Ottawa, Ontario. February 2006.
Andrew Donskov. Leo Tolstoy and the Canadian Doukhobors: an
historic relationship. Ottawa: Slavic Research Group at the
University of Ottawa with Centre for Research on Canadian-Russian
Relations at Carleton University, 2005. xiv+473 pp. ISBN
0-88927-320-0. Softcover. $25.00. Order from Penumbra Press,
P.O.Box 940, Manotick, Ontario K4M 1A8. www.penumbrapress.com.
This book can be searched for snippets on Google Books.
Dr. ANDREW A. DONSKOV is a specialist on Tolstoy and author of
many books and articles dealing with nineteenth-century Russian
literature. He is Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Slavic Research Group at the
University of Ottawa. Just lately he has been appointed
to the Editorial Board responsible for the Academic Edition
of L.N. Tolstoy’s Complete Collected Works in 100 volumes.
As well, Dr. Donskov is no stranger to Doukhobor studies. He has
edited a variety of collections of archival materials on this
topic. In the present work, Dr. Donskov has brought together a
number of unpublished documents, complemented by guest essays,
oral interviews and questionnaires and has traced the evolving
relationship between one of Russia’s greatest writers and the
people known as Doukhobors, to whom he was of kindred spirit,
lending his moral and financial support to their emigration to
Canada in 1899.
Today the 40,000 Canadian Doukhobors, 500 in the USA and 40,000
in the former Soviet Union can learn much about themselves
especially in relation to their mentor Lev N. Tolstoy. Their
similarities and differences are highlighted here like never
before.
The commonality of Tolstoy and the Doukhobors relates to a
discussion of spiritual matters: man’s relationship to God, the
love of humanity, the meaning of life, and the unity of people.
Like that of the nonviolence ideas of Gandhi (whom Tolstoy
influenced) and Martin Luther King, Jr., these are Big issues that
can inspire one to seek the High Ground. Getting rid of the
institution of militarism and war was one of the biggest issues
that these two pioneers – Tolstoy and the Doukhobors – have faced.
Indeed Tolstoy in 1897 recommended that the First Peace Prize to
go to the Doukhobors. The recommendation was not heeded by
the authorities. Yet the war-peace issue remains today as relevant
as it was in 1895 when the Doukhobors burnt their firearms on the
highlands of Transcaucasia.
Tolstoy’s ‘unity of people’ quest and life-long aim is similar to
the Doukhobors’ quest for bridge-building and universal
brotherhood. While this may seem utopian, unity of people is a
practical necessity for the creation of a peaceful world order. We
either learn to live together as friends with differences or else
we will die together as enemies. The choice is clear.
Tolstoy’s over-riding concern was to do good. His one goal was
justice and well being of all people. He looked at the seeds of
moral growth, education and development as the way to the future.
His best description is coined in his deepest insight into human
behaviour: ‘Where love is, there too is God’.
Andrew Donskov’s survey of Doukhobors in Canada today found many
ideas shared by their ancestors and Tolstoy: the rejection of
violence, the unity of people, doing good, peaceful labour,
respect for every living thing and Brotherhood on Earth. These
ideas are passed on through the families, many of whom have read
that Tolstoy financed and morally supported the migration of their
Russian ancestors to Canada. In 1897 in his Appeal for Help,
Tolstoy was so impressed by these dissidents because he saw in
them the ‘growth of that seed planted by Christ 1800 years ago’.
For him, they were ‘people of the 25th Century’ – far ahead of
their times. All of this today remains as a shining legacy for the
future of the Doukhobor movement.
Alberta artist Jan Kabatoff wrote how the legacy of
Tolstoy has inspired her and others to bring about an awakening.
‘The days of sectarianism and alienation has given way’, she
writes, ‘to a socially active and practical relationship within
the Doukhobor community and with the world at large’. This
includes her own work, the journalistic work in Iskra, the Annual
Youth Festivals, choral singing, the bread-baking project in
Saskatoon, the travels abroad, the proliferation of Doukhobor web
pages and books, and the opening in September 2005 of the joint
Canadian Doukhobor and Russian project – the Café/Bakery/Communications complex in
Tolstoy’s Yasnaya Polyana, Tula, Russia.
British Columbia folk historian Eli A. Popoff reveals how
Tolstoy’s help affected his own ancestral Popoff history in
Russia. In 1895, during the events leading up to the Burning of
Arms event, his father Aleksei Ivanovich Popov received his
conscription notice and eventually was sent off to exile in
Siberia. During the later years of his stay in Siberia, Eli’s
father met and married Katerina Timofeevna Mokronosova who came
from another dissident group called the Brotherhood of the
Righteous.
After their release in 1905, the Siberians settled in the Blaine
Lake district of Saskatchewan. For Eli, the knowledge of
‘Dedushka’ Tolstoys’ contribution to saving the Doukhobors from
extinction provides inspiration to today’s Doukhobors to keep
their spirit alive for future generations.
Saskatchewan-born writer now living in Ottawa, Ontario,
Koozma J. Tarasoff, pointed out that Lev Tolstoy’s free-thinking
legacy, especially as inspired by The Kingdom of God is within you, allows for
Doukhobors today to ‘bravely explore the significance of this
revolutionary concept on their lives. They can dispel the popular
orthodox notion of God in the sky and search instead for this
spirit in their hearts and minds as well as in their deeds.’
The fifteen-year correspondence between Tolstoy and Peter V.
Verigin, leader of the Community Doukhobors who spent 15 years in
Siberian exile reveals a mutual sense of love and respect between
the two, as well as some disagreements. In 1895, for example,
Tolstoy wrote a letter to Peter V. Verigin concerning the value of
books and communications. This was in response to Verigin who
stubbornly argued against books and instead opted for oral
communications.
Another area of discussion concerned ownership of land. In 1900
Tolstoy wrote that personal property is ‘incompatible’ with
Christianity. Why? Because one has to defend this property through
violence. However, Tolstoy was always willing to learn from life
itself. He admits the difficulty of adhering to such an ethic and
appeals to conscience and reason by urging people to find a way
around them. Unlike the extremisms of some of his followers such
as Vladimir Chertkov who was in exile in England and served as his
publicist, Tolstoy favoured a more flexible approach to
registering for individual land-holdings as well as births and
deaths in their communities. For example, the move from
Saskatchewan to British Columbia in 1908 may not have been
necessary if Verigin and the Doukhobors heeded Tolstoy’s advice. A
way could have been found to register for the land and then bring
the individual holdings into one large co-operative commune.
Still another area of disagreement was that of the notion of
cosmology. Tolstoy rejected the Doukhobors’ tendency to take the
perception of God beyond the rational into the realm of the
mystical and superstitious. For Tolstoy, superstition should not
be encouraged. Nor in his opinion should one succumb to the blind
faith of sectarianism, but instead should seek a unity movement
that encompasses the whole world of humankind. As reviewer, I
believe it is a myth to label the Doukhobors today as a
sect. After the 1895 arms burning manifestation to the
world, the notion of sect gave way to a social movement. That is
how Doukhobors today prefer to be known. Their evolution through
time and space has changed their perspective which is now more in
keeping with Tolstoy’s world view.
For the benefit of the readers, a number of archival documents are
included. First there are two chapters of Sergey Tolstoy’s diary
describing the preparation of the Doukhobor emigration from the
Caucasus and his journey escorting them by train from Halifax to
Winnipeg. Next come excerpts from Sofia Andreevna Tolstoy’s
memoirs and diaries. These are followed by Sofia’s correspondence
with other individuals dealing with the Doukhobor emigration.
Finally, a four-part Appendix comprises a Timeline of significant
events in Doukhobor history, a tabular listing of Tolstoy’s
letters, a list of Sergey Tolstoy’s publications, and a copy of
the bilingual questionnaire sent to Canadian Doukhobors.
In sum, Dr. Andrew Donskov has provided us with a handy up-to-date
useful volume on the life and times affecting the relationship of
Lev Tolstoy and the Doukhobors. The discourse on sectarianism,
pacifism, communal sharing, and the search for truth should be
useful not only for literary specialists but also for scholars and
students in a variety of disciplines as well as for members of the
Doukhobor community. Here, then, is a masterful presentation about
a literary giant (Lev Tolstoy) and a small dissident Russian
peasant group (the Doukhobors) in their search for spiritual
growth and development. We are all indebted to Dr. Donskov for
making these rich materials available to the wider world. The
values raised here are important for the survival of our planet.
Also see excepts about Subbotnik
Timofej Bondarev and Tolstoy, pages 47-48 and 52-54.
More by Koozma J. Tarasoff