Irrational in Russian culture. Digest of articles

Wonderful healing and prophecies, visions in a dream and in reality, musical delight and inspiration, madness and cruelty - how were the phenomena that are customary to attribute to the irrational sphere? How did theologians, doctors, sociologists, poets, composers, critics, officials and psychiatrists perceive them? In an effort to answer these questions, the authors of the collection correlate the views “from the inside”, that is, the voices of those who experienced unusual states, with the views of “from outside” - reactions of church, state and scientific authorities, who believed necessary if not regulated, then at least explain such phenomena . The Russian experience of meeting with irrational is considered by the authors of the collection in a pan -European context, such a comparative analysis allows us to critically reconsider the common statement about the special predisposition of Russian culture to mysticism and inexorableness.
Compiled by: Mannherts Yu