Ivan the Fool: Russian Folk Belief: A Cultural History

by Andrei Sinyavsky, Abram Tertz (pseud.), Joanne Turnbull (Translator)

This masterly and extremely readable survey covers folk superstitions and customs, house and nature spirits, pagan gods, Christianization, saints, icons, the Schism, Old Believers, religious sects, and the characters and symbolism in Russian fairy tales that could be called the origin of the Russian psyche.

Andrei Sinyavsky (1925–1997) was also known as Abram Tertz.

Genres: Russia, Nonfiction, Russian Literature, Religion

416 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2007

About the author

Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky was a Russian writer and a literary critic. He was a Soviet dissident known as a defendant in the Sinyavsky–Daniel trial of 1965.

Russian: Андрей Донатович Синявский
Pen name: Абрам Терц
Pen name in English: Abram Tertz

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at how folklore and religion intersect, in this case Russian folklore and Christianity. If you dig deep enough, there are many mystical commonalities between what is going on in folklore and certain forms of Christian mysticism. Though this is mostly from a secular (almost Pagan) point of view, I think Sinyavsky unwittingly unveils aspects of mysticism that are common throughout many different types of spirituality. This is also an easy read and written more like literature than scholarly material. A nice change of pace.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Sinyavsky's books could fit under the category of "manual," as in, How To _______. What you put in that final space probably depends on what you need; for me, the word could be "write," or maybe "survive." Folklore, like all art, is an organ of survival, imaginative or otherwise; so here, Sinyavsky walks us through the great armory of Russian adaptations with his usual googly eyes.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciate the author’s attempt to make sense of Russian fairytales, which often seem to be characterized by a lack sense.

[Tamaki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book not only thought me lessons on ho to lead our lives wisely but was also fun to read how Ivan the fool was able torule his own country without any problem despite not having any rules except that their hands must be rough form working in the fields for agricultural purposes.