“The Escape in the Desert” in Book Culture and Literature of Pre­-Peter Russia

The motif of “the escape from paradise” has recently become one more time the subject of historical poetics. This motif is opposed to “the expulsion from paradise” accepted in Western literature. In the perception of scholars the motif of “the escape from paradise” in 19th century literature took a paradoxical form of “loneliness” (Dmitriev, Pushkin, Ostrovsky and Batyushkov) and then was designated as a “moving” model of a Russian man’s life who escapes from Paradise — a “homeostatic” society (L. N. Gumilev). The transformation of the motif from a “stable” model to a “moving” one led to formation of a new Russian character — a “homeless wanderer” mentioned by F. M. Dostoevsky in his “Pushkin Speech”. The article puts forward a thesis that under the influence of wandering a part of Russian society feel inclined for Old Russian forms of world outlook that incites person’s searches for life paradise in his own soul. This trend appears in the pilgrimage and theological literature of the 19th century. The transformation of the ratio between the “stable” and the “moving” towards the Old Russian ideal of wandering brings man to the saving paths of evangelical commandments. The theme of “the escape in the desert” is closely related to the theme of “Mental Paradise”. In this regard, the key plot of the popular collection “Mental Paradise” popular in the 17th century and released in Wallay Iversky Monastery in 1658–1659 is considered. Based on the manuscripts the article shows how the motives of “Paradise” and “escape in the desert” having preceded the trends and having been developed in the 19th century leading to the prosperity of pilgrimage literature, are presented in literature of pre­Peter Russia.