Siberia, Siberia by Valentin Rasputin as a lyrical-philosophical journalistic treatise

The book of essays Siberia, Siberia (1980-2005) is the last major work written by Valentin Rasputin. Three editions of the book reflect the author's gripping thoughts about the importance of the region and its exploration for both the national history and the future of the humanity. The work is considered to be a comprehensive narration about the problems of Russian colonization of Siberia, coexistence of the human and the nature, the dangers of modern civilization and the providential meaning of history. The author analyzes his own mindset in the context of religious and philosophical aspects of the world design. The mindset of Rasputin as a publicist is emotional, insightful and eloquent, akin to the preaching of the Truth. The system of Rasputin's worldview is defined as anthropic theological natural philosophy as the very presence of the human in the dual co-existence of the Creator and the nature is recognized and justified. When specifying the genre of the book as a lyrical-philosophical journalistic treatise, one emphasizes syncretism of the author's mindset and narrative where the work is lyrical in terms of discourse, philosophical with regard to the frame of reference, and journalistic in wording. According to the central ideological position of the author, human civilization must develop in order to create life in accordance with predetermined transcendental meanings and imperatives of the nature. As responsibility leaves room for personal freedom, there ought to be self-awareness in fulfilling such a duty. Siberia, Siberia was written to preach such a world order. Due to the way the material was collected, the facts were interpreted, and the essay chapters were structured - all to serve the purpose of expressing the author's position - the whole text can be classified as a treatise. Singularity of the treatise is demonstrated by presenting the facts that confirm the existence of connectivity and concurrence between the Divine and the human in everyday life as well as spiritualization of historical processes. The mindset brought forward by Rasputin can be defined as anthropic theological natural philosophy which recognizes and justifies the presence of the human in twofold concordance with the Creator and the Nature. Special emphasis is placed on the Russian exploration of Siberia and subsequent experience of living with local peoples and being in touch with the nature. The aforementioned experience is analyzed objectively as it consisted of triumphs and crimes, great accomplishments and major failures. The applicability of the ideal is illustrated with such facts as discovery of the principal solutions to the problems of multicultural dialogues and peaceful co-existence of the peoples, successful development of the cities as well as rapid construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Still, the experience of the past and self-sacrificing activity of certain people in the present does not change the current politics of rapacious burglary dictated by the norms of the modern civilization. The author equates the current state of Siberia with that of the world colony. The book calls for the advance of positive and critical consciousness in the Russian person. For Rasputin "Siberia is more Russia than Russia". Such a stance is to nullify any thoughts of secession and silence any debates about the Eurasian mission of the region. The concept of memory, fundamental for Rasputin's ethics and ideas of cultural life-design, urges us to recreate the image of the Siberian explorers as those conveying the will to liberty, people's initiative, spiritual power and endurance rooted in severe natural conditions. It is the significance of the past national experience that betokens the accomplishment of the historical mission of the nation while ensuring the contribution of Russia, strengthened by the Siberian potential, to the resolution of the global problems and provision of the needs of humanity. Likewise, it creates a path for a change of the spiritual vector of history and a way out of the dead-end civilization that defied nature.

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