Justin White and Dr. Gary Browning, Russian
In May I traveled to the Holy Trinity Seminary in Jordanville, New York and interviewed Father Serge Nedelsky about Orthodox doctrine and Dostoevsky’s portrayal of Father Zosima in the Brothers Karamazov. Prior to the interview I had created a list of six questions to use as probes in the discussion to come to understand the Russian Orthodox response to Father Zosima. In Dostoevsky and the Christian Tradition, Pattison and Thompson suggested that we try to understand Dostoevsky’s writings from the perspective of those “who come from within the Orthodox community” and not from that of “outsiders.” I found, though, both as I prepared to conduct the interviews and as I met with Father Serge, that this is more easily said than done. What does it mean to read The Brothers Karamazov through an Orthodox lens? I initially planned to do this by selecting critical points of Zosima’s teachings and asking (both through interviews and other research) how closely his teachings corresponded with those of the Orthodox tradition. Simply, I planned to read Zosima as theology and see how closely Dostoeveky came.
I already knew Dostoevsky was enigmatic in many ways, but I came to see more clearly the difficulty in understanding his writing and his beliefs. While he was deeply religious, his external relationship with Orthodoxy is somewhat unclear. He admired several Fathers and some scholars speculate that Zosima is modeled after these men. These have merit, but even if Dostoevsky intended to pattern Zosima after a real person, the question remains—and legitimately—about Dostoevsky’s portrayal of Orthodoxy. I soon found—through a prominent article and through my time with Father Serge—that Dostoevksy mostly failed when he tried to show Orthodox practices teachings. Yet, as Father Serge suggested, most members of the Orthodox tradition would read Dostoevsky and claim that he is Orthodox. Dostoevsky wanted to “demonstrate that the solution to man’s current predicament lies in Orthodoxy.” But his other influences—philosophical, literary, and even religious—combined with his own ideas prevented him from doing this. Father Serge directed me to consider the influence that Dostoevsky’s contemporary philosophers had on him—most notably, Soloviev.
My reading and my visit with Father Serge prompted me to examine some of my primary assumptions. How should we read and interpret the novel (particularly the sections about Zosima)? Should it be read as theology, literature, philosophy? There is a notable lack of discussion about sacraments in Zosima’s teachings. Does this mean that Zosima (or Dostoevsky) does not believe that these are essential? This is possible, but it would not be a fair reading. To use an LDS example: If we read a novel in which Joseph Smith was a character, would we expect him to give a complete theological and doctrinal treatise in the course of the work? We probably wouldn’t. But we would (from our perspective) expect him to be a good person and to maybe give advice to love or to live peacefully. Dostoevsky, perhaps more than any author, invites a religious reading. But we need to be careful about how we read him religiously.
I am currently examining the interviews and other materials to try to explain the complexity in reading literature through a religious lens. My mentor, Gary Browning, retired in the spring and is now serving in the Jerusalem Center, so our contact is limited to email. I plan to submit the paper to several Slavic Journals—both professional and student. I am also working on a piece for Insight, the Honors Student Journal, about my experience while performing the research. This piece should be in the next issue of Insight. So, while my experience has not led to a clear-cut article, I feel that I have gained more than I would have if the project had gone entirely as planned. Because my perspective on textual interpretation has improved, I now read and write better.
This project has been invaluable to the way I think about literature and life. There are many factors that contribute to a book or a person. If we ignore certain aspects of them, or focus too intently on seeing what we want to see, we will not see whole picture. While this may be convenient and simpler, I don’t think it is the best way to read, write, or think. It limits what we can learn, both from our formal education and from life in general.
I have copied addresses of two pictures of the seminary. These pictures are not mine, but they show the monastery.
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1322758732062796819VMMVpC
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1322755471062796819BoZzpx
Also, the seminary’s website is http://hts.edu/.