Christian discourse of the English series «Robin of Sherwood» (1984–1986) and its reflection in the modern literary internet space of Russia

Shirokova Marina Alekseevna ORCID: 0000-0002-8915-4326 Doctor of Philosophy Professor of the Department of Philosophy and Political Science of Altai State University 656049, Russia, Altai Krai, Barnaul, Dimitrova str., 66, office 308 marina_shirokova_2014@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction. "The poetic feeling of the people turned a simple, perhaps, robber into a hero, almost equal to a saint," wrote M. Gorky in the preface to the collection of ballads about Robin Hood ^{[4, p. 12]}. With regard to the cult English TV series "Robin of Sherwood", it must be stated that the poetic feeling of screenwriter Richard Carpenter prompted all participants of the project to believe in the image of a people's fighter for justice, which has long been repeatedly embodied in various forms of art, and to apply strength, reason, will to its new reading in cinema. In turn, the poetic feeling of the authors of the Russian literary Internet space at the beginning of the XXI century elevated the hero, perhaps even above many saints, primarily through Christian symbols that literally permeated the film - perhaps partly, in addition to the intention of its creators. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze the Christian discourse presented by verbal and visual means in the series "Robin of Sherwood", as well as the peculiarities of the reception of this discourse in the minds of the audience of the Russian-speaking Internet space.

Methodology. The philosophical and hermeneutic approach proposed in the classical works of V. Dilthey, H.-G. Gadamer and M.M. Bakhtin will be used as a methodological basis. ^{[5, 6, 7, 8]}. The author of this article has previously addressed hermeneutical methodology in a number of studies, including in his doctoral dissertation ^[14]. It should be remembered that hermeneutics, since its inception, has worked with texts of the past. In antiquity – with the Homeric epic, in the Middle Ages – with the Holy Scriptures, in the Renaissance – with the works of ancient philosophers. The scientist's goal was to interpret the text of another era based on the new "cultural code", the iconic system of modernity. From the middle of the XX century to the present, hermeneutics has been working with a wider range of texts, including synchronous ones. And the very concept of "text" goes beyond the boundaries of a literary work. Texts refer to various manifestations of human activity, objectified, fixed in any signs and symbols of culture. The subject itself can also be considered as a text.

But the main thing that is of fundamental methodological importance for our work: from the point of view of hermeneutics, after a text is written or created, "expressed", it becomes largely independent in relation to its author. And when the reader perceives the text, he himself participates in the creation of its meaning, based on his values, worldview, experience, and culture. There is a dialogue not even between the author and the reader, but between the text as a subject and the reader. Such a structure of understanding determines the result: the reader is able to understand much of what was originally, perhaps, not put into the text by the author. At the same time, the whole text is understood through each of its parts, and the part is understood through the text as a whole (the principle of the "hermeneutic circle"). But this is the only way understanding is possible. "Understanding can go beyond the subjective intention of the author, moreover, it always and inevitably goes beyond these limits" ^{[7, p. 19]}.

The rule of the "hermeneutic circle" as a way of cognition implies the creation of meaning anew each time, turning understanding into a kind of "dialogical" or "sympathetic" cognition (Bakhtin's term), into an event in the life of a researcher who "met with the text" (in this case, with the film text). Let's make a reservation that the use of hermeneutical methodology does not exclude, but on the contrary, presupposes the inclusion in the research toolkit of rational methods and categories such as analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, reconstruction, comparison, generalization, systematization, etc. One of the main tasks of hermeneutics is precisely to rationalize the irrational.

The series "Robin of Sherwood": historical context. The cinematic images of Robin Hood, like any hero who has become a character in works of art, combine the aesthetic and moral aspects of the temporal and eternal, relative and absolute. Of course, every film that tells about the adventures of a noble robber acts for researchers as a concrete historical evidence not so much of the period to which the action belongs (the end of the XII - beginning of the XIII centuries), as the period when the tape was released. Hence, the context of the 1980s era is important for us. According to Richard Carpenter himself, he was looking for "Robin Hood of the 80s" - not an uncompromising fighter and a fearless strong leader, but a completely different type – a man who doubted something, fragile, vulnerable, but, nevertheless, capable of feats, up to the highest self–sacrifice ^{[18, 19]}. Wanting to make Robin's image "his own" for young viewers, Carpenter invited 23-year-old British actor and singer Michael Praed, who was also distinguished by his extraordinary beauty, to play the main role. The screenwriter turned out to be right: the combination of external fragility and elegance of lines with the inner strength of the hero attracted a young audience and provided high ratings for the series, which surpassed both previous and subsequent Robin Hood tapes in popularity. The success of the film was also facilitated by the attentive attitude of its creators to the plots of English history combined with folklore and mythology, the well-chosen sound track of the band "Clannad", full-scale filming in Sherwood Forest, in medieval castles in England and in many other locations directly close to the scene of the ballads about the national avenger. Canadian writer D. Ridman, who moved to the UK in 1992 and personally knew R. Carpenter, M. Praed and other project participants, in an interview dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the film's release on the screen, said that "Robin from Sherwood" captured her from the very first frames, she immediately felt the image of the hero "her own" coinciding with her childhood impressions of the legend. Reedman also noted "real English forests", "real castles and abbeys, not fake decorations", "real costumes", "real sword fights" ^[17].

In addition, the perception of the film was superimposed by the "time of M. Thatcher and R. Reagan", the time of the policy of neoconservatism, a harsh attack on social guarantees, a new surge of mass discontent and fashion for the aesthetics of protest, after the famous "student revolution" of 1968. The same D. Reedman recalls: "The mid-80s was an amazing time socially and culturally; it was a time of continuous change. There was an increased interest in the New Age movement, paganism and folklore, which had not been noticeable since the 60s, but now it was entering the mainstream, and was not part of the counterculture."^[17] Robin Hood, played by Michael Praed, became the personification of social and cultural protest also for the reason that, according to the prologue of the film, Robin's own father, Eilric of Loxley, was the leader of the Saxon resistance to the power of the Normans. Eilric died at the hands of Robert de Reno, Sheriff of Nottingham, against whom Robin then led the fight.

These factors led to the fact that some episodes of the first two seasons of the series were shown in the USSR in the summer of 1985 and 1987. The film gave such a powerful impetus to the emerging self-awareness of Soviet children and adolescents of the late 80s, among whom, as it turned out, many had remarkable literary talent, that, several decades later, at the beginning of the XXI century, they created an extensive creative legacy, richly represented in fan stories and novels written based on the series, and also at the literary and historical forums "Sherwood Tavern" and "Sherwood Forest" ^[11]. In addition to the artistic works of community members, these Internet sites have accumulated an array of documentary sources and information from a wide variety of fields of knowledge related to the film, its characters and the "team". The beginning of the scientific and theoretical analysis and systematization of this extensive data set was laid in the works of a researcher from Yekaterinburg, Doctor of Philology E.E. Prikazchikova ^{[11, 12]}. In our opinion, the work needs to be continued.

Christian discourse in the series. The series "Robin of Sherwood" includes three seasons ^[13]. The third season differs from the first two, first of all, by the forced change of the performer of the main role. Michael Praed received, as it seemed to him, a promising job offer in the United States – participation in the Broadway musical "The Three Musketeers". The directors of Robin of Sherwood had to adjust the plot of the series. In the final episode of the second season ("The Worst Enemy"), the "first Robin" heroically dies saving his friends, and the new Robin Hood becomes a young Robert from Huntington, a descendant of a noble family, played by Jason Connery. The third season is also characterized by significant changes in the aesthetics and visual solutions of the film. But it is worth considering another, not obvious, at first glance, difference between the third part of "Robin of Sherwood" from the previous ones.

The initial idea of this interpretation of the folk legend, as stated in the press, was to show Robin Hood not only as a defender of the "Saxons from the Norman oppressors" or the poor from the arbitrariness of the rich, but also as a defender of the old, pagan religion from the dominance of the new religion – Christianity planted "from above" ^{[15, 16]}. Therefore, the film widely presents mythological discourse and pagan symbolism, analyzed in detail by E.E. Prikazchikova. In particular, the main mythological image of the series is "the image of Herne the Hunter, half god, half man, priest, who actually leads the Saxon resistance to the power of the Normans in England." Hearn calls Robin Hood his son, handing the leader of the "free shooters" a Silver Arrow and the Albion sword, ancient English relics and, moreover, "ideal magical artifacts that protect the world from the power of evil" ^{[12, pp. 92-96]}. The connection with the pre-Christian historical heritage, which acts in the film as a symbolic basis for social protest and the Saxon national liberation movement, led to the fact that "Robin of Sherwood" contains a rather harsh criticism of the church (however, it completely coincides with the spirit of the English ballads about Robin Hood). Indeed: in the first and second seasons, the Christian Church as an institution, and especially its individual representatives, are displayed in an extremely unsightly way. The churchmen are hypocritical, selfish, and essentially vicious. So, in the pilot episode of the film, "Robin Hood and the Sorcerer", Abbot Hugo de Reno, brother of the Sheriff of Nottingham and the main antagonist of Robin Hood from the church, is ready to sacrifice not only his life, but also the immortal soul of Lady Marion of Lyford (Robin's future lover), giving his ward into the hands of Baron de Bellem, a sorcerer, a servant of the devil himself, only on the condition that the girl's lands remain in the church. Subsequently, the abbot pretentiously quotes the Bible (not being sure of the accuracy of the quotations) and uses the Holy Scriptures as a means to settle accounts during the trial of the witch doctor Jennet from Elsdon and her husband Thomas, falsely accused of witchcraft (The Witch of Elsdon series). Churchmen indulge in gluttony and other bodily pleasures: the bishop, a possible attack on whom is discussed in the same series, lives in luxury, not thinking at all about helping the poor, eats sweetly, sleeps soundly and does not leave the house before noon – "that's how they all are"! Churchmen are cunning, but often stupid and uneducated – more than half of the priests cannot read (series "Alan from the Valley"). Sometimes the church hierarchs themselves go over to Lucifer's side: Abbess Morgvin from Revenskar (The Swords of Wayland series) is generally an infernal being. There are many more similar examples.

Since priests and monks deviate from the commandments they preach, the people's avengers, in turn, do not disdain violence against the servants of the cult. In the episode "The Prophecy", Robin resolutely puts a dagger to the throat of a captured abbot, and to Hugo's outraged shout: "You don't respect the church, you bastard!" he answers without hesitation: "No, as long as you're in it!". The context of the film tells the audience that a beautiful and noble hero will not kill a spiritual person, but the abbot does not know this and experiences several very unpleasant minutes. And when a little later Robin's friend Will Scarlet (played by Ray Winston), wanting to get the necessary information from the abbot, begins to choose with ostentatious excitement which ear Hugo has extra, then the actor Philip Jackson himself, who played the abbot, by his own admission, had to seriously fear for the safety of his ears ^[22]. Further, according to the plot, Robin sneaks into Nottingham Castle, Brother Cedric, the scribe, turns up on his arm, and the leader of the Sherwoodites takes the monk hostage. In the end, the ill-fated Cedric will remain alive and relatively unharmed, but scared half to death.

After the release of the first two seasons, the series was harshly criticized by conservative activist Mary Whitehouse and the British National Association of Television and Radio Listeners. The filmmakers were accused of showing inappropriate content for children, as well as disrespect for Christianity ^[21]. Richard Carpenter had a public debate with representatives of the organization, at which the screenwriter managed to prove his professional worth and protect the creative product. But the conflict could not pass without a trace.

Whether this circumstance was the reason or some other, but in the third part the tone of the film visibly changes in relation to the church. The new head of the forest army, Robert Huntington, the son of Earl David Huntington, is a Christian, which does not prevent Hearn the Hunter from electing him as his son. This means that there is no need to defend the old religion from the new one, and criticism of Christian confessional institutions is practically silenced. So, in the series "The Cross of St. Cyric", viewers see a kind of progressive (albeit rather strange) monastic community, the head of which delivers truly revolutionary diatribe sermons and speaks out in support of the Robin Hood cause. In the series "Cromm Crook", the Sherwoodites use knowledge extracted from the monastery library to fight the forces of evil. It is repeatedly emphasized that robberies and murders of monks are the gravest crimes that "wolves", followers of the terrible neo–Pagan religion of the giant wolf Fenris (Fenrir), are the scum of the human race, and noble robbers will never stoop to such villainy (The Hour of the Wolf series). The examples can also be continued.

However, in our opinion, the paradox of the film is that Christianity in the third season remains only a shell, an external entourage similar to a theatrical one: candles, crucifixes, prayer services, cassocks. The external "objectification" loses its connection with spiritual meanings, which "fade" in the same way as the colors of the image fade. For example, the deputy sheriff, Sir Guy Gisborne (this role went to another young charismatic actor Robert Eddy) steals a sacred relic from the monastery – the cross of St. Cyric. At the same time, Gisborne does not listen to the requests of his mother, who is trying to keep her son from sacrilege. Such an act cannot be approved from the point of view of Christian morality, and in the film it is clearly condemned, especially since its negative character commits it. But, on the other hand, the viewer is shown that the "miraculous healings" allegedly performed by the cross of St. Cyric, for which crowds of pilgrims flock to the monastery, are nothing more than a hoax, and reasonable people should not take these tricks seriously.

At the same time, the film text of the first two parts of the tape, despite criticism of the church and everything ecclesiastical, conveys the true spirit of Christianity, turning the film into a hymn to the new faith. It's hard to say if the filmmakers wanted this at the very beginning. As already noted, according to Gadamer, understanding always and inevitably goes beyond the subjective intention of the author. Nevertheless, we believe that as the realization of the idea progressed, the filmmakers, being themselves subjects of Christian culture, felt the presence of Christian discourse in Robin of Sherwood.

In this regard, it would be appropriate to cite the statement of the famous Pushkin scholar, chairman of the Pushkin Commission of the Institute of World Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (1988-2020), V.S. Nepomnyashchy, who applied a philosophical and hermeneutic approach to the analysis of the Pushkin text. Talking about Pushkin's "perhaps the most complete model in the world of lyrics" of the "cosmos in which man exists", the researcher concludes: it is unknown whether the poet "thought" about all this, the main thing is "it was all in him", "he heard – and went towards". After all, in the process of work, "not only the author makes his way to the "goal", to the idea, but also the idea makes its way towards him, because the road is guessed correctly" ^{[10, p. 480]}.Nepomnyashchy refers to Aristotle, who wrote in the treatise "On the Soul" that the transition from the ability to perform an action to its completion is not, in the proper sense of the word, a change and transformation. It can be considered "the preservation of being in the possibility of being in reality" or "a transition to oneself, that is, to entelechy", as well as "the realization of one's nature" ^{[3, pp. 120-121]}. Commenting on the Aristotelian theory of color, researcher S.V. Month notes that, according to Aristotle, "the eye does not acquire any new form under the influence of light, but only realizes its own, as if passing from a passive state to an active one." And further: "The eye does not see light in the sense that it does not perceive it as a form alien to itself. He seems to be filled with light, becomes it" ^{[9, p. 32]}.

Thus, Christianity could not fail to be reflected in Robin of Sherwood, since it was in its creators themselves. There is evidence that Christian symbolism was definitely embedded even in the form, in the video sequence of the work. So, one of the film's directors, Robert Young, speaking about the visualization of ideas in "Swords of Weyland", recalls: the image of the cross is the figure of a man opening doors and standing in a doorway through which light breaks into a dark room ^[20]. Of course, the image of the cross is also the silhouette of Robin, who in the same series is led crucified between two horsemen, against the background of the sunset sky.

As for the spiritual power of Christianity, it quite naturally reveals itself in the seemingly ordinary statements and actions of the actors. For example, in the words of one of the members of Robin's squad, Tuck's brother, about the possible staging of the wedding ceremony of the maiden Mildred, daughter of Baron de Bracy, with the sheriff of Nottingham (the series "Alan of the Valley"). "Free shooters" during a fictitious "wedding" want to save a girl from a marriage she hates, but it is necessary that the imitation of the ceremony is not conducted by Tuk. The monk explains: "I can't marry them, because then the wedding will be real, even if I cross my fingers." Christianity also manifests itself at the moment when the sheriff, according to the plot, a skeptic and an atheist, crosses himself with a poorly obeying hand at the sight of the revived sorcerer, Baron de Bellem (series "Witchcraft"). Or, when the Satanic abbess Morgvin of Revenskar, who is not afraid of hell itself and its lord, hearing the first distant news about Robin, says with a tremor in her voice: "Who is this man? Why am I so afraid of him?.." ("Swords of Weyland"). Or, when Gisborne flees to the abbey in search of salvation from the enchanted forest, which is dominated by Herne the Hunter, and the deputy sheriff manages to escape ("Lord of the Trees"). It is characteristic that in the third season, Sir Guy will rush back to the church, seeking protection, this time, from betrayal, but he will not find protection ("The Hour of the Wolf").

The most vivid and obvious manifestation of Christian discourse is the death of Robin in the finale of the second season – death, as already mentioned, was not originally planned, but had a completely prosaic reason – the departure of Michael Praed from the project. The script of the final series ("The Worst Enemy") was rewritten in a hurry, and Christian meanings arose in it, since they were implicitly contained in the emotional and mental structures of the authors' psyche. The result exceeded all expectations. It was the dramatic ending that expanded the genre scope of the film, conceived as an entertainment series for teenagers. Giving the opportunity to escape from the raid organized by the sheriff, his beloved Marion and named brother Machu, Robin remains to cover their retreat on the hill. "Robin Hood," writes E.E. Prikazchikova, "in accordance with the logic of the Gospel of John, laid down his soul for his friends, having previously released from the hill ... the people closest to him" ^{[12, p. 100]}. Robin's self-sacrifice is indeed Christian. The national hero shoots the last arrow into the sky and does not commit suicide, but lets his enemies kill him. He dies, "death corrects death," realizing that his work will continue to live, "what we believe in." Cathy, a participant in the Sherwood Forest forum, spoke about Robin Hood's death, catching the Christian message of the film in it: "His death is a necessity, and he understood it. Because only with blood and death do people count. Only from the cross can you reach people, and only through death and blood can you gain immortality. That's why he says, "this is destined to happen," [because] he understands that from the moment he became Robin, he signed this sentence for himself. He must die to become immortal." "What a deep episode for a children's film," Mari wrote in response... It seems to me that they acted on a whim like true artists" ^[1]. In the process of discussing the topic on the forum, a quote from the above-mentioned Gospel of John arises: "Verily, verily, I say to you: unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it will bear much fruit" (John 12:23-24). The tragic, but affirming the highest morality, death of the main character determined one of the most important specific characteristics of Robin of Sherwood, in comparison with other films dedicated to Robin Hood, and gave rise to a whole wave of fan works in the Russian literary Internet space, representing a subject for further philosophical and cultural research. Among them, the most Christian reading of the film is the story "Alone in Wickham or The Gratitude of a former Templar" (authors: Fenimore, Wind – war horse and Lenny) ^[2].

Conclusion. So, we have touched upon only some of the Christian reminiscences contained in the film text of the series "Robin of Sherwood". It can be concluded that the film in its development led to a change in the original intention of the authors, showing the evolution of the moral consciousness of the characters from pagan to Christian. A remarkable paradox lies in the fact that the first two seasons of the series, containing harsh criticism of the church and its specific representatives, nevertheless more authentically broadcast Christian moral principles than the third season, in which there are actually no unflattering remarks about church institutions, but the spiritual component of Christianity can be traced to a lesser extent.