“Radical Orthodoxy” and the Search for the Sacred in Contemporary Russian Culture

Contemporary philosophy of culture faces an identity crisis driven by societal atomization and desacralization (disenchantment) of the world. This study analyzes Russian cultural and media practices that reinterpret Orthodox archetypes through C. Pickstock’s concept of liturgical order. The author suggests that these practices aim to transcend the trends identified by Byung-Chul Han as the crisis of narrative. Despite the Soviet secular gap, Russia maintains a continuity of Orthodox cultural archetypes, that provides a foundation for the re-integration of the Orthodox narrative into the contemporary landscape. The research demonstrates that Orthodox archetypes, reimagined through modern media space, offer an alternative to Western-centric theoretical models for reconstructing Christian tradition. An analysis of the examples reveals interest in these archetypes in contemporary Russian culture. Thus, the exhibition Russian Incredible interprets constructivism as a “meta-history” of Russian identity, linking the avant-garde with the Orthodox visual tradition. The labyrinthine space, structured on the principle of non-linear narrative, reveals a synthesis of the rational (geometry) and the transcendental, transforming a historical artifact into a transcendental medium. The media practices of the St. Antipas Church implement a soft inculturation of faith through branding, storytelling, and digital initiatives. Secular tools of mass culture become channels for sacred dialogue, avoiding didacticism. In the Russian context, the sacred is not so much reconstructed as actualized, offering an alternative to technocratic utilitarianism and postmodern relativism. Moreover, the popularity of the projects demonstrates a high level of public interest in the agenda. The novelty of this work lies in decolonizing the methodology and discourse of Radical Orthodoxy — a movement in contemporary theology previously focused on the Anglican and Catholic contexts. The study demonstrates that Orthodoxy is not an object of revision, but a resource for dialogue with the digital age. The integration of elements of the liturgical order (C. Pickstock) into contemporary sociocultural practices holds the potential to overcome the crises of secularism. The Russian context offers innovative models that are particularly significant in the post-secular context.

1. Han B.-C. The Crisis of Narration. London, Polity Press Publ., 2024, 100 p.

2. Davydov O. Theology Between Society and Church: Russian Case and Its Reframing, ThéoRèmes, 2024, no. 21. DOI: 10.4000/12z8r.

3. Stoeckl K., Uzlaner D. The Russian Postsecular, Theology and Philosophy in Eastern Orthodoxy: Essays on Orthodox Christianity and Contemporary Thought. Oregon, Wipf & Stock Publ., 2022, pp. 32—52.

4. Pickstock C. After Writing: On the Liturgical Consummation of Philosophy. Oxford, Blackwell Publ., 1998, 320 p.

5. Pickstock C. Repetition and Identity. Oxford, Oxford University Press Publ., 2013, 222 p.

6. Pickstock C. Aspects of Truth: The New Religious Metaphysics. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press Publ., 2020, 344 p.

7. Benjamin W. The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, Sud’ba i kharakter [Fortune and Character]. Moscow, Azbuka Publ., 2021, pp. 284—330 (in Russ.).

8. Han B.-C. The Disappearance of Rituals: A Topology of the Present. London, Polity Press Publ., 2020, 186 p.

9. Morgan J. Ritual and Otherness in Human Relations: The Human-Person Philosophy of Byung-Chul Han, Studia Gilsoniana, 2023, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 309—324. DOI: 10.26385/SG.120211.

10. Weinaht A. Rendering Me into We: A Review of The Crisis of Narration, Front Porch Republic. 2024, May 16. Available at: https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2024/05/rendering-me-into-we-a-review-of-the-crisis-of-narration/ (accessed 04.12.2025).

11. Maclntyre A. About What do Contemporary Atheists and Theists Disagree? Ciphers of Transcendence: Essays in Philosophy of Religion in Honour of Patrick Masterson. Dublin, Irish Academic Press Publ., 2019, pp. 250—267. Available at: https://philpapers.org/rec/MACAWD (accessed 04.12.2025).

12. Milbank J. Theology and Social Theory: Beyond Secular Reason. Moscow, BBI Publ., 2022, 736 p.

13. Shchipkov D.A. “Radikal’naya ortodoksiya”: kriticheskii analiz: monografiya [Radical Orthodoxy: A Critical Analysis: monograph]. Moscow, Russkaya Ehkspertnaya Shkola Publ., 2020, 256 p.

14. Shchipkov V.A. Filosofsko-kul’turologicheskie osnovaniya genealogii sekulyarnogo diskursa v postsekulyarnom kontekste [Philosophical and Cultural Foundations of the Genealogy of Secular Discourse in a Post-Secular Context], Doct. phil. sci. diss. Moscow, MGIMO Publ., 2023, 867 p. Available at: https://mgimo.ru/science/diss/shchipkov-v-a.php (accessed 04.12.2025).

15. Hankey W.J. Catherine Pickstock, Plato and the Unity of Divinity and Humanity: Liturgical or Philosophical? Deconstructing Radical Orthodoxy: Postmodern Theology, Rhetoric and Truth. Aldershot: Ashgate Press Publ., 2005, pp. 1—16.

16. Dergousova N. Anna Zamri: “We Provoke Viewers to Look at Constructivism from Unusual Angles”: interview, Artgid: website. 2024, December 3. Available at: https://artguide.com/posts/2801 (accessed 04.12.2025) (in Russ.).

17. Litova D.S. Fairy-Tales Retold: Interpretation and French Audience Reception of the Russian Fairy-Tale Narratives in Diaghilev’s Les Ballets Russes: Thesis. 2021, 66 p., SSRN: website. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4882970 (accessed 04.12.2025).

18. Filicheva N.V., Tsvetaeva M.N. Symbols of the “New Religion” in the Images of Culture on the Example of Leningrad Architectural Constructivism, Vestnik Russkoi khristianskoi gumanitarnoi akademii [Review of Russian Christian Academy for Humanities], 2021, vol. 22, no. 4 (2), pp. 54—65. DOI: 10.25991/VRHGA.2022.4.2.005 (in Russ.).

19. Ikony Vladimira i Suzdalya: al’bom [Icons of Vladimir and Suzdal]. Moscow, Severnyi Palomnik Publ., 2006, 576 p. Available at: https://www.icon-art.info/source.php?lng=ru&src_id=593 (accessed 04.12.2025).

20. Nekhaeva A. “Russian Unbelievable”: Unexpected Facets of Constructivism, Vedomosti. 2024, November 29. Available at: https://www.vedomosti.ru/opinion/columns/2024/11/29/1077960-russkoe-neveroyatnoe-neozhidannie-grani-konstruktivizma (accessed 04.12.2025) (in Russ.).

21. Bebutov T. “There Is Still Something in the World That Can Be Interesting”: An Interview with Father Andrei Shchennikov, Rector of the Church of Antipas, Pravila Zhizni [Rules of Life]. 2024, September 7. Available at: https://www.pravilamag.ru/hero/730309-v-mire-eshche-est-chto-tosposobnoe-zainteresovat-intervyu-s-nastoyatelem-hrama-antipy-otcom-andreem-shchennikovym/ (accessed 04.12.2025) (in Russ.).

22. Methody (Zinkovskiy), hieromonk. The Orthodox Theology of Personhood and Problems of Artificial Intelligence, Khristianskoe chtenie [Christian Reading], 2020, no. 6, pp. 10—24. DOI 10.47132/1814-5574_2020_6_10 (in Russ.).

23. Schmemann A. The Eucharist: Sacrament of the Kingdom. Moscow, Palomnik Publ., 1992, 304 p. (in Russ.).