V. G. Rasputin on the Christian foundation of Russian literature

The article examines the Christian foundations of the aesthetic views of V. G. Rasputin, which he expressed in various speeches, journalistic articles, and literary works. Tying Russian literature with the adoption of Christianity in Russia, Rasputin argued that it inherited the “science of the soul” taught by the church, patristic principles, and Christian laws and commandments. All the criteria for evaluating literary phenomena of the past and present for the writer are based on Christian categories and laws. Rasputin understands literature as the main factor in the formation of the Russian nation, along with the Orthodox faith, as a “powerful incentive” “for the creation of a Russian person.” Literature contributed to the “artistic and moral design of the soul” of the Russian person, fulfilled a “priestly mission.” Rasputin considered the most important thing in the writer’s work to be its spiritual and moral impact on the reader. The writer believed that the primary task of Russian literature at the present stage of development is “the salvation of the nation,” “the salvation of Russian spirituality.” As the writer claimed, the basis of Russian civilization is the redemptive synodic principle. The writer’s views are embodied in his work, which recreates a truly “Orthodox image of the world.”