Third Renaissance or The New Middle Ages? Russian Silver Age on the Renaissance

The article is a historiographical and theoretical review of the views of representatives of Russian religious and philosophical thought of the late 19 — early 20 centuries on the topic of the Western European Renaissance. The article analyzes the history of the concept of “Renaissance” since its introduction into scientific use by Jules Michelet (1855) and Jacob Burckhardt (1860). The Russian intelligentsia took this term in the interpretation of Friedrich Nietzsche, who contrasted the individualism and aristocracy of the Renaissance with the egalitarianism and philistinism of modernity. The Nietzschean concept of the Renaissance by Dmitry Merezhkovsky, who sought a solution to the great contradiction between paganism and Christianity and expected a Third Renaissance, is contrasted with the constructions of Akim Volynsky, who interpreted the Renaissance not as a revival of classical beauty and the emancipation of the creative forces of the individual, but as an anti-Christian, demonic movement, the restoration of dark pagan principles. The peculiar interpretations of the Renaissance and related concepts of the Third Renaissance by Thaddeus Zelinsky and Vyacheslav Ivanov are considered.

The author emphasizes that enthusiasts of the Third Renaissance interpret the concept of “Renaissance” broadly — not only as the restoration of ancient ideals, but also as the renewal of culture in general, the path to a new state of culture and society. Hence the idea of the multiplicity of “rebirths” in history, associated with the idea of the cyclical nature of the historical process. It is noted that at the beginning of the 20 century, the attitude to the Renaissance in Russian philosophy is being rethought, the roots of the deepening crisis of modern society are found in it. The Renaissance is criticized as a phenomenon responsible for the desiccation and atomization of Western culture. The most consistent critics of the worldview of the Renaissance type were Nikolai Berdyaev and Pavel Florensky, who announced the imminent end of the Renaissance world, built on the principles of humanism and individualism, and the advent of the New Middle Ages.