The October Revolution as the Passion of Christ
Boris Pasternak's Easter Narrative in Doctor Zhivago and Its Cultural Contexts
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3452837 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Svetlana Efimova (0000-0002-4838-6454, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 7 |
| Pages | 461 |
| Publication date | 2021-06-24 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religions (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444 |
| Publisher | MDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT) |
| DOI | 10.3390/rel12070461 |
| OpenAlex | W3173841581 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 10 |
This article offers a new interpretation of Boris Pasternak's novel Doctor Zhivago in the cultural and historical context of the first half of the 20th century, with an emphasis on the interrelationship between religion and philosophy of history in the text. Doctor Zhivago is analysed as a condensed representation of a religious conception of Russian history between 1901 and 1953 and as a cyclical repetition of the Easter narrative. This bipartite narrative consists of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ as symbols of violence and renewal (liberation). The novel cycles through this narrative several times, symbolically connecting the 'Easter' revolution (March 1917) and the Thaw (the spring of 1953). The sources of Pasternak's Easter narrative include the Gospels, Leo Tolstoy's philosophy of history and pre-Christian mythology. The model of cyclical time in the novel brings together the sacred, natural and historical cycles. This concept of a cyclical renewal of life differs from the linear temporality of the Apocalypse as an expectation of the end of history
Art · Epistemology · Literature · Mythology · Narrative · Passion · Temporality · History · Law · Philosophy · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices · Utopian, Dystopian, and Speculative Fiction · Violence, Religion, and Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2023 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |