Past the island of Buyan

Participating in preparation for the publication of the collection of the works of one of the famous Russian political scientists Vadim Tsymbursky , I became interested in his geopolitical concept, known under the name " Island of Russia ", all the more so that it is to a certain extent connected with my professional classes. This caused my interest in its other works, which contains an analysis of Russian geopolitical consciousness, which is directly related to the problem of an “open/closed society”, with disputes around isolationism.

I

The concept of the “island of Russia” interested me, first of all, from the point of view of the historical perspective, political and religious discourse lying on the basis of what in modern Russian literature “Russian civilization” is often called. Essentially, this concept is an attempt to solve the textbook dilemma for the development of the Russian development path, but taken for me in a new, geopolitical aspect. Here, at least two aspects can be distinguished-the very geopolitical, justifying the concept of “ national platform ”, and figurative-semantic , conceptual aspects. I leave aside extremely important for understanding the concept of the “island of Russia” Tsymbursky’s argument about “heavy territories” or limitrophs, focusing mainly on the second of these aspects.

According to Tsymbursky himself, the idea of ​​the “island of Russia” appeared in him as a “geopolitical metaphor”, but subsequently it found reinforcement in the historiosophical constructions of his colleagues and co -authorship on the study of the 1997 Open Society of Mikhail Ilyin. She also found a curious confirmation in some monuments of Russian literature of the XVI century [Tsymbursky 2007: 340-341), and then turned into a completely complete pattern of Russian geopolitical thinking. The most interesting and possibly debatable in the concept, it seemed to me the identification of the frequently used concept, quite deserving the status of the geopolitical pattern “Russian Earth”, which existed throughout Russian history until the X VIII century, with the “island way ” of Russia [Tsymbursky 2007: 341]. The ideology is clearly visible behind this-Russia has long been infected with isolationism, which for some time turned out to be depressed, in terms of a sense of national identity, the desire to merge with Europe.

It seems that the fundamental duality of the political and religious consciousness of the Middle Ages is not taken into account here, which the author of the concept under consideration perfectly revealed when considering the medieval sources of the idea of ​​an “open society”, and, in particular, in the theory of bl. Augustine. In my opinion, the underestimation of this duality leads to incorrect conclusions. Tsymbursky distinguishes several stages of the formation of the “island” consciousness in Russia, which, apparently, should symbolize the process of ascent from a specific image of the “island” to the geopolitical concept, that is, the process of forming a national figurative-conceptual civilizational thinking . Therefore, the consideration of this theory will be correctly carried out, in accordance with the logic of the author himself, making where it is necessary, clarifying adjustments.

II

The first stage of the formation of the popenoma (if expressed in the terms of the Russian national discourse in the geopolitical aspect so beloved by the author of Spengler) sees Tsymbursky in the appearance of the Arab travelers of the midphytest state of Ar-Rusia , presumably located in the north-west of Russia-in the area of ​​Novgorod-Pskov.

The scientist finds in Arab sources a message about the state located on the island, most likely the Scandinavians, attacking the surrounding Slavs. In this information there is nothing unreal and specific. The Jordan (VI century) also reported the settlements of the Ants (Polyan), to which the "swamps and forests" served cities. Yes, and in the reported by Mikhail Ilyin about the features of the Slavic settlement, there is also nothing historiosophical - they all record in essence one thing - the conditioning of the disposable settlement considerations of security and economic activity.

At the stage of the tribal organization of society, a similar method of organization is quite historical. It is enough to recall that the capital of the Khazar state - Itil - was also on the island. In his study on Russian paganism, A.N. Afanasyev gives an example of the state of Ruyan , located on the island and where power belonged to the priests. An analysis of the concept of "island" in the Old Russian language and in the folk dialects of the Urals and the Volga region is very interesting and indicative. Firstly, he demonstrates the community of Old Russian with general Indo-European languages ​​in the understanding of the "island". What immediately makes us accept that the “island” as the image of a book of being is not at all alien to the pan -European consciousness and that there is no Russian specificity in this reading again.

Then, in the fundamental for all this historiosophical reading of the 1997 work “from the Great Island of Rusia ...”, which I mainly and quote here, Tsymbursky discovers a clear “tendency” to turn any territory into an “island”. At the same time, the author leaves the most basic contexts of this transformation by brackets. And they turn out to be historically tenacious. For example, in the novel by N.S. Leskova “on knives” gives an understanding of the territory of the island as a place of “oblivion”, a place of a certain feeling or experience. Of course, this understanding, of course, can be summed up almost any territory.

III

As we seem to me, Tsymbursky had to conduct his analysis in one more vein, trying to find the image of the island in the pagan consciousness of our ancestors. His reservation about the “pre -Christian” origin of the Russian “islandership” was not quite satisfactory, since it concerned the word itself, and not the meanings contained in this word in the process of gaping it with the “designated” and the formation of it as a concept - “denoting”. Immersion in a pagan past would give him a more visual and at the same time more adequate path in understanding the discourse development of the image of the island.

The analysis of the word "island", given to him on the basis of dictionaries of the language of the early period and folk dialects, is completely correct. But not enough. He gives only an understanding of his “island” as a “designated”, a specific concept, but not “denoting”, recorded already in a pagan consciousness as a concept-image. A well -known study by A.N. Afanasyev about Russian paganism - “Poetic views of the Slavs on nature” (M., 1995). As you know, Russian paganism did not create its own intellectual language like paganism of the ancient Greek. However, the mythology of paganism manifested itself in oral folklore and, in particular, in fairy tales and epics.

So, Afanasyev indicates the existence in the Russian pagan consciousness to a certain extent that has developed figurative-factory perception of the island. Already in the pagan consciousness, the kingdom of the Sun and universal prosperity seems to our ancestors as an island, which can be achieved by crossing air waters. So the image of the island -Buyan arises -the “ fabulous island ” [Afanasyev 1995: 69]. It is interesting that the word Buyan is a synonym for Yar, which, among other things, also means “fertile, productive” [Afanasyev 1995: 70]. Buyan is an island of eternal spring, abundant rainfall, located under the care of a gromovic god. The island of happiness, the image of social utopia, which laid the foundation for the subsequent utopian dream of a country of universal prosperity - this is the original meaning of the image of the island, really developed by the non -Christian consciousness of the Russians . Already in the early Christian tradition in Rus', the image of the islands of blessed, holy husbands - the islands of Macarius, inhabited by Christian ascetics and saints appears.

It seems to me that these examples can be limited to fix one important content of the concept of “island” in the pagan consciousness of the ancients-this is a country of dreams, a country of ideal, a country-country. Moreover, it is still ancient in time and its historical memory than what we will lead to later. A specifically given church aspect of the image of the Earth of happiness, the image of the Apocalypse specified here, the image of the Apocalypse with its heavenly Jerusalem, which will be continued in the literature of the split .

Quite undeservedly Tsymbursky omites the consideration of the Russian mentality of the period of Kievan Rus and until the XVI century. Moreover, the scientist’s remark that the concept of “Russian Earth” should be perceived as a synonym for the geopolitical “islandership” in the future did not receive sufficient development. Which, however, is not surprising.

IV

Let us recall the place of the Book of Genesis, which refers to the post -fluid period: already from Hilarion of Kyiv, this place is constantly present as paraphras of reasoning about the place of Rus' in the world system. Usually, in terms of Russia's discovery in the world flood of unbelief, as in the "Epistle of Misyur Munekhin" of the Pskov monk Philofei of the 15th century. If Ilarion’s “On the Law and Grace” of Hilarion is incredibly, it is easy to notice that his figurative perspective completely fits into the figurative series of the Book of Genesis. The only difference is that the sea of ​​Hilarion does not share the countries of the Christian world, but connects them into one whole (contrasting the image of the lake and sea near Illarion) - “ and the grace of Christ, declaring the whole earth, it covered it, like the waters of the sea ” [Monuments of Old Russian literature 1997: 33]. Illarion rejoices that the “Russian land” is known as Christian in all parts of the Christian world [Monuments of ancient Russian literature 1997: 47]. It is no accident that, as the researchers of ancient Russian literature noted, Russian scribes for many centuries have been interested in the world around us, new countries, and book people in Rus' distinguished the consciousness of unity with the world, and not a sense of separation from it.

Here it is appropriate to recall a rather strange and interesting monument of ancient Russian literature - the “ pigeon book ”. The exact time of its creation is very difficult to determine. It combines both pagan elements and early Christian images. If we keep in mind that in the “ sticherar ” of the XII century we find an almost literal transmission of the text from the book of Genesis, and this period in Russia is characterized as a period of “dual faith”, then it can be assumed that the creation of a “pigeon book” can be attributed to this time. It is interesting that in this book Rus' is depicted as “Mati of all lands” for its belonging to the Orthodox Church and that it is set above even Jerusalem. We can agree with Tsymbursky that the concept of “island” has a church-confessional context, repeated and interpretation, albeit an allegorical (!) Andrei Caesarean. But, at the same time, it should be remembered that both the “sticker” and the interpretation of the apocalypse - Byzantine origin. But the “ word about Igor’s regiment ”, written at the same time - Russian origin and in it we also find a trace of “islanders” - the image of the “island of Buyana”.

Therefore, it is possible to state only the presence of a kind of “competitiveness” and at the same time not geopolitical, but an ideological use of concept-image. Neither Illarion, nor Nestor, nor Daniil the sharpener know the island of Rus', but they know Rus' as one of the Christian countries, which exists along with the others as a state equal to them. Perhaps it costs even above other Christian lands, but it is by no means separated, not alienated from them.

In the narratives of Ivan III, in the praise of the Tver prince Alexander Borisovich - the image of the Russian land is always considered in the global context and it does not seem to be something separated from the world . Unity with the world, interest in it is the main leitmotif of Russian literature of this period. And we have no tracing to the isolation of the country during this period. Despite the fact that the image of the “island” as a kind of happy land existed in paganism and, perhaps, therefore, the image of the earth in the middle of the sea becomes already in the early Christian tradition in Rus' so immovable. In other words, a certain archetype of the “island” is actually present in the domestic subconscious, but only this archetype has nothing to do with the policy of “isolationism”, to alienation from Europe and the Christian world.

Notes:

Afanasyev A.N. 1995. Poetic views of the Slavs on nature. M.

Monuments of ancient Russian literature. 1997. Volume 1. St. Petersburg.

Tsymbursky V.L. 2006. Island Russia: geopolitical and chronopolitical works: 1993-2006. M., Rosspen.