotova [The ideal of Holiness by G. P. Fedotov]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta, 2005, no 289, pp. 32–38. (In Russian)
5 Ivanova T. V. Problema svobody v istoriosofskikh vozzreniiakh G. P. Fedotova. avtoref. dis. … kand. filosof. nauk [The problem of freedom in the historiosophical views of G. P. Fedotov. Abstract. dis. PhD in Philosophy]. Moscow, RAGS pri Prezidente RF Publ., 2001. 142 p. (In Russian)
6 Ismailov A. S. Istoki politiko-filosofskoi kontseptsii G. P. Fedotova [Origins of G. P. Fedotov`s political-philosophical conception]. Problemy sovremennoi nauki i obrazovaniia, 2012, no 2 (12), pp. 70–72. (In Russian)
7 Pis'ma G. P. Fedotova k B. A. Bakhmet'evu i soputstvuiushchie materialy [Letters to G. P. Fedotov, B. A. Bahmetiev and related materials]. Mir istorika: istoriograficheskii sbornik [The World of historian: historiographical collection]. Omsk, OmGU Publ., 2014, vol. 9, pp. 402–440. (In Russian)
8 Pis'ma-ispoved' G. P. Fedotova k T. Iu. Dmitrievoi [Letters of confession of G. P. Fedotov to T. Y. Dmitrieva]. Mir istorika [The World of historian]. Omsk, OmGU Publ., 2015, vol. 10, pp. 397–454. (In Russian)
9 Somin N. V. A. V. Kartashev o vzaimootnoshenii Tserkvi i gosudarstva [A. V. Kartashev on relationship of Church and state]. Ezhegodnaia bogoslovskaia konferentsiia Pravoslavnogo Sviato-Tikhonovskogo bogoslovskogo instituta: materialy [Annual theological conference of St. Tikhon Orthodox theological Institute: materials]. Moscow, PSTBI Publ., 1998, pp. 169–152. (In Russian)
10 “Teper' ia spokoen za budushchee i mogu spokoino rabotat'.” Iz perepiski G. P. Fedotova i M. M. Karpovicha. 1941–1945 [“Now I feel secure about the future and can safely work.” From the correspondence G. P. Fedotov and M. M. Karpovich]. Istoricheskii arkhiv, 2013, no 5, pp. 114–136. (In Russian)
11 Fedotov G. P. O genii [About genius]. Voprosy filosofii, 2015, no 3, pp. 118–121. (In Russian)
12 Fedotov G. P. Sobranie sochinenii: v 12 t. [The collected works: in 12 vols.]. Moscow, Sam&Sam Publ., 1996. (In Russian)
13 Florovskii G. V. Puti russkogo bogosloviia [Ways of Russian theology]. 4-e izd [4 edition]. Parizh, YMCA-Press Publ., 1988. 602 p. (In Russian)
14 Khoruzhii S. S. Neopatristicheskii sintez i russkaia filosofiia [Neopatristic synthesis and Russian philosophy]. Voprosy filosofii, 1994, no 5, pp. 75–88. (In Russian)
15 Cherniaev A. V. G. V. Florovskii kak filosof i istorik russkoi mysli [G. V. Florovsky as a philosopher and historian of the Russian thought]. Moscow, IF RAN Publ., 2010. 199 p. (In Russian)
16 Iantsen V. V. Neizvestnye stranitsy biografii G. P. Fedotova v SShA [Unknown pages of the biography of G. P. Fedotov in the USA]. Vestnik Russkoi khristianskoi gumanitarnoi akademii, 2014, vol. 15, issue 3, pp. 79–93. (In Russian)
17 Ankersmit F. R. Narrative Logic: A Semantic Analysis of the Historian’s Language. The Hague; Boston; London, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers Publ., 1983. 266 p. (In English)
18 Cherniavsky M. G. P. Fedotov, The Russian Religious Mind, II: Middle Ages, The Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries. Edited, with a foreword by John Meyendorff. Cambridge; Massachusetts, Harvard University Press Publ., 1966. P. XVI. 423 p. Speculum, 1967, vol. 42, no 4, pp. 733–736. (In English)
19 Fedotov G. P. The Russian Church (A Short Historical Sketch). P. 1. Sobornost’, 1935, no 1(New Series), pp. 23–29. (In English)
20 Florovsky G. V. The Russian Religious Mind. By G. P. Fedotov. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press. Vol. I, Kievan Christianity Publ., 1966. 431 p. Vol. II, Middle Ages. 1966. 423 p. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1968, vol. 7, no 2, pp. 318–319. (In English)
21 Miller D. B. The Russian Religious Mind. Vol. II, Middle Ages, The Thirteenth to the Fifteenth Centuries. By G. P. Fedotov. Edited, with a foreword by John Meyendorff. Cambridge, Mass, Harvard University Press Publ., 1966. Vol. XVI. 423 p. American Historical Review, 1969, vol. 74, no 4, pp. 1268–1269. (In English)
22 Mjør K. J. Reformulating Russia: The Cultural and Intellectual Historiography of First-Wave Émigré Writers. Leiden; Boston, Brill Publ., 2011. 327 p. (In English)
23 Munslow A. Narrative and History. Basingstoke, Palgrave MacMillan Publ., 2007. 190 p. (In English)
24 Petro N. N. Challenge of the «Russian Idea» : Rediscovering the Legacy of Russian Religious Philosophy. Christianity and Russian Culture in Soviet Society. Boulder; San Francisco; London, Westview Press, 1990, pp. 206–212. (In English)
25 Röhrig H. J. Zum Begriff ‘Kenosis’ in der russischen Theologie. Russische Begriffsgeschichte der Neuzeit: Beiträge zu einem Forschungsdesiderat. Köln, Böhlau Verlag Köln Weimar Publ., 2006, pp. 319–332. (In German)
26 Rubin D. Holy Russia, Sacred Israel: Jewish-Christian Encounters in Russian Religious Thought. Brighton (MA), Academic Studies Press Publ., 2010. 570 p. (In English)
27 Spinka M. The Russian Religious Mind. By George P. Fedotov. Cambridge$ Mass, Harvard University Press Publ., 1946. Vol. XIV. 438 p. Church History, 1947, vol. 16, no 2, pp. 114–115. (In English)
28 Timashev N. S., Fedotov G. P. The Russian Religious Mind. Cambridge; Mass, Harvard University Press Publ., 1946. 438 p. Russian Review, 1947, vol. 7, no 1, pp. 123–125. (In English)
29 White H. Figural Realism: Studies in the Mimesis Effect. Baltimore; London, John Hopkins University Press Publ., 1999. 210 p. (In English)
30 Williams G. H. The Neo-Patristic Synthesis of Georges Florovsky. Georges Florovsky: Russian Intellectual. Orthodox Churchman, ed. by A. Blane. Crestwood; NY, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press Publ., 1993, pp. 287–340. (In English)

PDF-file

 Download

Illustrations