Landscape Sketches in Memoir Prose of 20th Century Russian Monasticism

This study explores the role of landscape sketches in the memoir prose of 20th-century Russian monasticism, focusing on the spiritual recollections of Archbishop Nikon (Rozhdestvensky). It identifies the distinctive ideological and thematic content, imagery organization, stylistic features, and intentionality behind these landscape portrayals within monastic literary works. The analysis reveals that the primary themes conveyed through these sketches center around love for God and one’s neighbors, the action of Divine Providence, and faith in God. Key motifs include nature, beauty, childhood, joy, and happiness, with significant imagery associated with churches, monasteries, and monastic lands. The study posits that the main intention of these landscape sketches is self-reflective, manifesting in two primary vectors: (1) contemplation on the relationship between nature, its states, and human emotions; (2) reflections on the Divine essence present in nature. Furthermore, it examines the rhetorical features of landscape sketches in these memoirs, highlighting the use of religious terminology (specifically Orthodox lexicon with spiritual and moral connotations), epithets, metaphors, enumerations, and names of weather phenomena and flora. The findings conclude that the significant functions of religious landscape sketches are both meaning-making and representational.