Tuesday, October 31, 2006

If you prefer to read in Serbian...


If you prefer to read in Serbian, Against the Modern World is now available in that language, as Protiv modernog sveta: tradicionalizam i tajna intelektualna istorija dvadesetog veka by Mark Sedžvik (Belgrade: Ukronija/Biblioteka Vrhovi, 2006; 377 pages; ISBN 86-84807-17-0).

Sunday, October 29, 2006

Other origins of Russian Traditionalism: The Brotherhood of Tsar Nikolai II

During the late Soviet period, one of the most important Russian ultra-right movements was the Brotherhood of Tsar Nikolai II. Since 1991, three of its main figures have been active on the fringes of Russian Traditionalism. The Brotherhood’s former leader, Alexei Shiropaev, moved through the circles of Alexander Dugin and Edvard Limonov to pro-“Orange” neo-paganism. The Brotherhood’s former chief ideologist, Andrey Shedrin, moved through the apocalyptic Oprichnina Movement to the somewhat Traditionalist Brotherhood of St. Josef of Volotsk. Another former leader of the Brotherhood of Tsar Nikolai II, Vladimir Karpetz, later became a key figure in Alexander Dugin’s Eurasian Union of Youth.

Read “The Brotherhood of Tsar Nikolai II and Russian Traditionalism” by Anton Shmakov.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

New paper on Alexander Dugin

Must read for all who are interested in Dugin: Occasional paper #294 from the Woodrow Wilson Center, Marlene Laruelle's "Aleksandr Dugin: A Russian Version of the European Radical Right?" The paper may be downloaded in pdf from here or here.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Evola video

Found on Google: video of Julius Evola talking about his early experiences with Dada. 4 1/2 minutes, in French with Italian subtitles. First ten seconds is dreadful quality, but then it's fine.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Dugin in L'Express

Alexander Dugin gets a mention in the October 4, 2006 L'Express. The mass-circulation French news magazine has a cover story on "Russia: The Spectre of Hate" (Russie : le spectre de la haine). L'Express mentions Dugin as the most notable of "number of ideologues close to power who are searching for a 'national idea.'"

Dugin, of course, found his idea long ago, and it has little to do with either nationalism or hate.

A question: why is the supporter of Dugin's former party (the National Bolsheviks) on the cover of L'Express giving the Nazi salute, not the National Bolshevik salute (which uses the clenched fist)?

Sunday, October 01, 2006

Traditionalists by appointment to HRH The Prince of Wales


During his speech to the recent conference on Tradition in the Modern World (University of Alberta, September 23-24, 2006, 16 minutes), the Prince of Wales indicated what his favorite Traditionalist reading was. First and foremost came Sacred Web, to which he evidently subscribes. He also seems to read Sophia. The writers he mentioned by name were Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Martin Lings, and René Guénon (for The Reign of Quantity).

The Prince of Wales, then, is even better read in Traditionalism (in its Maryami version) than I thought (though it is interesting that he pronounces 'Guénon' in the English, rather than the French, way--with a w). His speech, like his reading, again made clear his admiration for those who offer us an alternative to the "disintegration" and "deracination" of "modernism," but did not otherwise clarify his own personal position.