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AbstractThis article discusses the meanings of "creativity"—tvorchestvo—as we encounter it in Georges Florovsky's thought, first and foremost in his magnum opus Ways of Russian Theology (1937). Tvorchestvo had by this time become a key concept in Russian pre-revolutionary and later émigré thought. It is associated above all with Nikolai Berdyaev's philosophy, but it also plays an important role in Sergei Bulgakov's philosophy of economy. In both cases, it stands for the human response to divine creation. Moreover, and somewhat less famously, it was also an epistemological concept in the religious idealism of Vladimir Solovyov as well as in Russian neo-Kantianism (Fyodor Stepun), where it stood for the active, synthetic faculty of our minds. Florovsky, meanwhile, used it as a description of how we should relate to the patristic heritage, but also to history more generally: Our attitude should be "creative," active, as well as both backward- and forward-looking. This "return to the Fathers" was a central component of Florovsky's neopatristic program, but, interestingly, in order to conceptualize this return, Florovsky took over a concept from traditions that his own approach otherwise firmly criticized. By analyzing Florovsky's use of tvorchestvo, this article addresses the broader question as to the differences and parallels between the neopatristic movement and the legacy of the Russian Renaissance (Silver Age).

The article analyses the ways in which the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdiaev understood Russian space and geography, beginning with the texts that he wrote during the First World War and ending with his book The Russian Idea (1946). It was characteristic of Berdiaev to extensively recycle passages from his own texts, not least those that put forth the claim that there was a correspondence between Russia's vast and wide-open spaces and the "Russian soul." However, the article argues that Berdiaev's seemingly similar phrases had different meanings in different contexts. In the 1910s, his perspective was predominantly critical, if speculative, positing that the acquisition of large territories had prevented the Russian "self-organization" in thought and culture. After the 1917 revolutions and his own emigration in 1922, by contrast, Berdiaev gradually became more essentialist in his approach to Russian space, seeing the vast territories as perfectly matching the strivings and quests of the Russian people. The article contextualises Berdiaev's understanding of space both in relation to nineteenth-century traditions of interpreting Russian geography and to the political upheavals that took place during his lifetime.

The article analyses the ways in which the Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdiaev understood Russian space and geography, beginning with the texts that he wrote during the First World War and ending with his book The Russian Idea (1946). It was characteristic of Berdiaev to extensively recycle passages from his own texts, not least those that put forth the claim that there was a correspondence between Russia's vast and wide-open spaces and the "Russian soul." However, the article argues that Berdiaev's seemingly similar phrases had different meanings in different contexts. In the 1910s, his perspective was predominantly critical, if speculative, positing that the acquisition of large territories had prevented the Russian "self-organization" in thought and culture. After the 1917 revolutions and his own emigration in 1922, by contrast, Berdiaev gradually became more essentialist in his approach to Russian space, seeing the vast territories as perfectly matching the strivings and quests of the Russian people. The article contextualises Berdiaev's understanding of space both in relation to nineteenth-century traditions of interpreting Russian geography and to the political upheavals that took place during his lifetime.

This article discusses the Russian nationalist Oleg Platonov and his Institute for Russian Civilization, a project established for publishing both contemporary works and the classics of Russian intellectual history. Special attention is given to how Platonov, who is otherwise known for his extreme anti-Westernism and anti-Semitism, within the framework of this project actively disseminates not only his own idea of a unique and self-sufficient Russian civilization, but also numerous classics of Russian thought, in particular of the Slavophile current. Various Russian thinkers are presented here as the embodiment of "Russian national thought" and the expression of an alleged "ideology of the Russian people". On the basis of this analysis, the article reviews Platonov's contribution to contemporary Russian nationalism more generally and its tendency to make the marginal mainstream.


Published: June 2016


Citation: Kåre Johan Mjør (2016) «Eit evig Russland: Oleg Platonov, Institutt for russisk sivilisasjon og nasjonaliseringa av russisk tenking». Nordisk Østforum 30 [2] 98–117. http://dx.doi.org/10.17585/nof.v30.441

This article analyzes the historiography of Russian philosophy as it appears in post-Soviet Russian university textbooks. How is a Russian national tradition in philosophy – a discipline that otherwise operates with a universal truth-claim not bound by its cultural settings – created and defended in these texts? Particular emphasis is placed on their rejection of the alleged Eurocentrism of Western historiography, their dependence (nevertheless) on Western notions of philosophy, and their idea of Russian philosophy as "native philosophy" ( otechestvennaia filosofiia ) with an independent "integral history." The article concludes that this material presents us with an example of cultural nationalism in academic writing.

Статья рассматривает историографию русской философии как она предстает в постсоветских университетских учебниках. Каким образом создается и отстаивается в этих текстах российская (и даже русская) национальная традиция в философии – дисциплине, по определе-нию оперирующей универсальной категорией истины, не связанной с конкретным культурным контекстом? Особое внимание уделяется демонстрирующемуся в этих учебниках отрицательному отношению к предполагаемому европоцентризму западной историографии, при одновременной зависимости их от западной концепции философии, а также идее философской традиции в России как "отечественной философии" с независимой "интегральной историей". В статье дела-ется вывод о том, что рассмотренный материал являет собой пример культурного национализма в академической сфере.

Reformulating Russia provides a thorough narratological and contextual analysis of Russian émigré historiography as it appears in Georgii Fedotov's Saints of Ancient Russia, Georgii Florovskii's The Ways of Russian Theology, Nikolai Berdiaev's The Russian Idea and Vasilii Zenkovskii's History of Russian Philosophy.

Pt. 1. Contexts -- Russia abroad -- Writing Russian history -- Pt. 2. Readings -- Georgii Fedotov and The saints of ancient Russia -- Georgii Florovskii and The ways of Russian theology -- Nikolai Berdiaev and The Russian idea -- Vasilii Zenkovskii and The history of Russian philosophy

Preliminary Material /K. J. Mjør -- Introduction /K. J. Mjør -- Chapter One. Russia Abroad /K. J. Mjør -- Chapter Two. Writing Russian History /K. J. Mjør -- Chapter Three. Georgii Fedotov And The Saints Of Ancient Russia /K. J. Mjør -- Chapter Four. Georgii Florovskii And The Ways Of Russian Theology /K. J. Mjør -- Chapter Five. Nikolai Berdiaev And The Russian Idea /K. J. Mjør -- Chapter Six. Vasilii Zenkovskii And The History Of Russian Philosophy /K. J. Mjør -- Concluding Remarks /K. J. Mjør -- Bibliography /K. J. Mjør -- Index /K. J. Mjør.