ORTHODOXY, ENLIGHTENMENT, AND THE IMPERIAL SPACE: IMAGES OF THE UKRAINIAN LANDS IN THE WORKS OF METROPOLITAN PLATON LEVSHIN (1737–1812)

Abstract

The article explores the specifics of constructing the image of Ukrainian lands in the works of Metropolitan of Moscow and Kolomna Platon Levshin – one of the most prominent religious figures and church historians of Eastern Europe in the second half of the 18th and early 19th centuries. The influence of Platon Levshin's personal experience, philosophical, and socio-political views on the characteristics of Ukrainian lands in his travel notes and historical works is examined. Relying on the principles of the Cambridge School of Intellectual History, the theory of conceptual metaphor, and the concepts of "mental maps" and "sites of memory," the study determines how Platon Levshin used the terms "Ukraine" and "Little Russia" and outlines the specifics of the interplay between ethnic, political, and religious connotations in his descriptions of Ukrainian lands. The Enlightenment’s impact on Levshin’s perception of Ukraine is reflected in his rationalist approach to spatial categories and the limited use of anthropomorphic metaphors in his texts. An analysis of sources indicates that the territorial boundaries of Little Russia in Levshin’s texts were constructed based on historical-administrative divisions. Volhynia and Galicia were not part of the symbolic Little Russian space, and the term "Ukraine" was used relatively infrequently, having a meaning similar to "Little Russia." The ethnic specificity of Ukrainians remained outside the metropolitan’s focus, distinguishing his travel notes from the travelogues of his contemporaries. The confessional aspect was the decisive factor in constructing the image of "us" and "them" for the metropolitan. In his narrative, Jews and Greek Catholics played the role of the Other, against whom the image of the Self was constructed. The Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra was a site of memory in Platon Levshin's perceptions of Ukrainian lands.