<<

Notes on Terminology and Transliteration

A few words about nomenclature, translation, and transliteration are in order. First, regarding usage and spelling of the term “tsar,” because of the potential links between the spelling “czar” and anti-Russian sentiment, a subject that turned out to be beyond the scope of this study, when translating from French sources, I have retained whatever spelling (“czar,” “tzar,” or “tsar”) appears in the original. When not quoting, I use the spelling “tsar” in conformity with accepted standards of translit- eration from Russian. In diplomacy, the official title of the ruler of imperial Russia was “emperor,” not “tsar.” A second point of usage concerns the descriptor “Greek” to refer to the Eastern Orthodox faith or the Russian in general. In the nineteenth century, westerners commonly used the descriptors “Greek” and “Russian” as synonyms when talking about the Eastern Church. For Roman publicists, the terms “Greek Church” (l’Église grecque) and “Russian Church” (l’Église russe) served a polemical purpose, highlighting the Eastern Church’s noncatholicity. They also did not refer to the Eastern Church as “Orthodox” unless they used the term in italics, as the equivalent of scare quotes, to in- dicate that the orthodoxy was only purported. Consequently, in this study the modifier “Greek” usually refers to a religious and not an ethnic group. Context should make the exceptions clear. It should also be noted that in their polemics with Roman Catholics, Orthodox priest-publicists referred to their church as the “Russian Church” (l’Église de Russie; l’Église russe) if talk- ing specifically about Russia’s established church, or as the “Eastern Church” (l’Église orientale), Eastern (l’Église catholique orientale), or Orthodox Catholic Church (l’Église catholique orthodoxe) when talking about Orthodoxy more generally. Inclusion of the term “catholic” in the latter two emphasized Orthodoxy’s claim to being the truly catholic (i.e., universal) church in contrast to the “Roman” Church. Third, French polemical works often used the term (plural ), derived from the Russian pop (plural popy) and Greek papas, meaning father, to refer to the (i.e., secular or white) Orthodox clergy. For French

xi xii Notes on Terminology and Transliteration

Catholic polemicists, use of pope instead of prêtre (priest) was another way to distinguish between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Since the French writers were othering when not being derogatory, I have tried not to translate pope(s) when quoting French sources. It should be easy not to confuse pope in these contexts with references to the pope (i.e., the bishop of Rome). Unless otherwise stated, translations from French and Russian are my own, sometimes refined with the aid of individuals mentioned in the Ac- knowledgments. I have cited from English translations of French works when they exist. However, in matters with direct bearing on the argument (e.g., discussions of usage or nomenclature) I have not neglected to con- sult the French originals. I have followed the Library of Congress system of transliteration from Russian, except that I have Anglicized common Rus- sian names and have not used apostrophes for the miagkii znak (soft sign) in the middle of names (hence Vasiliev instead of Vasil'ev, Muraviev instead of Murav'ev, and Kapelmans instead of Kapel'mans) except when transliterating Russian sources in the notes and bibliography. I have not distinguished be- tween the ye (e), yo (ë), and the yat' (ѣ) or retained the tverdy znak (ъ) at the ends of words. THE PUBLIC IMAGE OF EASTERN ORTHODOXY