The Russian intelligentsia is the historic phenomenon of an educated opposition, and it has provoked a substantial body of Russian and Western publications. This book focuses on the intelligentsia's Myth, Mission, Metamorphosis as discovered in literature, journalism, and theater. The chapters define essential elements of the myth of the intelligentsia as a distinctive social group and a spiritual formation claiming high moral standards and expectations for the self and for society. Second, contributions explore how the intelligentsia sees its mission on various historical stages as inextricably linked with Russia's (and the Soviet Union's) cultural destiny, especially its literary and other artistic creations. Finally, the volume addresses the metamorphosis of the intelligentsia over centuries, as socio-political factors shaped its persistence and its perpetual transformation.
Edited by:
Sibelan Forrester,
Olga Partan
Imprint: Academic Studies Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 233mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 22mm
Weight: 734g
ISBN: 9798887196695
Pages: 370
Publication Date: 21 May 2025
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: The Intelligentsia in Russia: Shifting Terms, History, and Scholarly Approaches Olga Partan and Sibelan Forrester Part One: Pre-Nineteenth Century 2. An Essay on the Origins of the Intelligentsia: Catherine the Great and Her Relations with Novikov and Radishchev Marcus Levitt Part Two: The Nineteenth Century 3. The Intelligentsia in the Russian Press of the 1860s and 1870s Konstantine Klioutchkine 4. Dostoevsky and the Intelligentsia Alexander Burry 5. Accommodating the Intelligentsia: Tolstoyan Nonresistance as a Response to the Russian Intelligentsia Michael Denner 6. The Russian Intelligentsia and Western Intellectuals: Through the Prism of Chekhov Svetlana Evdokimova Part Three: The Twentieth Century 7. Merchants vs. the Intelligentsia: The Case of the Moscow Art Theatre Maria Ignatieva 8. A Bridgeable Schism? The Russian Silver Age Intelligentsia Holds Its Ground, Spruces up, and Proselytizes Irene Masing-Delic 9. Landmarks (Vekhi)—the Russian Intelligentsia at a Crossroads Olga Sobolev 10. The End of the Classical Intelligentsia? Gary Hamburg 11. The Russian Knights Templar: A Secret Mystical Order and Its Legacy Olga Partan 12. Remaking the Literary Intelligentsia (1930s-1940s) Carol Any 13. The Soviet Intelligentsia and Thaw-Era Science Fiction Sibelan Forrester 14. The Intelligentsia and the “Thick Journal” Marina Adamovich 15. A Romantic Ironist or a New Intellectual? Tatyana Tolstaya and Her Critique of the Russian Intelligentsia Alexandra Smith Part Four: The Twenty-First Century 16. Ulitskaya and Pelevin on the Shestidesiatniki Sofya Khagi 17. The Intelligentsia and the Intellectuals: A History of Two Terms in Russian Philosophical Discourse Alyssa DeBlasio 18. Legacy and Denial: Russian Intelligentsia on Screen and Online in the First Two Decades of the Twenty-First Century Tatiana Smorodinska
Sibelan Forrester is the Susan W. Lippincott Professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Russian at Swarthmore College. Her publications emphasize translation theory and practice, folklore, and Silver Age Russian poetry; she is editor or co-editor of Engendering Slavic Literatures (Indiana UP, 1996), Over the Wall/After the Fall: Post-Communist Cultures in an East-West Gaze (Indiana UP, 2004), Russian Silver Age Poetry: Texts and Contexts (Academic Studies Press, 2015), A Companion to Marina Tsvetaeva: Approaches to a Major Russian Poet (Brill, 2016), and Times of Mobility: Transnational Literature and Gender in Translation (Central European University Press, 2019). She has published translations of fiction, poetry, and scholarly prose from Croatian, Russian, Serbian and Ukrainian. Olga Partan is Associate Professor of Russian Studies at the College of the Holy Cross. She has authored a Russian-language memoir You were right, Filumena! (Moscow: PROZAiK, 2012) and the scholarly book Vagabonding Masks: The Italian Commedia dell'Arte in the Russian Artistic Imagination (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2017); her Commedia dell' Arte book was also translated into Russian (St Petersburg: Academic Studies Press/, 2021).
Reviews for The Russian Intelligentsia: Myth, Mission, and Metamorphosis
“This ambitious, wide-ranging volume traces the evolution of the Russian intelligentsia as a cultural concept and historical entity from its inception in the eighteenth century to the present day. A remarkable diversity of approaches and perspectives enriches the collection, with some invaluably incisive analyses complemented by informative descriptions of incidents, developments, and sources that represent terra incognita to many readers. Alongside famous thinkers, political leaders, and publications such as the accurately titled Landmarks (Vekhi) appear lesser-known figures and writings, many of which engage in dialogue or dispute with their predecessors or, in a few eloquent cases, predict current circumstances in Russia. To the question, ‘Can anything new be said about the intelligentsia?’ this volume responds with an unequivocal ‘Yes!’” — Helena Goscilo, Professor, Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures, Ohio State University “Illuminating and thought-provoking, The Russian Intelligentsia offers a fascinating journey through the intellectual heartland of Russia. This rigorous yet accessible volume explores how the intelligentsia, perpetually pressed between the hammer of the state and the anvil of the people, has shaped Russia's cultural and political landscape from the 18th century to today. As Russia faces new tormenting and catastrophic challenges, this balanced exploration provides invaluable insights into the nation's past and present, offering a critical lens for understanding its highly problematic future.” — Mikhail Epstein, Samuel Candler Dobbs Professor Emeritus of Cultural Theory and Russian Literature, Emory University.
