Осмысление русской революции в творчестве Максимилиана Волошина

В статье исследуется вопрос об отношении М. Волошина к русской революции 1917 года. Поэт видит в ней продолжение всей русской истории. Он подмечает интересную особенность: вся история России революционна, она своего рода «перманентная революция». Причина этого, согласно М. Волошину, лежит в своеобразном строе российской государственности. В противовес революционной борьбе за материальные интересы, которую поэт отождествляет с социализмом, политический идеал поэта представляет собой революционную борьбу за духовные интересы.

Assessment of Russian Revolution in the Work of Maximilian Voloshin

The paper discusses the conception of Russian Revolution of 1917 presented in the writings of Russian poet Maximilian Voloshin (1877—1932). Voloshin understands revolutions not as extraordinary but as “natural” phenomena of world’s history. This view is based on his fundamental concept that rebellion is at the root of the human progress. In his poem “Cain’s Ways” the poet modifies the first words of the Gospel of John: In the beginning there was a Rebellion. For the poet the world is composed of two elements: inert, material and creative, spiritual. The bearer of this creative element is Man therefore Man is the revolutionary, rebellious creature. The first rebel was Cain who thereby is the real founder of human history that is considered by Voloshin as a successive sequence of rebellions against the traditional structures. Voloshin’s view of Russian Revolution is based on this general pattern however is more complex since the poet takes into consideration its national and historical character. Besides the poet’s assessment of Russian Revolution was not static but has changed as the Revolution was developing and assuming new images. Initially Voloshin was thinking that Russian Revolution had same grounds as the Great French Revolution. In his opinion both revolutions were driven by the idea of Justice. However being an abstract and rigorous idea Justice would inevitable lead to Terror. Therefore unlike his contemporaries who welcomed the peaceful demolition of the monarchy Voloshin was cautious and anticipated more cruel and bloody stages of the Revolution. However in the soon time Voloshin changed his belief that Russian Revolution was driven by the idea of Justice since in his view Russia in fact did not have such radical social cleavages and hostility of classes that were characteristic for European nations. At the same time Voloshin rejected the idea that Russian Revolution was imported from the West and tried to fit it in the context of national history. This gave Voloshin, as he himself put it, a “rightful perspective point of view” that allowed him to see in the Russian Revolution not interruption but continuation of Russian national history. The reason of Revolution lies in the specific dual character of Russian monarchy: one the one side it was the most advanced part of Russian society that was modernizing other societal segments; one the other, Russian monarchy contained a conservative element that was necessary to hold the boundaries of the Russian Empire. In 19 century the conservative element in Russian monarchy intensified while the revolutionary aspect was pushed out and found a new bearer — Russian Intelligentsia — that fused with the original anarchism of popular masses. The combination of these factors generated Russian Revolution. This approach explains Voloshin’s different evaluation of Socialism and Bolshevism. He denied Socialism as an alien element for Russian mentality since the ideas of Socialism were limited for the poet to the struggle of lower classes for material benefits. At the same time he considered the Bolsheviks who were advocates of the Socialism an organic and purely Russian phenomenon. The thing is that for Voloshin the Bolshevism was rather a psychological than political formation. Its main aspects for Voloshin were radical intolerance and hatred to the enemy for which he found roots in the national psychology. Therefore the poet considered that not only the Bolsheviks but their political adversaries were the bearers of the same spirit of Bolshevism. These ideas allowed Voloshin to work out his own attitude to the revolutionary struggle which consisted in the fact that one shall not support any of the feuding parties but call for their reconciliation, for overcoming the spirit of intolerance and hatred. Voloshin realized the vague chances of calling to peace the parties that were struggling for material interests and political power and believed that to achieve this ideal the Revolution shall change its character from material to spiritual. Voloshin acknowledged that his political ideal goes beyond the limits of the empirical world and proclaims a Religious Revolution that would lead to spiritual transformation and establishment of Civitas Dei. Any other, more mundane social and political ideals are palliatives that with the passing of time would necessarily generate new rebellions and new civil wars.