Provincial Russia in the Age of Enlightenment : the memoir of a priest's son / Dmitrii Ivanovich Rostislavov ; translated and edited by Alexander M. Martin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rostislavov, Dmitriĭ Ivanovich, 1808-1877.

Contributor:

Martin, Alexander M.

Standardized Title:

Zapiski. English

Language:

English

Russian

Subjects (All):

Ri︠a︡zanʹ (Ri︠a︡zanskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia)--Social life and customs--19th century.

Ri︠a︡zanʹ (Ri︠a︡zanskai︠a︡ oblastʹ, Russia).

Rostislavov, Dmitriĭ Ivanovich, 1808-1877.

Rostislavov, Dmitriĭ Ivanovich.

Physical Description:

xliii, 236 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

DeKalb : Northern Illinois University Press, [2002]

Language Note:

Translated from the Russian.

Summary:

The memoir of Dmitrii Ivanovich Rostislavov -- a mathematician, teacher, and social critic -- offers a rare firsthand view of provincial Russia in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Translated into English for the first time, these extraordinary observations reveal much about daily village life and the cultural milieu of the time. An acute observer, Rostislavov discusses social and ethnic relationships as well as matters pertaining to education, law enforcement, religious practice, and folk beliefs. Rostislavov's account of his own education is a harrowing description of coming of age in a Darwinian world of violence and cruelty. Coarse, impoverished schoolboys, brutal and corrupt teachers, and callous landlords formed a harsh environment characterized by sadistic corporal punishment and bitter class hatreds. Variously humorous, elegiac, and passionate, Rostislavov shows why even those from relatively privileged backgrounds came to detest the authoritarian order of the old regime. In a probing analysis of the Russian national order, Rostislavov found the twin evils facing Russia to be the coarseness of traditional society and the authoritarianism and corruption of the regime and its representatives. Russia's hope for the future, he believed, lay with cultural changes that would ultimately raise the society's moral level. Illustrations, maps, and an introduction illuminating the historical context accompany this remarkable account of life in provincial Russia.

Contents:

Preface: My Goals and Intentions in Writing My Memoir 3

1. My Family Background 6

2. The Village of Palishchi and Its Environs 14

3. A Village Household 24

4. Corporal Punishment at Home 32

5. My Early Education 38

6. My Family Moves to Tuma 43

7. Outlaws and Law Enforcement 53

8. Our Home Life in Tuma 82

9. Hospitality 86

10. Household Work 97

11. Agricultural Work 103

12. Community Life in Tuma 112

13. How the Clergy Would Tour the Parish 123

14. The Kasimov Church School 132

15. The Church-School Students 155

16. My Life in Kasimov 162

17. Society in Kasimov 173

18. The Tatars of Kasimov 186

19. Governor-General Balashov 195

20. The Merchant Riumin 208

21. The Death of the Tsar 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [225]-230) and index.

ISBN:

0875802850

OCLC:

47716449