Vol.2, No 6, 1999 pp. 27 - 39
UDC:316.7:316.63
RELIGION AND CULTURAL-HISTORICAL ARCHETYPES
Nonka Bogumilova-Todorova
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Abstract. The religious spirit, diversity and even unity in the Balkans very often are dominated by state interests, ideology, as well as by mass mentality. Following the paradigm of cultural-historical archetypes, the paper will try to outline some dominant archetypes:
1) The archetype of acumene (according to D.Obolensky, J.Meyendorff, P.Mutefchiev, etc.). Born in the time of the Byzantine Empire, it includes a powerful state and cultural center which has "privatized" Christianity and God, sacralization of the military and the cultural invasion of the "Center" toward "Periphery" ("barbarians", "heretics", "infidels", "pagans"). Within the acumene the distinct states continuously fight against each other and also with the "center" in order to take its place (for most Balkan countries the ideology and practice of totalitarian socialism reproduced the oecumene archetype in modern political form, the notions - federation, union, "camp").
2) The archetype of yoke and liberation: the conqueror is identified through its religious faith (enslaver - Islam, enslaved - Orthodoxy). Nowadays this identification becomes more and more intensive.
3) The archetype of powerful and weak state-organization ? Diversity in the level of state identity depends on the historical fate and the synthesis between religion, the state and mentality. The most powerful centers in this respect are Serbia, Greece, Romania - partly (Obolensky, Litavrian, Iorga, Mutafchiev, etc.); the weakest - Bulgaria, Albania.
Humanistic discourse is based on the idea that the inertia of cultural archetypes could be overcome through their rationalization and through the cultivation of universal values - human life, God, liberty; through stimulation of positive self-identification and not the "enemy" theory. This ethics is addressed both to local conflicts and to developed countries. It requres understanding, mutual respect, consideration of cultural and historical specifics.
VERSKA RAZNOLIKOST I KULTURNO-ISTORIJSKI ARHETIPI
Verski duh, raznolikost ili čak jedinstvo na Balkanu često su određeni državnim interesima, ideologijom, kao i masovnim mentalitetom. Prateći paradigmu kulturno-istorijskih arhetipa, ovaj rad pokušava da iscrta neke značajne arhetipe:
1) arhetip ekumenstva (prema D.Obolenskom, Dž.Mejendorfu, P.Mutafčijevu, i drugima). Stvoren u vreme vizantijskog carstva, on obuhvata moćni državni i kulturni centar koji je "privatizovao" hrišćanstvo i Boga, zatim sakralizovao vojnu i kulutrnu invaziju "centra" prema "periferiji" ("varvari", "jeretici", "nevernici", "pagani"). Unutar ekumena jasno uočljive države se neprekidno bore jedna protiv druge, kao i sa "centrom", da bi zauzele njegovo mesto (za većinu balkanskim zemalja, ideologija i praksa totalitarnog socijalizma reprodukovali su ekumenski arhetip u modernom političkom obliku, pojmove poput federacije, unije, "kampa").
2) arhetip jarma i oslobođenja; osvajač se identifikuje po osnovi vere (porobljivač - islamista, porobljeni - pravoslavac). Danas ta identifikacija sve više jača.
3) arhetip moćne i slabe državne organizacije. Raznolikost na nivou državnog identiteta zavisi od istorijske sudbine i sinteze između vere, države i mentaliteta. Najmoćniji centri u tom pogledu su Srbija, Grčka, Rumunija - delimično (Obolenski, Litavrian, Jorga, Mutafčief, itd.), a najslabiji Bugarska i Alabanija.
Humanistički diskurs se zasniva na ideji da se inercija kulturnih arhetipova može prevazići racionalizacijom i isticanjem univerzalnih vrednosti kao što su ljudski život, Bog, sloboda, odnosno, podsticanjem pozitivne samo-identifikacije, a ne teorije "neprijateljstva". Ova etika se odnosi i na lokalne sukobe i na razvijene zemlje. Ona zahteva razumevanje i uzajamno poštovanje, a uzima u obzir i kulturne i istorijske specifičnosti.