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ИСТОРИЧЕСКИЕ НАУКИ
RELIGION, MYSTICISM AND ROMANTICISM IN 19TH CENTURY EUROPE. THE UNDERLYING RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF
ROMANTICISM
Iuliu-Marius Morariu
Faculty of Orthodox Theology, Faculty of History and Philosophy, «Babe§-Bolyai» University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Romanticism, which appeared in Europe after 1789 in a context which seemed conducive to secularisation1 and laicisation, is a complex phenomenon. Researchers have tried to define it by means of stylistic elements, the ideas it preached and its relation to previous and contemporary movements. However, they were made to acknowledge its great complexity and the immediate futility of trying to provide a comprehensive definition for this term.
Notwithstanding, by highlighting some of its more relevant characteristics, we can give some helpful information to anyone eager to infer its relevance and constitutive elements. Thus, for example, one contemporary historian from Cluj wishes to pinpoint to the fact that:
The Romantic temptations of changing the world offered different alternatives: first, taking refuge into the past, but a rediscovered, mostly medieval past. Another refuge was exoticism, especially the lure of the East, escaping amidst wonderful nature and, last but not least, escaping to an imaginary world, in particular to fantasy!2 (our translation)
Beyond these aspects, which were mostly specific to its applications in the fields of literature and art, we have to say however that Romanticism left a strong imprint on religion. If we analyse the context when it surged, we will notice that, at the end of the 18th century, France had just come out of a revolution and was visibly opposed to Catholicism3; this rivalry would later be extrapolated and, because of rationalist thinkers, would become a general attitude of reluctance towards any form
of religiosity, be it institutional or not.
This mentality, surging on the basis of the Enlightenment, which had also drained out the Roman Catholic Church4, would not be echoed by Romanticism, which denied classical rationalism and proposed its own way of restoring Christianity and the Christian world:
Indeed, Romanticism denied classical rationalism, but it was an attempt to rescue the meaning of Christianity and of the Christian world, following the loss of the divine meaning of human realities. Each national religion was thought to be a way, proper to each people, of honouring Divinity; thus, the new religious perspectives tended to gain a basis in this collective experience and not in universal reasoning, which is the source of a religio naturalis.5 (our translation)
The tendency of reconsidering the subject of religiosity and its principles would find a strong response in intellectuality given that rationalism, despite its great efforts, would fail at completely separating intellectuality and the Christian myths6. Therefore, due to these aspects, which it corroborated with the desire to break free from mere mundaneness and with the feeling of rebellion against some elements of that era:
The Romantic rebellion of the first half of the 19th century emerged towards the mysteries of unconsciousness and a mysticism which denied the sad and ordinary world, about to take shape by means of rampant urbanisation.7 (our translation) Consequently, Romanticism raised the subject of axiological modernisation in a much calmer context than was the case
1 Regarding this phenomenon and the different connotations it gained in time, please see also: Francois Furet, Reflectii asupra rev-olutiei franceze, trad. Sorin Antohi, Mircea Vasilescu, col. „Societatea civilâ", Editura Humanitas, Bucureçti, 1992; Albert Mathiez, Revolutia francezâ, trad. Camil Mureçanu, Leonard Altbuch, Editura Politicâ, Bucureçti, 1976; Olav Hovdelien, "... in favour of secularism, correctly understood.", în rev. Australian eJournal of Theology year 21, nr. 3, Sydney, 2014, pp. 234-247; Olivier Gillet, Religion et nationalisme. L'idéologie de l'Eglise Orthodoxe Roumaine sous le régime communiste, Editions de L'Université de Bruxelles, 1997, p. 5; Nicolai Berdiaev, Un nou Ev Mediu, trad. Mariana Vârtic, Editura Omniscop, Craiova, 1995; Nyazi Berkes, The development of secularism in Turkey, McGill University Press, Montreal, 1964.
2 Simona Nicoarâ, O istorie a secularizârii. Avatarurile creçtinismului çi triumfalismul mesianismelor noii ere (sec. XIX-XX), vol. 2, col. "Biblioteca de Antropologie Istoricâ", Editura Accent, Cluj-Napoca, 2006, p. 180.
3 Cf. Albert Bayet, Istoria Frantei, trad. Mia Constantinescu Iaçi, Editura Forum, Bucureçti, f. a., p. 35.
4 And whose ideas had made their way into the Romanian space as well, if we think, for example, about the fact that, in Transylvania, towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, encyclopaedias contained complex entries dedicated to personalities such as Condorcet. Cf. Grigore Pletosu, "Condorcet", în Constantin Diaconovich, coord., Enciclopedia Românâ, publicatâ din însârcinarea çi sub auspiciile Asociatiunii pentru Literatura Românâ çi cultura poporului român, Tomul I, Editura çi tiparul lui W. Krafft, Sibiu, 1898, pp. 902-903.
5 Simona Nicoarâ, op. cit., p. 179.
6 This is very well observed by Mrs Simona Nicoarâ who declares that: „Passing from theological reflection to scientific critique and rational actions did not fully engender the disengagement of the cultural and intellectual elite with the Christian myths." Ibidem, p. 179
7 Ibidem, p. 180.
8 Cf. Claudie Bernard, "Le Romantisme, Du Bouleversement des Lettres dans la France Postrevolutionnaire", în The Romantic Review. vol. 100, Issue 3, 2009, p. 396.
with its previous currents or social movements8 and suggested rejuvenating spirituality, moving it away from the doctrinaire barrenness put forward and supported by classic religions and internalising it9, which generated negative reactions from the Western Church on a regular basis10. The religiosity and mysticism of this period would be defined both by the generosity of vision and the diversity of ideas which bordered on religion in those times. As experts put it, the education of the era when „the child becomes a pupil"11 (our translation) was marked by the rediscovery of the prototype of the hero, after the image of Parsifal12. Yet, the prototype of the hero was usually linked to the religious spectrum and, even when it bore no direct connection with a particular religion, it was connected with some of its elements, being truly „surrounded" by religiosity.
The variation and variety of the religious element, specific to the 19th century, but not exclusively, and which were influenced by Romanticism, were characterised both by the encounter of some classic beliefs related to religiosity - to which amendments were suggested - and by new forms, defined by new dynamics and by a special structure, such as the French Masonic Enlightenment or entheism13.
Moreover, here is where some of the famous utopias were born, such as the one presented by Karl Marx in Capital14; the rediscovered element of heroism fuelled such ideologies. In this context, a new belief appeared: it had utopian foundations, but, gradually, gained quite a few followers who declared that the Church was not a visible society, but an invisible one15, that all forms of institutions which claim to be ecclesiastical should be part of this institution and, consequently, they should collaborate. This concept is in fact at the basis of contemporary ecumenism, which gained an institutional character starting with the 20th century. It also brings along the belief according to which religion is an internalized form of human existence and militates against confining it to gestures and ritualism. As a reaction to this belief, the Catholic Church had a very biting response, such as the text of Lamennais, who showed that:
Religion is not only a thought buried deep in the mind, but a faith which manifests itself outside, through actions or through a cult preserving the dogmas it preaches; thus, the Church or the community of believers who practise the true religion represents a visible society.16 (our translation)
The discussion about the religiosity of Romanticism should apodictically pinpoint to one important fact for theology and other sciences alike, namely the birth of the idea of interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity17. In this context, religion would be again a topic for scientific discussions, authors trying either to deny some assertions related to its field of manifestations, to find rational explanations for the religious sphere or to give it a scientific nuance.
Even more, religiosity would become part of fields such as literature, which would try to illustrate in an openly diagnostic manner the tension experienced by the representatives of the religious field who wanted to have contact with the intellectual and spiritual world alike18. The novel of Balzac stands out through typologies such as that of the miser, embodied by Old Goriot19, or others; it is acknowledged as being representative for the French and European literary Romanticism, it pictures different hypostases of religiosity, but it also gives examples of people for whom materialism and concupiscence are forms of religiosity. Balzac portrays with truly playful strokes typologies of people who practise a downright bigot Christianity, atheists, freethinkers, clergymen, people who vacillate between the classic religiosity and the intellectualism of those times, illustrating thus in a complex way the mosaic universe of religiosity in the Romantic space.
Therefore, these are the main elements which illustrate the relation between Romanticism and religiosity in the 19th century. As one can observe, the complex phenomenon of the former constantly interferes with the latter, providing the frame for rediscovering its values, proposing the rewording of some concepts and a different approach for old principles and establishing links between various forms of religiosity and
9 „For Romantics such as Novalis, Bohme and others, there is no God amongst the stars, outside the world and outside man, but internalized, in his soul." Simona Nicoarâ, op. cit., p. 180.
10 We should point here to the fact that the Orthodox Church was rather little affected by Romantic tendencies, as it was in a space where this current entered only later. Actually, in the Romanian space for example, Romanticism would only arrive much later, being represented by late Romantics like Eminescu, and would survive either in forms adapted to the context, such as semânâtorismul [the ideology of the traditionalist, neoromanticist and ethnic nationalist magazine Sâmânâtorul (The Sower) ] (cf. Al.Piru, ,,Cuvânt înainte", în vol. Poeti de la Sâmânâtorul, ed. Petru Homoceanul, Editura Minerva, Bucureçti, 1978, pp. 5-8; Nicolae Manolescu, Is-toria criticâ a literaturii române. 5 secole de literaturâ, Editura Paralela 45, Piteçti, 2008, p. 501; George Câlinescu, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pânâ în prezent, Fundatia Regalâ pentru Literaturâ çi Artâ, Bucureçti, 1941, p. 530), or in its pure form.
11 R. Hofstetter, "La transformation de l'enfant en écolier (du 19e au milieu du 20e siècle): Les eurêkas des sciences de l'homme naissantes, entre scientisme et romantisme: Un naturalisme de l'enfance", în rev. Paedagogica Historica, No. 48 (1), Genève, 2012, p. 31.
12 Cf. Mircea Eliade, Aspecte ale mitului, col. "Eseuri", Editura Univers, Bucureçti, 1978, p. 23.
13 Cf. Simona Nicoarâ, op. cit., p. 180.
14 Please see: Karl Marx, Capitalul - critica economiei politice, vol. 1, part 1 "Procesul de productie a capitalului", Editura Partidu-lui Comunist Român, Bucureçti, 1947, dar çi celelalte volume, unde sunt enuntate principiile utopiei comuniste, a cârei materializare va generaliza fenomenul devastator care marcat secolul trecut.
15 Cf. Nicolae Chitescu, Isidor Todoran, I. Petreutâ, Teologia dogmaticâ çi simbolicâ - manual pentru facultâtile teologice, vol. 2, Editura Renaçterea, Cluj-Napoca, 2010, p. 137.
16 Simona Nicoarâ, op. cit., p. 181. Cf. Câlin Vera, op. cit., p. 7.
17 Since, as Mrs Simona Nicoarâ asserts, Romanticism also means: „passionately exploring a system of the world, allowing for the reconciliation of opposing doctrines, of ideologies and mystiques in a full, natural, spiritualised, aestheticised and historicised science." (our translation) Simona Nicoarâ, op. cit., p. 180.
18 „The ecclesiastical gallery of the Romantic literature, especially that of Balzac, is portrayed between the faith and rigour imposed by the Church and the spiritual and intellectual temptations of those times." (our translation) Ibidem, p. 184.
19 Honoré de Balzac, Moç Goriot, trad. Victor Vasilache, Editura Curtea Veche, Bucureçti, 2010.
between these and different sciences or illustrating some of its characteristics in literary creations that became representative for those times.
Bibliograhpy
1. Balzac, Honoré de, Moç Goriot (Grandfather Goriot), translated in Romanian Language by Victor Vasilache, Editura Curtea Veche, Bucureçti, 2010.
2. Bayet, Albert, Istoria Frantei (The History of France), translated in Romanian Language by Mia Constantinescu Iaçi, Editura Forum, Bucureçti, f. a.
3. Berdiaev, Nicolai, Un nou Ev Mediu (A new Middle Age), translated in Romanian Language by Mariana Vârtic, Omniscop Press, Craiova, 1995.
4. Berkes, Nyazi, The development of secularism in Turkey, McGill University Press, Montreal, 1964.
5. Bernard, Claudie, «Le Romantisme, Du Bouleversement des Lettres dans la France Postrevolutionnaire», în The Romantic Review. vol. 100, Issue 3, 2009.
6. Câlinescu, George, Istoria literaturii române de la origini pânâ în prezent (The History of Romanian Literature from the beginning and until today), Royal Foundation for Literature and Art, Bucharest, 1941.
7. Chitescu, Nicolae, Todoran, Isidor, Petreutâ, I., Teologia dogmaticâ çi simbolicâ (Dogmatic and Simbolic Theology) vol. 2, Renaçterea Publishing House, Cluj-Napoca, 2010.
8. Eliade, Mircea, Aspecte ale mitului (Aspects of the myth), Univers Press, Bucharest, 1978.
9. Gillet, Olivier, Religion et nationalisme. L'idéologie de l'Eglise Orthodoxe Roumaine sous le régime communiste, Editions de L'Université de Bruxelles, 1997.
10. Hofstetter, R., «La transformation de l'enfant en écolier (du 19e au milieu du 20e siècle): Les eurêkas des sciences de l'homme naissantes, entre scientisme et romantisme: Un naturalisme de l'enfance», în rev. Paedagogica Historica, No. 48 (1), Genève, 2012.
11. Hovdelien, Olav, "... in favour of secularism, correctly understood.", in rev. Australian eJournal of Theology year 21, nr. 3, Sydney, 2014.
12. Furet, Francois, Reflectii asupra revolutiei franceze (Reflections about the French revolution), translated in Romanian Language by Sorin Antohi, Mircea Vasilescu, Humanitas Press, Bucharest, 1992.
13. Manolescu, Nicolae, Istoria criticâ a literaturii române. 5 secole de literaturâ (The critique history of Romanian Literature. 5 centuryes of literature), Paralela 45 Press, Piteçti, 2008.
14. Marx, Karl, Capitalul - critica economiei politice (The Capital - critique of the politic economy), vol. 1, part 1, Romanian Comunist Party Press, Bucharest, 1947.
15. Mathiez, Albert, Revolutia francezâ (French revolution), translated in Romanian Language by Camil Mureçanu, Leonard Altbuch, Politic Press, Bucharest, 1976.
16. Nicoarâ, Simona, O istorie a secularizârii (A history of secularisation), vol. 2, Accent Press, Cluj-Napoca, 2006.
17. Piru, Al., ,,Cuvânt mainte (Foreword), in Poeti de la Sâmânâtorul (Poets from Sâmânâtorul), Minerva Publishing House, Bucharest, 1978.
18. Pletosu, Grigore, «Condorcet», in Constantin Diaconovich (ed.), Enciclopedia Românâ (Romanian Enciclopedy), W. Krafft Press, Sibiu, 1898.
ИСТОРИЯ РАЗВИТИЯ МУСУЛЬМАНСКИХ МЕКТЕБОВ У ТЮРКСКИХ НАРОДОВ УРАЛО-ПОВОЛЖЬЯ
Абдрахманова Райса Лесовна
кандидат исторических наук, доцент Западно-Казахстанского инновационно-технологического университета
Уральск, Казахстан
THE HISTORY OF THE MUSLIM MEKTEBS OF TURKIC PEOPLES OF
URAL-VOLGA
Abdrakhmanov Raisa Lesovna
Candidate of historical sciences, Associate Professor of West Kazakhstan innovational-technological University
Uralsk, Kazakhstan
АННОТАЦИЯ
В данной статье рассматриваются вопросы развития мусульманских мектебов у тюркских народов Волго-Уральского региона. Особое внимание уделяется мусульманской образовательной системе Западного Казахстана в силу трансграничного положения региона.
Анализируются проблемы взаимодействие образовательной системы казахов, башкир и татар.
ABSTRACT
The article deals with the development of the Muslim mektebs system of Turkic peoples of the Volga-Urals region. The main attention is paid to the Muslim educational system of the West Kazakhstan due to cross-border situation in the region. The problem of interaction of the educational system of the Kazakhs and Bashkirs, Tatars is analyzed.
Ключевые слова: ислам, мектебы, образование.
Keywords: Islam, mektebs, education.
Развитие образовательной системы казахского народа рические эпохи. Научный интерес представляет развитие опирается на его собственный исторический опыт и куль- образовательной системы Западного Казахстана в силу турный потенциал, накопленный в предшествующие исто- трансграничное положение региона. В геополитическом
