What Russians are silent about

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Isaac Levitan - Over eternal rest

Listening to god

Do you need special conditions to listen, and most importantly, to hear God? Perhaps. Silence, loneliness and silence - "three whales"without which a silent dialogue with the Creator is impossible. It was not for nothing that John Climacus said that a lover of silence draws closer to God. Maybe this is precisely why the holy fools close to God often chose a meaningful silence as their language, which sometimes, however, was interrupted by "muddy words"? Among the monks, the vow of silence was considered one of the most difficult and was especially revered.

The word is silver, silence is gold

Silence, without linguistic means of expression, can nevertheless be expressive. He has hundreds of "guises": it gives hope, hurts painfully, curses and passes judgment. In Russian literature, silence becomes the same full-fledged hero, endowed with its own "character." The most famous, perhaps, can be considered the final scene of Pushkin's "Boris Godunov" with the remark "The people are silent." Silence here becomes a verdict for False Dmitry: very soon he will be thrown from the bell tower, and the whole Golden-domed will spit on his corpse.

The mystery of the Russian soul

Isaac Levitan - Lake. Rus

The Russian silence is the best reflection of the national mentality. The situation when it is impossible to find the right words to convey your feelings is familiar to everyone. The rich and powerful Russian language is simply not able to provide words that can convey everything that a Russian person has in his soul. Not everything in the world can be put into words. So maybe it is in the silence that the mystery of the Russian soul lies?

Intimate

Ivan Shishkin - Poles

Reflection and self-examination, so characteristic of Russian culture, give our silence one more peculiarity. In the process of dialogue, long pauses can be taken by the interlocutors in order to be able to reflect, "digest" what was said, savory "seasoning" it with something of their innermost. Such silence does not depress, on the contrary, it gives the opportunity to be in company with oneself. I remember Tyutchev's "Silence": "There is a whole world in your soul, / Only be able to live in yourself silently …"

Lurking a threat

Russian silence is often interpreted as a threat. Silence is fraught with uncertainty, which frightens, at times, more than all other difficulties. In this case, it generates anxiety, destroys the decorated world, brings discomfort. Needless to say, the silent heroes of Russian classics are able to "catch up with horror." So in "Ruslan and Lyudmila" a lonely dashing man rides in silence, but God forbid you meet him on the way: "I'm going, I'm going, I'm not fistling, but when I hit it, I won't let it go!"

Silence is a gesture

Arkhip Kuindzhi - Cloud

Silence can be accompanied by gestures or logically ended with some deed or action. A Russian person may be silent for a long time (here, perhaps, “endure” becomes a synonym), however, then he does something daring, violating logic, unexpected. Masterfully demonstrates a similar quality of Russian silence, for example, Dostoevsky in "The Brothers Karamazov": Elder Zosima silently bows to Mitya for the suffering he must endure, and Christ, who remains silent for almost the entire chapter, bestows a merciful kiss on the Grand Inquisitor. These gestures of Dostoyev's heroes speak volumes about their emotional state, which is so easy for a Russian to understand.

Ritual

Our pagan ancestors "gifted" us with silence as a special form of behavior during especially important, ritual actions. The belief that spirits can enter through an open mouth contributed to the prohibition not only on unnecessary conversations, but also on screaming, laughing and even whispering. The one who first went out to sow in the spring was silent, those who reaped the last sheaf during the harvest were silent. The man silently brought a completed order to a strange house - a coffin. The woman was kneading the dough in silence to bake the ceremonial bread. The one who went before sunrise for the "silent water", endowed with a special magical, healing power, remained silent. They kept silent in case of not knowing the answer or reacting to the tactlessness, stupidity of the speaker. If you say nothing - you will pass for a smart one, - the parents did not get tired of repeating. However, these are not only features of the Russian silence, which, without talking too much without extreme necessity, the Russian people especially tried to keep Onuphriy the Silent.