From Critique of Anthropocentrism to Christ-centered Humanism: Apology of Culture in Vyacheslav Ivanov’s Work

Abstract

The article analyzes Vyacheslav Ivanov’s concept of humanism by juxtaposing two texts on the subject — “Cliffs: On the Crisis of Humanism” (1919) and the letter to Alessandro Pellegrini concerning “Docta Pietas” (1934) — to show the shift from an early, predominantly critical stance toward a later, reinterpretive, Christ-centred rehabilitation of the concept. It raises the question of whether anthropocentrism can be overcome within a humanist paradigm. Furthermore, the piece examines Ivanov’s correspondence with E. R. Сurtius and concludes that Ivanov’s late conception of humanism was largely inspired by Сurtius’s ideas, while Ivanov himself influenced Сurtius’s intellectual formation. A separate analysis addresses Сurtius’s interpretation of humanism in relation to Ivanov’s concept.