American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages

Latviešu trimdas izdevumu bibliografija 1940-1960, 1: Grämatas un brošuras by BenjamiņšJēgersReview by: Valdis J. ZepsThe Slavic and East European Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Summer, 1970), pp. 256-257Published by: American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European LanguagesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/306023 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 23:40

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

American Association of Teachers of Slavic and East European Languages is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to The Slavic and East European Journal.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 188.72.127.119 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:40:40 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

256 The Slavic and East European Journal

thinker devoted serious study. Instead, Wernham's attention is concentrated through- out on theological conceptions; his analysis is buttressed at critical points by references to Western Christian theologians, particularly Paul Tillich.

The theological emphasis is justifiable, however, and most of the book's other limitations are at least understandable, once we accept what Wernham is trying to give us. And that is not a thorough scholarly study of Berdjaev and gestov but, as Wernham expresses it, "an as yet unused key to open the door to more fruitful studies." The key is their common tutelage to Dostoevskij, which Wernham expounds with considerable vigor and imagination.

The doctrines of both Berdjaev and gestov, Wernham contends, can be understood as commentaries on Dostoevskij. Each, however, looked to a different Dostoevskij. Berdjaev's model was the Dostoevskij of the Legend of the Grand Inquisitor. -estov's was the Dostoevskij of the Notes from Underground. Each ended with a Christian outlook deriving from their common model but differing greatly in aspect.

For Wernham it is because Berdjaev's thought derives from the Legend that it is theology rather than philosophy, and that it is the kind of non-Scriptural theology it is. The basic, regulative norm of Berdjaev's theology Wernham finds to be the notion of the humanity of God, and he shows convincingly that just this notion is fundamental to the Legend as well. In successive chapters he argues that the Legend is the source of the antinomianism in Berdjaev's Christianity, the source of the substance (though not the terminology) of Berdjaev's existentialism, and the source of both the positive and the negative attitudes towards Marxism shown by Berdjaev.

gestov's relationship to Dostoevskij is not so clear, but Wernham still makes a good case for a close logical connection between gestov's irrationalism and the irra- tionalism of the Notes from Underground. Specifically, he draws and develops sug- gestive parallels between gestov's God, for whom all things are possible-even things which violate the law of non-contradiction (such as cancelling death in such a way that one who has died has not died, or redeeming a sinner in such a way that one who has sinned has not sinned)--between this supralogical God and the Underground Man, who refuses to be rational and rejects the rules of simple consistency.

That there are similarities between the ideas of Dostoevskij on the one hand and the ideas of Berdjaev and gestov on the other, in the respects pointed out by Wernham, will hardly be denied, and Wernham performs a valuable service in developing them more fully than had been done before. For that, the book is well worth reading. If we wish, however, to proceed from simple comparisons to historical conclusions concerning the actual provenance of Berdjaev's and gestov's views, Wernham's book is little help. For (and this is perhaps its most regrettable weakness) the book makes no attempt to consider the broader Russian intellectual context in which these thinkers arose-the context of Vladimir Solov'ev's "Godmanhood," of Russian Orthodox fideism, of Russian Nietzscheanism, and of all the other influences that cannot be reduced to two works of Dostoevskij.

James P. Scanlan, University of Kansas

Benjamip' Jagers. Latvie.'u trimdas izdevumu bibliografija 1940-1960, 1: Gramatas un bro~ilras. Daugava, [1968]. 338 pp.

The 2677 entries in Jagers' Bibliography of Latvian Publications Published Outside Latvia 1940-1960, Pt. 1: Books and Pamphlets are on first sight a remarkable

This content downloaded from 188.72.127.119 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:40:40 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Reviews 257

testimony to the vitality of Latvian emigr6 community. Closer inspection, however, reveals several weaknesses. Many of the titles are translations, ephemera, reprints, etc. At the same time, the scholarly component of the titles covered is very respectable. The upswing in creativity since 1960, unfortunately, is no longer within the range of the Bibliography.

Part II will list publications other than books and pamphlets and will contain all indices.

Only superlatives apply to J~gers' bibliographic precision, and to the superb printing job by Daugava. The volume has all the earmarks of a "prestige" publication, i.e., looks like a high quality book, printed at a deliberate financial loss. It is a must purchase for appropriate libraries and for any scholar whose field includes the Baltic area.

Valdis J. Zeps, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Jdnis Rutkis, [ed.]. Latvia: Country and People. Stockholm: Latvian National Foundation, 1967. xv, 683, $17.00.

In English-speaking countries relatively little attention has been paid to the exploration of the life of the small Eastern Baltic nations. Therefore, it is not surprising that Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and also Finnish scholars themselves frequently must be willing to devote energy and resources to informing the world of their nations' existence. In the present volume thirty-one Latvian exiles (including thirteen professors and four writers) from six countries (Sweden, Norway, Germany, England, Canada, U.S.A.) have joined "to make facts about Latvia and the Latvians readily available to interested foreign students." This primary objective they have handsomely achieved.

Six main chapters compose this impressive work. They are preceded by Arnolds Spekke's rapid survey in which he attempts to present the outlines of the history of the Latvians and the other Baltic peoples as visualized by modern historical science. The opening pages discuss geology, hydrography, climate, flora, and fauna of the country. Next comes a detailed description of Latvian geographical regions and towns, followed by a lengthy analysis of the political systems during the country's years of political independence (1918-1940) and under German (1941-1944) and Soviet rule (1940-1941; 1944-present). The social system and economy (agriculture, industry, trade, transportation, communications, and finance) also receive detailed treatment. The last chapter contains helpful information about the cultural media (language, literature, publishing, the visual arts, music, theatre, architecture) and all forms of education. The editors have made liberal use of statistical charts, tables, diagrams, maps, and illustrations. Each topic closes with a brief bibliography. A chronology of historical events, another selected bibliography, pronunciation key, biographical notes about the contributors, and an Index add considerably to the usefulness and convenience of this volume. A simple rationality would suggest that no single reviewer is equipped to do this volume full justice. It is also obvious that any work of such a scope is liable to be criticized for omissions, imbalances, and other imperfections.

In this reviewer's opinion, the chief weakness is the limiting of the section on Latvian culture to only one fifth of the entire volume. We find, for example, detailed data on the duration of ice cover as observed at nineteen places on the Latvian Baltic coast during the period 1921-1942, on the location of Gypsophila fastigiata and Orytro- pis pilosa (plants of the continental steppes and Pontic hills), on the arable land and

This content downloaded from 188.72.127.119 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:40:40 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions