The subject of the study is positive Orientalism, considered in the context of Russian intellectual history of the late XIX – early XX century. The "Orient" is an essential element in the reactionary modernist worldview, a reference group that helps to construct a new collective identity. The concept of "reactionary modernism" is a description of a trend in the intellectual life of Western Europe and Russia, a paradoxical combination of modernist and archaic intentions. Reactionary modernism is seen as the intersection of artistic, political, and (quasi) religious pursuits. The author believes that artistic practices play an important role in ideological construction. Intellectual experiments and literary texts do not just reflect social reality, but construct it, receiving a kind of refraction in political practices. The author argues that oriental discourse is an extremely important resource in the discussion of collective identity on the eve of the Russian revolution and in the post-revolutionary period.