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This new Seminar Study provides students with a rewarding
introduction to nineteenth-century Russia. This period of Russian
history is, of course, characterised by the flowering of an
enormously rich intellectual and cultural life, the origins of
which lie in the intelligentsiaA?s opposition to autocratic rule.
Here, Professor Offord introduces the reader to the period while
focusing particularly on the rise of radicalism. The book opens
with two scene-setting chapters: one looking at the political and
social structure peculiar to Russia, and the second looking at the
cultural and intellectual background. Then, within a chronological
framework, the author examines all the great 'events' in the
history of Russian radicalism - from the Decembrist Revolt in 1825,
to the 'going to the people' in 1874, and the assassination of
Alexander II in 1881. However, throughout the text sustained
attention is given to the intellectual dimension of
nineteenth-century Russian history. Professor Offord examines all
the major schools of thought and looks in detail at all the great
thinkers of the day, including Chaadaev, Belinsky, Herzen,
Chernyshevsky, Bakunin and Tolstoy. This new book will provide
essential reading for anyone studying nineteenth-century Russia.
Lucid, accessible and immensely readable, it is a formidable
achievement.
This new Seminar Study provides students with a rewarding
introduction to nineteenth-century Russia. This period of Russian
history is, of course, characterised by the flowering of an
enormously rich intellectual and cultural life, the origins of
which lie in the intelligentsiaA?s opposition to autocratic rule.
Here, Professor Offord introduces the reader to the period while
focusing particularly on the rise of radicalism. The book opens
with two scene-setting chapters: one looking at the political and
social structure peculiar to Russia, and the second looking at the
cultural and intellectual background. Then, within a chronological
framework, the author examines all the great 'events' in the
history of Russian radicalism - from the Decembrist Revolt in 1825,
to the 'going to the people' in 1874, and the assassination of
Alexander II in 1881. However, throughout the text sustained
attention is given to the intellectual dimension of
nineteenth-century Russian history. Professor Offord examines all
the major schools of thought and looks in detail at all the great
thinkers of the day, including Chaadaev, Belinsky, Herzen,
Chernyshevsky, Bakunin and Tolstoy. This new book will provide
essential reading for anyone studying nineteenth-century Russia.
Lucid, accessible and immensely readable, it is a formidable
achievement.
Journeys to a Graveyard examines the descriptions provided by eight
Russian writers of journeys made to western European countries
between 1697 and 1880. The descriptions reveal the mentality and
preoccupations of the Russian social and intellectual elites during
this period. The travellers' perceptions of western European
countries are treated here as an ambivalent response to a
civilization with which Russia was belatedly coming into close
contact as a result of the imperial ambition of the Russian state
and the westernization of the Russian elites. The travellers
perceived the most advanced European countries as superior to
Russia in terms of material achievement and the maturity and
refinement of their cultures, but they also promoted a view of
Russia as in other respects superior to the western nations.
Heavily influenced from the late eighteenth century by Romanticism
and by the rise of nationalism in the west, they tended to depict
European civilization as moribund. By this means they managed to
define their own emergent nation in a contrastive way as having
youth and promising futurity.
Journeys to a Graveyard examines the descriptions provided by eight
Russian writers of journeys made to western European countries
between 1697 and 1880. The descriptions reveal the mentality and
preoccupations of the Russian social and intellectual elites during
this period. The travellers' perceptions of western European
countries are treated here as an ambivalent response to a
civilization with which Russia was belatedly coming into close
contact as a result of the imperial ambition of the Russian state
and the westernization of the Russian elites. The travellers
perceived the most advanced European countries as superior to
Russia in terms of material achievement and the maturity and
refinement of their cultures, but they also promoted a view of
Russia as in other respects superior to the western nations.
Heavily influenced from the late eighteenth century by Romanticism
and by the rise of nationalism in the west, they tended to depict
European civilization as moribund. By this means they managed to
define their own emergent nation in a contrastive way as having
youth and promising futurity.
This volume contains ten essays on Russian literature and thought
of the classical age (1820-1880). It aims to strike a balance
between important work on well-known authors such as Pushkin,
Lermontov, Turgenev and Dostoevsky, and important work of
relatively unknown writers such as Marlinsky, Pisemsky and
Boborykin, and studies that relate to thinkers, Chaadaev, Herzen
and Bakunin. The essays illuminate texts from various angles by
examining literary antecedents, biographical information, published
and unpublished correspondence, the many stages in the composition
of a work, and even ethnographic material. Several contributors
make use of material gathered in Soviet archives.
The policies relating to language pursued by European monarchies
and states have been widely studied, but far less attention has
been given to their linguistic and cultural policies in territories
outside their own borders. This volume takes an interdisciplinary
approach to filling that gap, distinguishing and analysing several
different types of linguistic and foreign cultural policies. Such
policies, the contributors show, tended not to be proclaimed
officially, but they nonetheless had lasting effects on both
language and culture in Europe and beyond.
This book examines the writings of the American novelist Ayn Rand,
especially The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), which
Rand considered her definitive statement about the need for an
unregulated free market in which superior humans could fully
realize themselves by living for no-one but themselves. It explores
Rand's conception of American identity, which exalted individualism
and capitalism, and her solution for saving the modern American
nation, which she believed was losing the spirit of its 18th- and
19th-century founders and frontiersmen, having been degraded
morally and economically by the rampant socialism of the
mid-20th-century world. Derek Offord crucially goes on to analyse
how Rand's writings functioned as a vehicle in which she, a
Russian-Jewish writer born in St Petersburg in 1905, engaged with
ideas that had long animated the Russian intelligentsia. Her
conception of human nature and of a utopian community capable of
satisfying its needs; her reversal of conventional valuations of
self-sacrifice and selfishness; her division of humans into an
extraordinary minority and the ordinary mass; her comparison of
competing civilizations - in all these areas, Offord argues that
Rand drew on Russian debates and transposed them to a different
context. Even the type of novel she writes, the novel of ideas, is
informed by the polemical methods and habits of the Russian
intelligentsia. The book concludes that her search for a brave new
world continues to have topicality in the 21st century, with its
populist critiques of liberal democracies and acrimonious debates
about countries' moral, social, and economic priorities and their
identities, inequalities, and social tensions.
-- With support from the Arts and Humanities Research Council of
the UK and the Deutsches Historisches Institut Moskau -- The French
Language in Russia provides the fullest examination and discussion
to date of the adoption of the French language by the elites of
imperial Russia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It
is interdisciplinary, approaching its subject from the angles of
various kinds of history and historical sociolinguistics. Beyond
its bearing on some of the grand narratives of Russian thought and
literature, this book may afford more general insight into the
social, political, cultural, and literary implications and effects
of bilingualism in a speech community over a long period. It should
also enlarge understanding of francophonie as a pan-European
phenomenon. On the broadest plane, it has significance in an age of
unprecedented global connectivity, for it invites us to look beyond
the experience of a single nation and the social groups and
individuals within it in order to discover how languages and the
cultures and narratives associated with them have been shared
across national boundaries.
This book examines the functions of French in various spheres,
domains and genres. This is the first volume of a two volume set
which explores the profound impact of the French language and
culture on Russian high society and consciousness in the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries. Volume 1 provides insights into the
development of the practice of speaking and writing French at the
Russian court and among the Russian nobility from the mid
eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth century, after which the
circle of Russians who continued to use French in Russia was
narrower. In the process, readers will be introduced to a wide
range of types of text. They will also encounter examples of the
impact of the French language on Russian and will reflect on the
practice of code switching and the distinction between bilingualism
and diglossia. It deepens our understanding of the process by which
Russia was integrated into the mainstream of modern European
civilisation. It contributes to knowledge of the development of
national self consciousness in Russia. It extends awareness of the
importance of francophonie in European culture, especially during
the age of the Enlightenment and the Romantic age. It provides an
in depth example of the social and cultural effects of major
language contact. It introduces readers to the discussion of the
positive and negative effects of bilingualism or multilingualism
and biculturalism or multiculturalism.
This course book is aimed primarily at students in higher education
who have some prior knowledge of Russian. It is dividen into 64
lessons covering all the main areas of Russian grammar, including
the declension of nouns; the conjugation of verbs, the use of
cases, the forms and use of adjectives; pronouns, numerals and
verbs of motion; verbal prefixes; gerunds and participles. It thus
gives students the solid grammatical foundation which is essential
if they are to go on to read, write and speak Russian well.The book
includes many exercises and over 500 examples taken from the recent
Soviet/ Russian press, introducing much useful contemporary
vocabulary in areas such as politics, economics, social problems,
ecology, medicine, and cultural and military affairs.
This book examines the writings of the American novelist Ayn Rand,
especially The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957), which
Rand considered her definitive statement about the need for an
unregulated free market in which superior humans could fully
realize themselves by living for no-one but themselves. It explores
Rand's conception of American identity, which exalted individualism
and capitalism, and her solution for saving the modern American
nation, which she believed was losing the spirit of its 18th- and
19th-century founders and frontiersmen, having been degraded
morally and economically by the rampant socialism of the
mid-20th-century world. Derek Offord crucially goes on to analyse
how Rand's writings functioned as a vehicle in which she, a
Russian-Jewish writer born in St Petersburg in 1905, engaged with
ideas that had long animated the Russian intelligentsia. Her
conception of human nature and of a utopian community capable of
satisfying its needs; her reversal of conventional valuations of
self-sacrifice and selfishness; her division of humans into an
extraordinary minority and the ordinary mass; her comparison of
competing civilizations - in all these areas, Offord argues that
Rand drew on Russian debates and transposed them to a different
context. Even the type of novel she writes, the novel of ideas, is
informed by the polemical methods and habits of the Russian
intelligentsia. The book concludes that her search for a brave new
world continues to have topicality in the 21st century, with its
populist critiques of liberal democracies and acrimonious debates
about countries' moral, social, and economic priorities and their
identities, inequalities, and social tensions.
This volume examines the use of French in European language
communities outside France from the Middle Ages to the twentieth
century. The phenomenon of French language usage is explored in a
wide variety of communities, namely Bohemian, Dutch, medieval
English, German (Prussian), Italian, Piedmontese, Polish, Romanian,
Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Each chapter offers unique
insight into the existence of francophonie in a given language
community by providing illustrations of language usage and detailed
descriptions of various aspects of it. The volume as a whole
explores such sociolinguistic matters as bilingualism and
multilingualism, the use of French as a lingua franca and prestige
language, language choice and code-switching, variations in
language usage depending on class or gender, language attitudes and
language education. The sociohistorical and sociocultural matters
considered include the association of a variety of language with
the court, nobility or some other social group; the function of
French as a vehicle for the transmission of foreign cultures; and
the role of language in the formation of identity of various kinds
(national, social and personal).
The history of ideas has played a central role in Russia's
political and social history. Understanding its intellectual
tradition and the way the intelligentsia have shaped the nation is
crucial to understanding the Russia of today. This history examines
important intellectual and cultural currents (the Enlightenment,
nationalism, nihilism, and religious revival) and key themes
(conceptions of the West and East, the common people, and attitudes
to capitalism and natural science) in Russian intellectual history.
Concentrating on the Golden Age of Russian thought in the
mid-nineteenth century, the contributors also look back to its
eighteenth-century origins in the flowering of culture following
the reign of Peter the Great, and forward to the continuing
vitality of Russia's classical intellectual tradition in the Soviet
and post-Soviet eras. With brief biographical details of over fifty
key thinkers and an extensive bibliography, this book provides a
fresh, comprehensive overview of Russian intellectual history.
The history of ideas has played a central role in Russia's
political and social history. Understanding its intellectual
tradition and the way the intelligentsia have shaped the nation is
crucial to understanding the Russia of today. This new history
examines important intellectual and cultural currents (the
Enlightenment, nationalism, nihilism, and religious revival) and
key themes (conceptions of the West and East, the common people,
and attitudes to capitalism and natural science) in Russian
intellectual history. Concentrating on the Golden Age of Russian
thought in the mid nineteenth century, the contributors also look
back to its eighteenth-century origins in the flowering of culture
following the reign of Peter the Great, and forward to the
continuing vitality of Russia's classical intellectual tradition in
the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. With brief biographical details of
over fifty key thinkers and an extensive bibliography, this book
provides a fresh, comprehensive overview of Russian intellectual
history.
This book studies the work of five Russian liberal thinkers who
were active in the period 1840 60 against the general background of
Russian history, literature and thought in that period. All five
thinkers (to each of whom a separate chapter is devoted) played an
important part in the flowering of Russian letters in the 1840s,
and were involved in the attempt of the intelligentsia, the
conscience of the nation, to bring more humane and enlightened
values to their backward and semi-feudal country. By the 1850s,
when a more radical wing began to emerge in the intelligentsia, the
moderation of these liberals became more apparent. While the
radicals were prepared to countenance revolutionary upheaval, the
liberals counselled patience, toleration, and gradualism. In his
conclusion Dr Offord explores the possible reasons for the failure
of the liberal tendency, represented by these thinkers, to
establish itself properly in Russia.
Using Russian is a guide to Russian usage for those who have
already acquired the basics of the language and wish to extend
their knowledge. Unlike conventional grammars, it gives special
attention to those areas of vocabulary and grammar which cause most
difficulty to English speakers, and focuses on questions of style
and register which are all too often ignored. Clear, readable and
easy to consult, it will prove invaluable to students seeking to
improve their fluency and confidence in Russian. This second
edition has been substantially revised and expanded to incorporate
fresh material and up-to-date information. Many of the original
chapters have been rewritten and one brand new chapter has been
added, providing a clear picture of Russian usage in the 21st
century.
The book deals with the various revolutionary groups active in
Russia in the 1880s. The first chapter attempts a definition of
Populism, examines the main strategies on which revolutionary
activity was based in the 1870s, traces the development of the main
organisations of that decade and discusses their relationship to
the prevailing theories. The three following chapters examine the
history of the organisations of the 1880s in the light of this
discussion and against the background of a reactionary political
atmosphere, cultural stagnation, despondency in the intelligentsia,
and industrial development. The early political activity and
sympathies of Lenin are also discussed at some length. The
conclusion assesses the significance of the organisations of the
1880s in the larger history of the Russian revolutionary movement.
The book deals with the various revolutionary groups active in Russia in the 1880s. The first chapter attempts a definition of Populism, examines the main strategies on which revolutionary activity was based in the 1870s, traces the development of the main organisations of that decade and discusses their relationship to the prevailing theories. The three following chapters examine the history of the organisations of the 1880s in the light of this discussion and against the background of a reactionary political atmosphere, cultural stagnation, despondency in the intelligentsia, and industrial development. The early political activity and sympathies of Lenin are also discussed at some length. The conclusion assesses the significance of the organisations of the 1880s in the larger history of the Russian revolutionary movement.
This book explores how knowledge of French helped shape Russian
identities and their views on the Russian language. This is the
second volume in a two volume set which explores the profound
impact of the French language and culture on Russian high society
and consciousness in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Volume 2 provides insights into the ways in which bilingualism was
negotiated at court and among the cosmopolitan high nobility in
Imperial Russia in the Age of Enlightenment and the subsequent
Romantic age, when cultural nationalists began to associate
national essence with the monolingual peasantry. It discusses the
linguistic means by which Russian social, political and cultural
identities began to be created and explores the part played by
foreign language use in stimulating the enrichment and
standardisation of the Russian vernacular and in encouraging the
development of a firm sense of national identity and early Russian
nationalism. It deepens our understanding of the process by which
Russia was integrated into the mainstream of modern European
civilisation. It contributes to knowledge of the development of
national self consciousness in Russia. It extends awareness of the
importance of francophonie in European culture, especially during
the age of the Enlightenment and the Romantic age. It provides an
in depth example of the social and cultural effects of major
language contact. It also introduces readers to the discussion of
the positive and negative effects of bilingualism or
multilingualism and biculturalism or multiculturalism.
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