Sacred and Profane in “Essays of Bursa” by N. G. Pomyalovsky

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of relationship between the categories of sacred and profane in “Essays of Bursa” by N. G. Pomyalovsky. The author examines various concepts of the sacred. There are two main concepts among them. The first one is the conventionally “institutional” sacred, correlated with the social sphere of religion. The second one is conventionally “ontological” sacred, associated with the “fullness of life, existence.” The author analyzes specific fragments of the text and comes to the conclusion that each of these concepts is reflected in the work. However, the author’s main idea is that the “institutional” sacred, represented by the phenomena of church (liturgical, educational) life, is profaned in “Essays of Bursa.” On the contrary, the phenomena of the profane life of students (games, relationships), which can be correlated with the “carnival, festive” attitude, are sacralized.