How Buddha has discovered the Russian Revolution Cover Image

Comment Bouddha a découvert la Révolution Russe
How Buddha has discovered the Russian Revolution

Author(s): Aurora Băgiag
Subject(s): Studies of Literature, Russian Literature
Published by: Editura Universitatii din Oradea
Keywords: Buddha; occident; orient; retour; Russian Revolution;

Summary/Abstract: The novel "The Return of Buddha" (1923) by the Russian writer Vsévolod Ivanov or-chestrates an intertwining of opposing spiritual vectors: on the one hand, the regres-sion of the Mongolian Lama Dava-Dordji, oscillating between the mysterious calls of the East, which led him to bring back a Buddha statue in his country, and the calls of Europe, which made him escape to modern civilization and Bolshevik utopia; on the other hand, the progression of the Russian professor Safonov, who crosses the obsta-cles of science to regain serenity. This interchange of roles is supposed to reestablish the Buddhist equilibrium in a revolutionary universe, where the historical present de-vours the divine representation, while allowing itself to be reinterpreted in the light of the divine teachings.

  • Issue Year: 2014
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 119-138
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: French