The Secular, the Sacral, and the Three Stages of the Postsecular in Russian Literature: The Past and the Present
The Secular, the Sacral, and the Three Stages of the Postsecular in Russian Literature: The Past and the Present

Author(s): Ivo Pospíšil
Subject(s): Cultural history, Theology and Religion, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: unfinished secularization in Russia; pre–post effect; three waves of postsecularism in Russian literature
Summary/Abstract: This article deals with the general problems of the secular and postsecular, but mainly with the specific features of Russian cultural and literary development characterized by the conception of the pre–post effect (the imperfect imitation of Western models that leads to new artistic revelations) and by unfinished secularization, the consequence of which is the permanent presence of sacral elements. In Russian literature, there are three stages of postsecularism that are related to romanticism, modernism and postmodernism; these are demonstrated on the examples of two case studies (Bondarev, Vodolazkin). The general characteristics of Russian postsecularism are closely related to the typical Russian unfinishedness, incompleteness and openness, thus indicating a new development potential that leads to new poetics and constituted artifacts.

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