Eurasia as a Spiritual Realm? Inquiries into an Imagined Continent
Birgit Menzel
Journal of Comparative Studies December 1, 2022 DOI: 10.59893/jcs.15(44).004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Citations | 5 |
| Key points | Menzel argues that Eurasia functions as a meta-geographical spiritual entity, an imagined continent shaped by esoteric travelers, orientalist translators, and post-Soviet mythmakers. She contends that Arkaim and the political use of Eurasian spirituality by figures such as Lev Gumilev and Nursultan Nazarbayev illustrate how new myths are created in the post-Soviet present. |
Abstract
Eurasia as a Spiritual Realm? Inquiries into an Imagined Continent Birgit Menzel, PhD, ProfessorFaculty of Translation Studies, Linguistics, and Cultural Studies GermersheimJohannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germanye-mail: bmenzel@uni-mainz.dehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-738X ABSTRACT This article discusses Eurasia as a meta-geographical spiritual entity, an imagined continent, which is still much of a provincialized area under western eyes. By applying a cultural-studies approach, various perspectives on spiritual Eurasia are presented, as they have helped to incorporate this territory into a mythologically, ideologically, and symbolically charged space. This implies historical ethnographic descriptions and stories of various esoteric seekers of a re-enchanted spiritual landscape, from Blavatsky to Gurdjieff and Roerich, but also academic experts of oriental studies as translators and transmitters of spiritual ideas from East to West as well as hybrid forms of religious revival among indigenous people in the post-Soviet present time. Two examples illustrate how new myths are created in post-Soviet Russia: Arkaim as a Russian Stonehenge in the Urals and Eurasian spirituality as an instrument of political ideology, particularly Lev Gumilev and Nursultan Nasarbaev in Kazakhstan. Keywords: Eurasia, spirituality, esotericism, Shambhala, Arkaim, Belovodíe, meta-geography Siberia, religious revival PDF How to cite:Menzel, M. (2022). “Eurasia as a Spiritual Realm? Inquiries into an Imagined Continent.” Journal of Comparative Studies 15 (44), 32–58.