Introduction to Russian Civilization

Tatyana Gershkovich

Russia cannot be understood with the mind alone,

No ordinary yardstick can span her greatness:
She stands alone, unique
In Russia, one can only believe.

Fyodor Tyutchev (1808 1873)

The New York Times

Is Russia the New
Iran?
Dont Trust Putin on
Syria
The Russia I Miss
What the West Gets
Wrong About Russia
Why Russians Hate
Americans. Again.

This Course
4 sub-civilizations within Russian
civilization
Medieval (8th-17th centuries)
Imperial (17-19)
Soviet (20)
Post-Soviet (20-21)

Syllabus and course policies:

Books
Assignments
Schedule
Midterm: Thursday, October 15th during xperiod

What is a civilization?

Samuel Huntington:
A civilization is the highest cultural grouping
of people and the broadest level of cultural
identity people have short of that which
distinguishes humans from other species

 Broadest level of self-identification

Ultimate basis for self-identification
Common history, religion, economic and
political institutions, cultural stereotypes
System of values

18 century usage:
th

CIVILIZED = Western,
European, urban and urbane;
secular and spiritual; lawabiding and nonviolent (i.e.,
limited to legalized violence);
polished, courteous, and
polite; disciplined, orderly, and
productive; respectful of
private property; fraternal and
free; cultured, knowledgeable,
the master of nature

Source: International Encyclopedia of the Social

Sciences, abridged.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/civilization.aspx

UNCIVILIZED = Non-Western,
rural, savage; idolatrous,
fanatical, literalist, and
theocratic; unlawful and violent
(i.e., given to violence outside
juridical procedure); crude or
rude; lazy, anarchic, and
unproductive; communistic,
poor, and inconvenienced or
beleaguered; piratical and
thievish; fratricidal
(cannibalistic) and unfree;
uncultured, ignorant, illiterate,
superstitious, at natures
mercy.

Still in existence (according to

Huntington):

Western
Confucian
Japanese
Islamic

Hindu
Slavic-Orthodox
(Russian)
Latin American
African

Samuel Huntington The Clash of

Civilizations? (1993)
Last few centuries = an anomaly.
Conflicts between states/ ideologies/ classes not
as basic as conflicts between civilizations
Now the fault lines are open again
Kin countries ( civilization blocks, rather than
ideological blocks/ economic groupings)
civilization clashes: Islam vs West; Orthodoxy vs
Islam; Latin America vs West; The West vs The
Rest

Civilizations as Value Systems

How do you translate values?
How bad is cheating on a test?
Whats worse: cheating or reporting on a
cheater ?

Translate cheating

The West
Individual responsibility
Individual achievement
Trust Institution / Authority
(I + authority) VS cheater
Fairness: equal initial
conditions should lead to
differing results
Cheater = bad
One who reports = neutral
(depends)
Authority = neutral/good

Russia
Joint responsibility
Mutual reliance
Mistrust/Suspicion
(I + cheater) VS authority
Fairness: unequal conditions
should lead to equal results

Cheater = neutral
One who reports = extremely
bad
Authority = bad

Trinity by Andrey Rublev

Ilya Repin, Howlers on Volga

Kazimir Malevich, Black Square

Pussy Riot

Why?
Social History: peasant communities vs
landowners; absence of corporations,
professional guilds.
Political History: Autocracy and Totalitarianism
passive resistance + ruptures VS representative
institutions
Religion: Eastern Orthodoxy emphasizes
communal spirit over individual achievement
(sobornost)
Culture: intimate over social

Individual:
Latin individuus, from in- not
+ dividuus divisible (from dividere to divide).
Lichnost:
Slavic lik (outlook, appearance, face)

Russian Myths
Endless Space
Russias Role in World History
The Word

Endless Space
Eh, you troika, you are a bird! Who
conceived you? I think its only among a
spirited folk that you could have come into
being, in that land that is not fond of doing
things by halves, but that has evenly,
smoothly spread itself out over half the
world.

Gogol, Dead Souls

Endless Space
And what Russian is there who doesn't
love fast driving? How should his soul, that
yearns to go off into a whirl, to go off on a
fling, to say on occasion: Devil take it all!
how should his soul fail to love it? Is it not
a thing to be loved, when one can sense in
it something exaltedly wondrous? Some
unseen power, it seems, has caught you
up on its wing and you are flying yourself
Gogol, Dead Souls

Role in World History

The witness of your passing comes to a
dead stop, dumbfounded by this God's
wonder! Is it not a streak of lightning cast
down from heaven? What signifies this
onrush that inspires terror? And what
unknown power is contained in these
steeds, whose like is not known in this
world?
Gogol, Dead Souls

Role in World History

Where are you soaring away to, then,
Russia? Give me thy answer. But Russia
gives none. With a wondrous ringing does
the jingle bell trill; the air, rent to shreds,
thunders and turns to wind; all things on
earth fly past and, eyeing it askance, all
the other people and nations stand aside
and give it the right of way.
Gogol, Dead Souls