Religious myth as the basis of the realism of Russian prose of the 1870s-1880s

Svetlana A. Bezklubaya - Izvorni znanstveni članak

Religijski mit kao osnova realizma ruske proze 1870-ih i 1880-ih

Abstract
Modern searches by national cultures for ways to strengthen social order and their own identity bring into focus interest in the sacral, fixed in religion and addressed through the word of myth and literature to human existence. Therefore, the object of this research is the religious myth as the basis of the realism of Russian prose in the period of 1870s-1880s, which was transitive for Russia. The reliance on Christian mythologism in solving social problems was fully realized by the work of Nikolai Leskov, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, and Fyodor Dostoevsky. The purpose of the article is to conceptualize the correlation between the phenomena of sacral, religious myth and the realism of the prose of these authors as a basis for eliminating the opposition between social and artistic, asserting new principles of national identity. Analyzed: the Being of the sacred; the mythologizing of Russian literature; and the idea of myth as the embodiment of the sacral ideal, based upon which Russian prose writers formulated the idea of realistic literature – the nurturing of the best qualities of a person and society. What is new in the research is the consideration of the religious myth as a factor in the formation of the socially transforming role of Russian realistic prose. The research methodology includes philosophical, historical, hermeneutic and cultural approaches. The provisions of the article allow for expanding the scope of the study of the connection between myth, religions, national literature and cultures.

Sažetak
Suvremena potraga nacionalnih kultura za načinima jačanja društvenoga poretka i vlastitoga identiteta u fokus dovodi zanimanje za sakralno, fiksirano u religiji i upućeno kroz riječ mita i književnosti ljudskom postojanju. Stoga je predmet ovog istraživanja religijski mit kao temelj realizma ruske proze u razdoblju 1870-ih i 1880-ih, koji je bio tranzitivan za Rusiju. Oslanjanje na kršćanski mitologizam u rješavanju društvenih problema u potpunosti je ostvareno u djelima Nikolaja Leskova, Mihaila Saltikova-Ščedrina i Fjodora Mihajloviča Dostojevskog. Svrha je članka konceptualiziranje korelacije između fenomena sakralnog, religioznog mita i realizma proze ovih autora kao temelja za otklanjanje suprotnosti između društvenoga i umjetničkog, afirmacije novih načela nacionalnog identiteta. Analizirano: bitak svetog, mitologizacija ruske književnosti te ideja mita kao utjelovljenja sakralnog ideala, na temelju koje su ruski prozaisti formulirali ideju realističke književnosti – njegovanje najboljih osobina čovjeka i društva. Novo u istraživanju je razmatranje religioznoga mita kao čimbenika u oblikovanju društveno-transformirajuće uloge ruske realističke proze. Metodologija istraživanja uključuje filozofski, povijesni, hermeneutički i kulturološki pristup. Odredbe članka omogućuju proširenje opsega proučavanja povezanosti mita, religija, nacionalne književnosti i kulturâ.