A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Ch 8

http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/121 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 1. http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/121

http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/124 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 2. http://proza.ru/2021/08/31/124

http://proza.ru/2021/10/05/100 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 3. http://proza.ru/2021/10/05/100

http://proza.ru/2021/12/11/148 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 4. http://proza.ru/2021/12/11/148

http://proza.ru/2021/12/20/176 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 5. http://proza.ru/2021/12/20/176

http://proza.ru/2022/02/11/96 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 6. http://proza.ru/2022/02/11/96

http://proza.ru/2022/03/22/107 A tutorial of a writer s success. Part II. Chapter 7. http://proza.ru/2022/03/22/107


Chapter 8. Connoisseurs of historical and archival researches ("Benedictians")

Semyon Vengerov, characterizing the geographical works by Nikolai Gogol, notes: “... In no other area of Gogol's scientific studies has the vein of an armchair scientist so clearly manifested itself ... that characteristic feature of any scientist by vocation, which I would call Benedictianity. By Benedictianity, recalling the colossal tomes created by the inspired hard work of the West European Benedictines, I mean love, or rather passion for scientific work as such, almost regardless of the results it leads to. A scientist by vocation,  is given some purely physiological pleasure by the very process of work. It is pleasant to make selections, to rewrite interesting documents, it is pleasant to do what is called “digging” in your material, breathing “archival dust”, going through bibliographic aids, typing bibliography yourself, collecting the necessary books, worrying about whether “everything” is really recognized, read, matched. Without such enthusiasm for the very mechanics of work, is it really conceivable to write with your own hand an entire volume of 250 pages of compact text, as Gogol did? [Венгеров С. А.]. [Vengerov S. A.].

(Speaking about the childhood of Nikolai Gogol, Igor Zolotussky notes: "... There were hours when (...) he indulged in quiet home work - drawing, coloring maps ..." [Золотусский И. П.] [Zolotussky I. P.]).

If we recall the words of M. Meyerovich about the Athenian library of Heinrich Schliemann (“Whole rows of shelves, from floor to ceiling, are filled here exclusively with the manuscripts of Schliemann himself” [Мейерович М. Л. С. 142] [Meyerovich M. L. P. 142]), then, probably, “Benedictism”, "Benedictianity" was a feature and Heinrich Schliemann. At the same time, participation in excavations and travels, which required a significant amount of time, posed the task of saving time, maximum internal discipline and concentration for Heinrich Schliemann.

Working in libraries is only an external (but visual, natural and, as a rule, necessary) sign of “Benedictism”, "Benedictianity", of “scholarship”. This can be evidenced by the following statement about Nikolai Gogol's occupation of the post of Adjunct Professor at the Department of General History: “The story turned out to be funny. A man without a scholarly reputation, without solid work, without a preliminary, a "mole-type", work in libraries suddenly immediately rose to a whole floor ” [Золотусский И. П.] [Zolotussky I. P.].

“After the meetings, Gorky spent hours telling stories from his life, demonstrating not only his acting talent, but also his fantastic - equine (in the words of his grandfather) - his pedagogical memory  [nachetnik's memory], full of names and quotes. He was amazing of Fedin, Ivanov, Zamyatin with the variety and accuracy of information. Where he got these data from and how he remembered them - it's a mystery ” [Быков Д. Л.] [Bykov D. L.].

In the full sense, Maxim Gorky cannot be called a Benedictian.

Let us mention such his social science work as "On the Russian Peasantry." For example, there is no mention of Pyotr Chaadayev or Peter Kropotkin. Maxim Gorky refers in this work to a number of writers, historians, politicians ... However, his work is nevertheless a  journalistic character, it's hard to call it a scientific one ...

Even if you do not delve into the topic very deeply, such topics as "Peasant Wars" (China, Germany, Austria, Switzerland), "Vend;e" (Vend;e Wars) still pop up - associatively ...

Aspirations "to collect bibliography, collect all the necessary books, to worry about whether 'everything' is really recognized, read, selected" not visible.

In a word, Maxim Gorky is perceived as a thinker, writer, publicist, but not as a scientist.

Nevertheless, biographers agree in the recognizing for Maxim Gorky a huge amount of accurate - (almost) encyclopedic - knowledge as well as in the unconditional recognition by him of the importance of culture, his desire to preserve and develop it.

“At the cost of enormous labor, Gorky stubbornly overcame obstacles, selflessly striving for knowledge. This helped him later become an encyclopedic thinker with a colossal breadth of horizons, with rare knowledge of the history of Russian and world culture ” [Груздев И. А.] [Gruzdev I. A.].

“Gorky's erudition is noted by many people with whom he dealt. Once Konstantin Fedin brought him a little book by Nerses IV the Gracious, the All-Armenian Patriarch [Nerses Clayatsi], as a gift. It was published in Venice. The book contained a translation of the same thing [text] in twenty-four languages. “Gorky appreciated this curios book [unusual edition],” writes Fedin, “and Gorky's reaction was pleasant for me, but I immediately forgot about pleasure, because it was supplanted by amazement ... Gorky said:“ Yes, such a man existed. It seems in the twelfth century. He bore another name. If I'm not mistaken, - Shnorhali. He was not only a theologian, but also a poet ... And what was published in Venice is understandable. Do you know about the Armenian colony there? .. And he began to talk about the Venetian Armenians as if he had just prepared to teach a course on the history of Armenia. Whoever Gorky talked to: with a scientist-archaeologist, geographer, traveler - he showed great knowledge that surprised his interlocutor ” [Груздев И. А.] [Gruzdev I. A.].

Describing the concept of "Benedictine", we will quote the following words:

“The contribution of the Benedictines to the culture and civilization of Western society is enormous; in the early Middle Ages, Benedictine monasteries were the main centers of culture in Western Europe. Almost all the outstanding scientists of that time came out of the schools at the abbeys ... Ancient manuscripts were preserved and copied in the libraries at the monasteries, chronicles were kept, and people were learning. (…) Many Benedictine monks such as Anselm of Canterbury and Peter Damian were prominent philosophers and theologians.

Benedictine monasteries had a strong influence on the development of architecture, the first examples of the Romanesque style appeared in the Cluny Abbey, and the Gothic - in the Abbey of Saint-Denis.

The merits of the Benedictine Order in relation to music, its history and theory are extremely great. Since Pope Gregory the Great [Pope Gregory I, Saint Gregory the Great], almost all the significant figures mentioned in the history of music have been Benedictine monks, and the Benedictine monks of the Monastery of St. Gall [Abbey of Saint Gall] Notker and Tuotilo became the greatest poets and composers of Europe during the era of Charlemagne.

The contribution of the Benedictines in a Modern Times to the study of medieval texts and painting is also very great” ["Бенедиктинцы"] [“ The Benedictines”].

Probably, the mention of Benedictine, about Benedictians, in connection with the story about the biographies and successes of Heinrich Schliemann, Nikolai Gogol, Maxim Gorky can be considered appropriate, firstly, in connection with the nature, content, results of their work - creative, and - in a number of cases - of a research one, and, secondly, perhaps, due to the fact that Heinrich Schliemann and Nikolai Gogol came from families associated with close family ties with the clergy.

Let us formulate the law of success using the words by Maxim Gorky: "The process of creativity is important in itself."