Культурная гегемония, религия и Русская революция 1917 года

The ambition of this article is to initiate an understanding of the Russian Orthodox Christianity at the time of the revolution in a way that is different from the classical approach which is often focused on its institutional side and limited to historical facts. Its main thesis is that rather than being an obstacle, Orthodox Christianity to some extent contributed to the revolution’s success by providing familiar semantic background against which the majority of Russians interpreted, accepted and fought for the socialist ideals. It argues that Orthodoxy was the source of hegemonic cultural values and that it functioned as dominant, yet circuitous, semantic filter through which ideas surrounding
the revolution were understood and appropriated by the
masses. In constructing its argument the discussion relies on Antonio Gramsci’s ideas about cultural hegemony, Iurii Lotman’s concept of semiosphere and Ernest Bloch’s theory about utopianism as a necessary element of radicalism.