The directory «Plots»

Kirill (Кирилл) of Turov
(12th century)

As the title suggests, Ingunn Lunde has edited a collection of essays dealing with the multifaceted activities of bishop Kirill of Turov (? twelfth century) whose extant writings make him an extremely important figure in the historical development of Christianity among the East Slavs. Writings which pertain to all three of his titles find a sympathetic and at times very detailed examination by the nine contributors to this volume. Lunde provides a brief Foreword and a lengthy article ("N" ne iz svoego serdtsa siia isnoshiu slovesa: Kirill of Turov's Rhetoric of Biblical Quotation,") on rhetoric that in many ways anchors the whole enterprise. The opening essay by David Kirk Prestel, "Ascent to the Cave: Kirill of Turov and Kievan Monasticism" provides one of the most insightful discussions of early Rus' monasticism written in the past decade. Taking his cue from Kirill himself, Prestel paints a fascinating picture of the Caves Monastery by amply considering the spiritual and theological dimensions so often ignored by earlier scholarship. His careful reading of Kirill's Tale of the Layman brings to light a solid monastic theology of the caves that shows considerable sophistication as an adaptation of the Byzantine ascetical heritage. Worth noting too is his much needed revision of the historiography of George Fedotov pertaining to early Rus monasticism.

The second essay looks at a topical and controversial issue, Anti-Semitism/Anti-- Judaism, "A Shadow of the Good Spell: On Jews and Anti-Judaism in the World and Work of Kirill of Turov." Alexander Pereswetoff-Morath argues that no AntiSemitism existed in early Rus. He points out that the vast majority of Adversus Iudaeos translated texts entered East Slavonic manuscript tradition only in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Through a nuanced examination of the original rhetorical purposes of Anti- Judaism tropes in homilies and apologetics from the patristic and Byzantine era, Pereswetoff-Morath shows that even in Kirill's appropriation of this material the intention was to demonstrate Christianity rather than refute Judaism. Kirill's Anti- Judaism is textual and exegetical rather than explicitly motivated by cultural or personal bias; this does not mean, however, that the niceties of rhetorical device were always understood by his congregation and subsequent audience. The articles by Dviniatin ("Semanticheskie oppozitsii v torzhestvennykh slovakh Kirilla Turovskogo: Bog/chelovek v Slo ve o raslablennom") and Kolesov ("Simvol kak semanticheski sistemoobrazuiushchii komponent v tekstakh Kirilla Torovskogo") offer complementary textual analyses of Kirill's literary corpus. Dviniatin explores the semantic structure of Kirill's writings based on the opposition of binary pairs such as life/death, God/human, law/grace and finds a dynamic system at work. Kolesov takes issue with the standard negative criticism of Kirill's literary skill voiced by such scholars as V.P. Vinogradov and Francis J. Thompson and demonstrates the creative use Kirill makes of traditional theological material. In a fashion somewhat analogous to biblical scholars' search for the Q document, in his essay entitled "Efrosin of Kirillov and the Paschal-- Pentecost Cycle of Kirill of Turov," Robert Romanchuk leads the reader on a journey of reconstruction for a now lost Pentecost Homiliary produced by Efrosin of the Kirill of the White Lake monastery. Among the authors included in the collection was Kirill of Turov. The essay raises some questions about authority and authoritative texts that will interest literary scholars and also those concerned with the monastic practice of lectio divina. The final essay by Ekaterina Rogatchevskaia, "The Concept of Sin in Kirill of Turov's Writings," examines Kirill's appropriation of the theological concept of sin. She finds that his identification of sin with illness is so strong that it may be used in further work on the manuscript tradition of prayers attributed to him. The two remaining essays-on which I have not commented here only because of limitations of space-are C. M. MacRobert, "In Search of a Canon: The Dissemination in Fourteenth-Century East Slavonic Manuscripts of Prayers and Hymns Attributed to Kirill of Turov," and Joy Bache, "The Perception of Time in Three Sunday Prayers Attributed to Kirill of Turov."

Belarus, 1996, Kirill of Turov

Belarus, 1998, Belarussian postal stamps and emblem of UPU

Belarus, 2005, Monument to Kirill of Turov

Belarus, 2004.09.04—05, Turov. Monument to Kirill of Turov

Belarus, 2002, Monument to Kirill of Turov

Belarus, 2004, Kirill of Turov