A Skeptical Pilgrim: Theodore Dreiser and the Russian Orthodox Church in 1927

Abstract

During his trip to the Soviet Union (4.11.1927–13.1.1928) Theodore Dreiser among other things paid much attention to the Soviet religious policy and the relations between the church and the Soviet state. The American writer tried to get an idea of the situation with the Russian Orthodox Church then undergoing one of the most tragic periods in its history. When Dreiser was in Leningrad, the All Union Society for Cultural Relations organized for him an interview with Nikolay Platonov, one of the leading figures in the renovationist church. Dreiser used the shorthand report of the meeting when he was working on his book “Dreiser Looks at Russia” (1928). Dreiser also had a chance to talk to some Russian orthodox priests and eventually formed an opinion on the religious situation in Russia which differed from the Soviet propagandistic clichees.

Keywords

• Theodore Dreiser
• American literature
• history of the Russian Orthodox Church
• Nikolay Fedorovitch Platonov
• renovationism
• “Living church”
• USSR
• travelogue
• All Union Society for Cultural Relations