Fiction's Overcoat: Russian Literary Culture and the Question of Philosophy (review)

In Fiction's Overcoat Edith Clowes offers a stimulating survey of the development of philosophical thought in Russia from the early nineteenth century to the first decades of the Soviet regime. Unlike the many studies of Russian intellectual history that deal with the rise of radical political thought, this study concentrates on the evolution of speculative philosophy, with a particular focus on features specific to the Russian tradition. These include ties with religion and mysticism, a distrust of excessive abstraction, and a desire that philosophical inquiry have a direct relationship to life. Again and again, Russia's philosophers probed the very nature and definition of philosophy, asking: what is philosophy, what are the proper constituent elements of philosophic discourse, and what is the value of this discourse in relation to other discourses in society?

A distinguished scholar of Russian intellectual history, Edith Clowes has done a fine job in guiding the reader through the complex maze of Russian speculative thought. Identifying recurring elements in the philosophical tradition and traits specific to individual thinkers, Clowes manages both to explain difficult concepts in a lucid and nuanced way and to identify contradictions or weaknesses in the arguments of a given philosopher. Her study differs from existing histories of Russian philosophy in that she pays special attention to issues of language and discourse that occupy a central place in this philosophical tradition. As her provocative title suggests, she has noted that Russian philosophers were deeply concerned about the role of language in their work. As she puts it, "the foremost issue in the Russian debate about philosophy would continue to be a dispute about the value of its truth," and "style, vocabulary, genre, and voice" played a vital role "in establishing the truth of one discourse in competition with others" (6). Having observed that Russian philosophical writing itself retained the metaphorical qualities of poetic language, Clowes acknowledges that some of the most powerful expressions of philosophical inquiry appear in works of Russian literature. Fiction's Overcoat tells the story of this intriguing relationship.

Clowes divides her survey into three parts. The first deals with early and mid-nineteenth century writers' initial discovery of philosophy where one sees a pattern of early enthusiasm for philosophical thought followed by criticism of foreign models and calls for a new, more relevant type of philosophy. The second part of the survey is devoted to the flowering of philosophy toward the end of the nineteenth century, exemplified by the writings of Vladimir Solovyov, Lev Shestov, Vasily Rozanov, and Nikolai Berdiaev. In the final section of the book, Clowes traces the fate of this tradition after the rise of the Soviet regime, including its survival in the work of two literary artists, Andrei Platonov and Boris Pasternak.

The story begins with a brief period of open excitement about the possibilities of philosophy around 1823; this excitement was snuffed out just two years later. After the failure of the abortive Decembrist revolt of 1825, philosophy programs at Russian universities were suspended, and young intellectuals had to gather in close-knit groups to carry on their discourse. Despite the evident enthusiasm of the young thinkers, there was a notable lack of rigorous, sustained philosophical writing in Russia, and this, Clowes argues, resulted from the Russian aversion to what was perceived to be the overly abstract, rigid, "bookish" character of German philosophical writing. So, from the very beginnings of the Russian tradition one observes a call for a style of writing that would appeal to educated readers and would respond to the issues of the day, instead of remaining mired in a sea of abstraction. Among the writers whom Clowes discusses are Petr Chaadaev and Vissarion Belinsky, both of whom were sharply critical of existing social structures. The critical, topical element of their work found further development in the writings of Aleksandr Herzen. In a chapter subtitled "Philosophy Marginalized," Clowes shows how Herzen moved from advocating philosophy as a means to...