The Epistemological Role of Russian Literature: Theological and Anthropological Perspective

Abstract

In the article, written in the genre of a literary and philosophical essay, the author traces the genesis of Russian literature, showing its close connection with the spiritual tradition of Orthodoxy, observes its historical changes, its dialogue with Western culture. Considering the work of a number of writers — from Nestor the Chronicler to F.M. Dostoevsky, the author shows their unity in the coordinate system of the Orthodox spiritual tradition — with all the diversity of literary forms and genres. In addition, the author notes the epistemological role of Russian literature in the knowledge of man, surpassing the capabilities of psychology, philosophy, sociology — due to the implicit presence of Orthodox anthropology in it. This knowledge is personal, not rational. It formed the basis for the development of key areas of Orthodox theology in the twentieth–twenty–first centuries.