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Karavashkin A.V. Ivan the Terrible and Andrey Kurbsky: a Conflict of Interpretations. Studia Litterarum, 2020, vol. 5, no 1, pp. 148–161. (In Russ.)

DOI: 10.22455/2500-4247-2020-5-1-148-161

Author: A.V. Karavashkin
Information about the author:

Andrey V. Karavashkin, DSc in Philology, Leading Research Fellow, A.M. Gorky Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Povarskaya 25 a, 121069 Moscow, Russia; Professor, Russian State University for the
Humanities; bld. 6, Miusskaya Square, GSP-3, 125993, Moscow, Russia.

E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Received: May 23, 2019
Published: March 25, 2020
Issue: 2020 Vol. 5, №1
Department: Russian Literature
Pages: 148-161
DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22455/2500-4247-2020-5-1-148-161

UDK: 821.161.1
BBK: 83.3(2Рос=Рус)4
Keywords: epistolography, interpretation, explanatory models, martyrs, eschatology.

Abstract

The article analyzes correspondence between Ivan the Terrible and Kurbsky as a conflict of interpretations. When founded on the common ground, the debates of contemporaries are only possible if the ideas are interpreted differently by the participants of the discussions. But the paradox of such a conflict is that it always implies some consensus. Indeed, without the common ground, any discussion is impossible. It can only be founded on the basis of a shared language, one developed within the same historical and cultural conditions. Despite coming from a commonly held conception of eschatology in Muscovy, Ivan the Terrible and Kurbsky held different views on The Last Judgment. And in spite of their mutual views on Christian martyrdom as being that which makes a Christian a Christian, they nevertheless accused one another of misinterpreting the act of martyrdom. Finally, we find it evident that both were striving to adapt models of religious philosophy to such earthly phenomena as government power, military service, and the adherence to the unbending principles of supremacy and servitude.

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