Vasilii Rozanov and the Creation

This thesis will examine the Creation of the world as the referential event in Vasilii Rozanov's religious thought. The first chapter explores Rozanov's rejection of Orthodoxy's formal doctrines, in favour of a philosophy based on man's physical ties with God. Rozanov's God is bisexual, whose creation of the cosmos is a sexual event. Man is linked to God not through Christ (a created being), but biologically, and by his bodily activity which repeats the Creation. Rozanov subverts the eschatology of Orthodoxy, replacing it with an attachment to the material world. The subsequent chapters examine the implications of Rozanov's thought for his Christianity, and specifically the manner in which he tries to make ancient values relevant in contemporary Russian society. The second chapter investigates Rozanov's studies of ancient Egypt. Rozanov tries to restore Egyptian religious practices, in particular their reverence for the Creation. The third chapter turns to Rozanov's writings on the Jews. He believes that the Jews have preserved the rituals they learned from the Egyptians, and therefore can provide a connection between the Russians and pre-Christian civilizations. The final chapter looks at the role played by art, specifically literature, in the restoration of pre-Christian values for Rozanov, arguing that his aesthetics are ethical and based on his interpretation of the Creation. Writing re-enacts the Creation. This thesis argues that Rozanov's thought emerges from the traditions of Russian philosophy, and also from traditional Russian Orthodoxy; in many ways he is a typical Russian thinker, as well as a devout Orthodox believer. Having assumed these traditions, he proceeds to define his thought in opposition to them. This thesis will also illuminate the broader tendencies in the development of Russian thought at this time, and the way Russian thinkers engaged with the established religious teachings of the Church.