Sacred Stories
Religion and Spirituality in Modern Russia

Mark D. Steinberg (Edited by), Heather J. Coleman (Edited by)

9780253218506

Paperback / softback, published 24 January 2007

432 pages, 10 b&w photos
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.3 cm, 0.658 kg

". . . certainly recommended for any combination of curious philosopher, cross-disciplinary psychologist, radical feminist, and communication theorist among us.November 6, 2008"—Brittany Shoot, Feminist Review
". . . an important contribution to the history of, mainly, Orthodox popular religiosity and Orthodox Christian spirituality of modern Russian and Ukraine.Vol. 81.1, March 2009"—Martin A. Miller, Duke University
"In summary, this is an excellent collection of illuminating essays by noted scholars in their fields, finely written and thoughtfully conceived, which should be read by anyone interested in religious life in late imperial Russia.Vol. 53.3 Fall 2009"—Michael Pesenson, University of Texas, Austin

Sacred Stories brings together the work of leading scholars writing on the history of religion and religiosity in late imperial Russia during the critical decades preceding the 1917 revolutions. Embodying new research and new methodologies, this book reshapes our understanding of the place of religion in modern Russian history. Topics examined include miraculous icons and healing, pilgrim narratives, confessions, women and Orthodox domesticity, marriage and divorce, conversion and tolerance, Jewish folk beliefs, mysticism in Russian art, and philosophical aspects of Orthodox religious thought. Sacred Stories demonstrates that belief, spirituality, and the sacred were powerful and complex cultural expressions central to Russian political, social, economic, and cultural life.
Contributors are Nicholas B. Breyfogle, Heather J. Coleman, Gregory L. Freeze, Nadieszda Kizenko, Alexei A. Kurbanovsky, Roy R. Robson, Bernice Glatzer Rosenthal, Gabriella Safran, Vera Shevzov, Sarah Abrevaya Stein, Mark Steinberg, Paul Valliere, William G. Wagner, Paul W. Werth, and Christine D. Worobec.

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Rethinking Religion in Modern Russian Culture Mark D. Steinberg and Heather J. Coleman
1. Miraculous Healings Christine D. Worobec
2. Transforming Solovki: Pilgrim Narratives, Modernization, and Late Imperial Monastic LifeRoy R. Robson
3. Scripting the Gaze: Liturgy, Homilies, and the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God in Late Imperial RussiaVera Shevzov
4. Written Confessions and the Construction of Sacred NarrativeNadieszda Kizenko
5. "Orthodox Domesticity": Creating a Social Role for WomenWilliam G. Wagner
6. Profane Narratives about a Holy Sacrament: Marriage and Divorce in Late Imperial RussiaGregory L. Freeze
7. Arbiters of the Free Conscience: State, Religion, and the Problem of Confessional Transfer after 1905Paul W. Werth
8. Tales of Violence against Religious Dissidents in the Orthodox VillageHeather J. Coleman
9. Prayer and the Politics of Place: Molokan Church Building, Tsarist Law, and the Quest for a Public Sphere in Late Imperial RussiaNicholas B. Breyfogle
10. Divining the Secular in the Yiddish Popular PressSarah Abrevaya Stein
11. Revolutionary Rabbis: Hasidic Legend and the Hero of WordsGabriella Safran
12. "A Path of Thorns": The Spiritual Wounds and Wandering of Worker-PoetsMark D. Steinberg
13. A New Spirituality: The Confluence of Nietzsche and Orthodoxy in Russian Religious ThoughtBernice Glatzer Rosenthal
14. Malevich's Mystic Signs: From Iconoclasm to New TheologyAlexei Kurbanovsky
15. The Theology of Culture in Late Imperial RussiaPaul Valliere
Further Reading
List of Contributors
Index