The concept of long-suffering in Russian culture Cover Image

Концептът многострадалност в руската култура
The concept of long-suffering in Russian culture

(Introduction to the topic)

Author(s): Dechka Chavdarova
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Russian Literature
Published by: Шуменски университет »Епископ Константин Преславски«
Keywords: long-suffering; Russian culture; concept

Summary/Abstract: The concept of long-suffering is one of the constant concepts in Russian culture. The transformation of the biblical archetype of Job and the evangelical archetype of Christ - victim into a national concept (Russian land - holy land, Russian people - Christ) is characteristic also of other cultures where the messianic idea is present; however, in Russian culture the notion of long-suffering nation obtains its own specific connotations: a connection of long-suffering and patience; expectancy of salvation solely by God; an insistence on acknowledging one‘s long-suffering by other nations; a perception of suffering as fate (fatalism); multivalence of the source of suffering (foreign conquerors, own state, wars and revolutions, political repressions, national traitors, capitalism, liberalism, Jews, Russophobes, and so on), Peculiar to Russian culture is defining even work and affection by the word „long- suffering“. Although Bulgarian language uses the same word for naming the notion of long- suffering, the comparison of its semantics in both cultures shows similarities (the connotations of “fatalism”, “patience”), as well as considerable differences.

  • Issue Year: 2017
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 184-200
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: Bulgarian