The Quality of Becoming: Sophia and Sophiology in Istorija Stanovlenija Samosoznajuščej Duši

The article explores the enduring influence of Sophiology, as well as similarities with later sophiological thought, in Belyj’s ISSD (Istoriia stanovleniia samosoznaiushchei dushi). It demonstrates continuity between Belyj’s thinking, which adopts the otherwise very different conceptual apparatus of anthroposophy, and that of figures such as Jacob Boehme, Vladimir Solov’ev and Sergej Bulgakov on the question of Sophia as relational matrix and her relation to culture. Concentrating particularly on the significance Belyj gives to the categories of ‘quality’ and ‘style’ in the dynamics of becoming, it uses the many parallels that exist between Belyj and Sophiology on the question of the vocation of the individual to explicate one of the central concerns of ISSD.