“A Straight Path, a Narrow Path ...” (New Testament Plots in the “Roman Diary of 1944” by Vyacheslav Ivanov: The Apostles)

Abstract

In this article, a number of selected episodes of the “Gospel text” taken from Vyacheslav Ivanov’s “Roman Diary of 1944” – a kind of “sunset” cycle of the poet – are investigated. Particular attention is paid to the place of this cycle within the poet’s creative output. It is observed that the diary-style of the poetry emphasizes the lyrical and confessional tonality of the texts included in the “Roman Diary of 1944.” A detailed analysis of the poems, whose plot is defined by the apostolic theme, is carried out. In particular, the difference between Vyacheslav Ivanov’s creative interpretation of the Gospel episodes concerning the apostles and the corresponding New Testament passages – a difference that emphasizes the strong personal nature of Ivanov’s interpretation of these texts – is highlighted. Special attention is also paid to the historical and cultural context of the works considered. As a result, the concept of “aiontopos” will be introduced into the creative context of Vyacheslav Ivanov’s poetry. Within this concept, the inseparable (essential) link between the later years of his biography and the common Christian “path” to God is revealed. Special attention is paid to the important and still debated issue concerning Vyacheslav Ivanov’s acceptance of Catholicism according to Vladimir Solovyov’s formula. This entire issue introduces the analyzed verses into the context of the general European cultural and philosophical thought of the twentieth century. In this regard, the analyzed poetic texts indicate the names of the saints equally worshiped in both the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. In this way, the cultural-historical and cultural-philosophical relevance of Vyacheslav Ivanov’s poetic intuitions, the ones that express the idea of a common Christian unity in the bosom of the Universal Church, is remarked.