This study is about the religious character shown in Russian literature as a Eurasian space that is a mixture of different ethnicities and religious and cultural trends on one continent. It is the first attempt to examine the religious nature of Russi ...
This study is about the religious character shown in Russian literature as a Eurasian space that is a mixture of different ethnicities and religious and cultural trends on one continent. It is the first attempt to examine the religious nature of Russia's European writers and North Asian writers, and further explore its ideological implications in the paradigm of Eurasian cultural space. It is also the first step toward understanding the culture, ethnicity and customs of the region in preparation for its upcoming expansion into the Eurasian continent.
To look at the religious nature of Russian literature with Eurasian identity, Dostoevsky and Pasternak, the Russian writers representing the European region, and Buryat writers Bartozavai and Erdneyev, representing the North Asian region, looked at how religion embodies in their respective regions and peoples. At this time, the cultural code representing the European region is "Christian/Orthodoxy" and the cultural code representing the North Asian Baikal region is "Shamanism/Buddhist," which can also be seen as embodied in a unique pattern in each region, ethnicity and writer.
The authors representing the religious nature of Christian/ Orthodox European space include Dostoevsky and Pasternak. Russian literature is "Christian," and religious and philosophical views of the world and humans were formed in the 19th century, especially in the creation of Dostoevsky. At this time, the author's religious world view is closely linked to 'Christian awareness'. Only Russian Orthodoxy has preserved the sacred image of Christ, the basis of true ethics and order, according to Dostoevsky. As such, the religious nature of the author's literature is embodied by the Christ figure. In Russian literature in the 20th century, Pasternak's view of the world is also "Christian," which is closely related to Russian Orthodox or Russian religious philosophy. It refers to the ideology of the creation of Pasternak, which is often defined as "Christian panism." According to Scepoon, Pasternak myths everything in nature and life by giving human characteristics to all phenomena of the world and nature, for at this time man was created according to the figure of God. Pasternak's creation, through its early pan-theological features, was later a 'participant in the drama of life' including Dr. Zhivago, a victim of the destiny and history of the masses, and an enthusiastic embrace of life, encompassing all aspects of life's joys and tragedies, also through Christ figures.
It is Buddhism/Shamanism that plays the most important role in Mongolia's Buryat people, who account for 80 percent of Russian space, and the two religions have closely interconnected characteristics. Buddhism and Shamanism in the region are living religions of the private class, which play a role in strengthening the people's bond while helping to ease emotional instability and boost the hope of life. Buryatian-turned-writer Batozavai and Erdneyev represent literary spaces in the North Asian region, including modern Buryat literature. Batozavai, who lived during the Soviet era, has a relatively weak religious character due to the period situation, and is mainly revealed through character figures centered on historicality. The religious nature o fBatojabai literature is mainly manifested through figures or motifs with Buddhist characteristics. On the other hand, modern-day surviving author Erdinieev's literature has strong religious character and is led by Shamanistic characteristics, focusing on Buddhist color. The study of religious, cultural, historical diversity and originality in the literary space of the two authors helps to understand the identity of Eurasian cultural space.
This study shows that even writers in the same space differ from one another depending on the times and the writer's individual tendency under the foundation that the religious faith revealed in Russia's European and Northern Asian spaces is different, respectively, from Christian/Orthodoxy and Shamanistic/Buddhist. Nevertheless, we could see that the religious nature of Eurasian literary space plays a more important role than any other region and also represents a strong desire for" salvation" and" harmony" with common characteristics.