The Russian Intelligentsia : From the Monastery to the Mir Space Station / by Christopher Read.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Read, Christopher, author.

Series:

The Bloomsbury History of Modern Russia Series.

The Bloomsbury History of Modern Russia Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Russia--Intellectual life.

Russia.

Soviet Union--Intellectual life.

Soviet Union.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (432 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Distribution:

London : Bloomsbury Publishing (UK), 2024.

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2025.

System Details:

text file HTML

Summary:

The Russian Intelligentsia is the first single-volume history of a small but tremendously influential group of Russian intellectuals who achieved world renown in a variety of spheres. While previous accounts have addressed the history of individuals within this collective, Christopher Read offers the first explanation of the intelligentsia as a group. Read traces the vast debates that broke out between, and within, a multitude of intellectual factions, and contextualizes the ideas of the group within the framework of cultural, social, political, and economic development from the late 18th century to the present day. This comprehensive yet accessible account demonstrates how the Russian intelligentsia morphed from one incarnation to the next, and effectively situates this change and continuity within a pan-European context. It considers the role of the intelligentsia throughout its origins, its transformation during the Russian Revolution, and since the collapse of communism, and highlights the beliefs of key figures such as Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ivan Pavlov, Vladimir Lenin, Leon Trotsky, and Mikhail Gorbachev. In doing so, Read provides an essential guide to a fascinating aspect of Russia's social and cultural history.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction - What is the intelligentsia? Towards a definition

Part 1 The roots of the intelligentsia

1 The birth of the Russian soul

2 Encountering reason, science and the secular

3 From Speransky to Belinsky - Reformers, Decembrists, Slavophiles and Westernizers

Part 2 The intelligentsia matures

4 From reform to revolution

5 The golden age of the intelligentsia - Apocalypse and the approach of revolution

Part 3 The intelligentsia transformed: cultural revolution

6 The intelligentsia in the Soviet revolution

7 The intelligentsia and the Soviet cultural revolution: From Proletkul't to the new Soviet person

8 Soviet intelligentsia, Soviet culture, Russian culture 1932-53

9 Reconstruction or deconstruction - The intelligentsia and the dissolution of the Soviet system

10 The dissolution of the Soviet system and the intelligentsia

Notes

Bibliography and sources

Index.

ISBN:

9781350035829

1350035823

9781350035409

1350035408

OCLC:

1417198413