James Day

Present status: MPhil/PhD candidate

Working title of thesis: Konstantin Leont’ev and Byzantinism in late imperial Russia

My research concerns the nineteenth-century Russian intellectual Konstantin Leont’ev, and in particular the concept of Byzantinism, which he frequently invoked in his writings to denote the combination of autocratic rule and Orthodox piety which, he believed, shaped Russian identity.

I intend to examine the purpose and political significance which Leont’ev attached to the concept of Byzantinism, and how it accounts for his differences of opinion with other nineteenth-century Russian conservative thinkers. These included his critiques of the Slavophile movement, and his belief that Russian foreign policy should support the integrity of multinational empires, including Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, rather than the creation of a Pan-Slavic state.

I will also look at the ways in which the concept of Byzantinism expressed Leont’ev’s religious as well as political convictions. Leont’ev championed the prestige and authority of the Orthodox Church, which he saw as the basis of Russian civilisation, but opposed the forcible conversion of non-Orthodox Russians, saying that their traditional religions were a bulwark of social order. Clarifying the meaning of Byzantinism in the context of church-state relations may help to resolve this apparent contradiction.

Therefore, by analysing Leont’ev’s conception of Byzantinism, we can cast light on the intellectual universe of nineteenth-century Russian conservatives, and understand them in terms of their positive beliefs rather than the critiques that their opponents made of them. Ultimately, this may help us to understand why they were so reluctant to embrace the kind of reforms which might have made it possible to avert revolution.

Research interests: Russian intellectual and cultural history, especially nineteenth-century Russian conservative thought, the literary techniques used in political rhetoric, and the political role of religion in Russia.