The power of language and rhetoric in Russian political history : charismatic words from the 18th to the 21st centuries / Richard S. Wortman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wortman, Richard, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Language and history.

Russia--History--1613-1917--Historiography.

Russia.

Soviet Union--Historiography.

Soviet Union.

Russia (Federation)--History--1991---Historiography.

Russia (Federation).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (246 pages)

Distribution:

London, England : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2020.

Summary:

This book examines the rhetorical force of certain key words in the discourses of Russian state, political thought, and literature. It shows how terms for cultured conduct (kul'turnost'), political affection (love, liubov', joy-radost' etc.), personhood (lichnost'), truth (pravda) and geographical integrity (tsel'nost') assumed almost sacral meaning. It considers how these terms took on a life of their own, imposing the designs of the Russian state and defining the hopes of educated society in the process. By exploring the usage of these words in a wide range of texts, Richard Wortman provides glimpses into the ideas and feelings of leading figures and thinkers in Russian history, from Peter the Great to Alexander Herzen and Nicholas Berdiaev, as well as writers like Mikhail Lermontov, Ivan Turgenev, and Fyodor Dostoevsky, giving a sense of the intellectual and emotional universe they inhabited. The Power of Language and Rhetoric in Russian Political History provides both students and scholars with a specific focus through which to approach Russian culture and history. This book is essential reading for students of Russian government, thought, literature and political action.-- Provided by Publisher.

Contents:

Author's Preface and Acknowledgements

1. Introduction; Kul'turnost' and the Rhetoric of Proper Conduct

2. The Rhetoric of Consent: Radost', Liubov', Umilenie and Vostorg

3. Lichnost' and the Rhetoric of Duty: The Ethos of Service

4. Lichnost' and the Rhetoric of Duty: In Quest of New Ideals

5. Pravda and the Rhetoric of Moral Transcendence

6. Tselost' (Geographical Integrity) in the Rhetoric of the Russian State

Bibliography.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-233) and index.

ISBN:

9781350040694

135004069X

9781350040670

1350040673

9781350040687

1350040681

OCLC:

1201425823