Ignatius Loyola and Konstantin Stanislavsky in the interpretation of Sergey Eisenstein: from mystical ecstasy to editing

Abstract

The article examines the point of Soviet art's 1920-1930 influence on secular processes in society. The model of the psychology of art proposed by L. Vygotsky, based on Marxist dogmatics, becomes the starting point for the search of creative elite, particularly, for the film director and art theorist Sergei Eisenstein. They are brought together by a common understanding of art as a sign system aimed at awakening strong emotional disturbances in a person, the culmination of which is by Eisenstein's opinion ecstasy, from Vygotsky's point of view - catharsis. Scientists of the Vygotsky's circle, which also includes Eisenstein, study the phenomena of expanded consciousness, looking for ways to influence an individual, including through the practices of art. The article focuses on Eisenstein's interest in the topic of mystical ecstasy. In his article “Stanislavsky and Loyola”(1937), considered in detail, there's set a parallel between the spiritual practices of medieval ascetics and acting exercises according to the system of K. Stanislavsky. Eisenstein introduces the experience of ecstatic practices, drawn from the exercises of Ignatius Loyola, into the Dionysian art renewed by the revolution. In particular, using the method of editing as a psychotechnics, S. Eisenstein effects the mind of a viewer, inspiring him with utopian ideas of social justice, dating back to classical Marxism.. Avant - garde practices of Soviet art 20-30 years of the 20th century, embodied by S. Eisenstein in cinema, are interpreted according to the tradition of J. Wach – P. Tillich, respectively, as pseudo- and quasi-religious, as well as in the context of the theory of "atheistic fideism" in the mode of building an "atheistic church" as part of the secularization process. Special attention is paid to the synthesis of science and art. A version is put forward about the implicit nature and secular implications of this large-scale phenomenon, expressed in the transfer of native religious functions to related areas. For the first time in historiography, S. Eisenstein is considered in his quasi-religious persona.