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Apéndice: Summary (Resumen en inglés)
I. Introduction
In recognizing the complexity embodied in the phenomenon of
jurodstvo/holy foolery
169
and
the difficulties encountered when attempting to understand the qualities and circumstances under
which a “holy fool” (
jurodivyj) is recognized and canonized, I am proposing to consider questions
of the number of holy fools and their manifestations over time through a framework of socio-
cultural definitions otherwise typically associated with the fields of sociology and anthropology. In
doing so, I hope to understand the stability/instability of the spread of
jurodstvo and how this
phenomenon shaped itself within the context of processes of ontogeny and then followed by
constructions and reconstruction of memory over time. These questions are connected also with the
diversity shown in the nature of previous analyses.
It is well known that concepts associated with
jurodstvo or a type of
jurodstvo have their
roots in the early stages of Christianity. The phenomenon emerged and evolved in Byzantium and is
part of the rich Christian heritage transmitted to the Slavs. It has an obvious influence on East
Slavic Orthodox spirituality. From that moment on, holy foolery has been seen as occupying a
special, almost unique, place, especially in Russian culture.
Our knowledge of the Rus’ian past is fragmentary and depends on the surviving sources,
almost all of which date to after the 16th century. In considering the various testimonies of holy
foolery present throughout the more or less ten centuries that conform to this history, we can point
out certain obvious conclusions. To summarize: there appear to be very few testimonies of
jurodstvo during the lengthy early period of the 11th to the 14th centuries. This period is in sharp
contrast to the dramatic increase recognizing holy foolery in the 15th and 16th centuries. The status
of fools-for-Christ's-sake changed once more with the modernization of Russia and the Petrine and
subsequent later periods of development, approximating a European pattern. For example, from the
beginning of the 18th and later, those that some considered to be
jurodivye were often persecuted
and state authorities did not necessarily recognize their “saintliness.” In the 19th century,
jurodivye
were associated more with psychiatric asylums than to monasteries. At the same time, the popular
169 I have decided to use the term “holy foolery” in English or
jurodstvo as emic terminology (borrowing from its use
in anthropology and sociology). “Contrasting ethnographic perspectives: the emic view is
based on native
knowledge, the etic view on the scientifically grounded categories of an observer”. See Winthrop 1991: 91-94. For a
discussion on the English terminology, see the Preface to the English Edition in Ivanov 2006. I would also like to
acknowledge the assistance and support of The Ohio State University through the Resource Center for Medieval
Slavic Studies, the Hilandar Research Library, other library collections, and Predrag Matejic.
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cult of several holy fools has survived to the present. New testimonies appeared in 18th and 19th
century and the phenomenon was a really productive motif in different arts,
for example in literature
or painting. In the 20th century there has been official recognition and canonization of a new holy
fool. In the last decade, the phenomenon has experienced a dramatic increase with the canonization
of the new martyrs. In the current moment,
jurodstvo is a productive topic in academic studies.
We also find great diversity and disarray in the different perspectives offered by academic
analyses. Scholars agree with the idea of holy foolery as an aspect of the influences from eastern
Christianity immersed in the process of Christianization of the eastern Slavs (Ivanov 2006, Kobets
2008). Some scholars believe that Russian holy foolery did not exist in a strict sense up until the
Novgorodian period (14th -15th cc.) (Kobets 2000a). Thompson has tried to find other antecedents
of
jurodstvo in the influence of Euroasiatic shamanic tradition in Russian culture. In her opinion, the
shaman served as a model for the holy fool (Thompson 1987: 66-67). Although this opinion has
been the object of discussion (Oinas 1989), the approach shows a new manner of approaching the
phenomenon. Other studies have attempted to reflect perceptions of mental disorders in old Russia
in relation to holy foolery (Challis y Dewey 1974, 1987a). Their conclusion is that some
pathological illness may be understood as the basis, underlying basis, or at least a contributing
factor to establishing and perpetuating the paradigm of the phenomenon. It is also necessary to
reference the work of Pančenko, who has introduced a semiotic interpretation of holy fools. With
the affirmation of the theatricality of
jurodstvo (Pančenko 1984: 83) and comparison with the works
of Bakhtin, some might find a way to explain the anthropological complexity embodied in the
figure of the holy fool. Others might consider that holy foolery could be understood as a response to
the social necessity of spectacle, or a way to provide believers with the opportunity for Christian
charity, or as an embodiment of the people’s voice. Some of these saints were canonized even when
nothing was known about their life, such is the case of Jacob of Borovichi (Levin 2003),
while
others never got the recongnition of the eclesiastical authorities as it is described in several
ethnographic studies (Pryžov 1996).
Another aspect of the complexity of this phenomenon is that every single holy fool involves
a specific and individual ontological process, which is then followed by different processes of
“construction and reconstruction of the past” (Johnson & Sherman 1986: 482-526).
170
Every holy
170 “Reconstructing the past… our retrieval of the past can be guided, reinterpreted, and biased in various ways. When
looking
to the past, the present can often provide a filter, a lens through which our own history is seen. In particular,
our current beliefs, desires, and goals can lead us to
reconstruct our understanding …” See this
brief definition in
Social Cognition: Key Readings, edited by David L. Hamilton (Psychology Press: New York and Hove, 2005): 533-
534.
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