Intellectual Crises in pre-Revolutionary Russia

 

Fall Semester 2006

 

Course Schedule

 

Date

Topic

Readings

 

 

 

Aug. 24

Introduction

Survey of Russian History

 

 

 

 

Aug. 29

Survey of Russian History

MacKenzie & Curran, pp. 1-119; Stavrou, #1

 

 

 

Aug. 31

Rise of the Russian Intelligentsia

Fonvizin, "The Minor" in Reeve.

N. Karamzin, “Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia,” in Riha #23, L&O, pp. 32-41.

N. Karamzin, “On the Book Trade and the Love of Reading in Russia,” in Kaiser and Marker, pp. 412-14.

 

 

 

Sep. 5

The First Inteligent

Alexander Radishchev, “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” in Riha #22

A. Radishchev, “On Man, His Mortality and Immortality,” in Edie, vol. 1, pp. 77-105

A. Radischev, “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” in Edie, vol. 1, pp. 68-76.

A. Radishchev, “[On Autocracy],” in L&O, p. 17

A. Radishchev, “A Discourse on What It Means to be a Son of the Fatherland,” in L&O, pp. 18-24

A. Radishchev, “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” in L&O, pp. 25-31

 

 

 

Sep. 7

The Decembrists

Griboyedov "The Trouble with Reason" in Reeve.

P. I. Pestel, “Russian Law,” in L&O, pp. 51-58

“The Decembrists,” in Riha, #24

“The Decembrist Movement,” in Dmytryshyn

 

 

 

Sep. 12

Chaadaev

 

P. Chaadaev, “Letters on the Philosophy of Russia,” in L&O.

P. Chaadaev, “Philosophical Letters” in Edie, vol. 1

Peter Chaadaev, “Apology of a Madman,” in Riha #25

 

 

 

Sep. 14

The Slavophiles

Kireevsky, “New Principles in Philosophy,” in Edie, vol. 1.

I. V. Kireevsky, “A Reply to A. S. Khomyakov,” in L&O

A. S. Khomyakov, “[On Catholicism],” in L&O

A. S. Khomyakov, “[On the Church],” in L&O

A. S. Khomyakov, “To the Serbs, An Epistle from Moscow,” in L&O.

 

 

 

Sep. 19

The Slavophiles

Essay #1 due

K. S. Aksakov, “Memorandum to Alexander II on the Internal State of Russia,” in L&O.

I. Aksakov, “A Slavophile Statement,” in Riha #32.

“Program of the Society of Sts. Cyril and Methodius,” in Dmytryshyn

N. Danilevsky,” The Slav Role in World Civilization,” in Riha #33.

“Russian Pan-Slavism: Danilevsky’s Views,” in Dmytryshyn

 

 

 

Sep. 21

The Early Westernizers

V. Belinsky, “The Idea of Art” in Edie, vol. 1

V. Belinsky, “The Russian Nation and the Russian Tsar,” in Edie vol. 1

V. Belinsky, “Society and the Individual,” in Edie. Vol. 1

V. Belinsky, “Letters to Botkin,” in Edie, vol. 1.

V. Belinsky, “Menzel, Critic of Goethe,” in L&O.

V. Belinsky, “Letters to Botkin,” in L&O

P. V. Annenkov, “The Extraordinary Decade,” in Kaiser and Marker, pp. 414-17.

 

 

 

Sep. 26

The Early Westernizers

 

A. Herzen, “Buddhism in Science,” Edie, vol. 1

A. Herzen, “Letters on the Study of Nature,” in Edie vol. 1.

A. Herzen, “From the Other Shore,” in Edie vol. 1.

A. Herzen, “Letter to My Son Alexander Herzen,” in Edie vol. 1.

A. Herzen, “Young Moscow,” in Riha #27

A. Herzen, “Dilettantism in Science,” in L&O

A. Herzen, “The Russian People and Socialism,” in L&O

A. Herzen, “Robert Owen,” in L&O.

A. Herzen, “Letter to Michelet,” in Dmytryshyn.

 

 

 

Sep. 28

Gogol'

N. Gogol, “The Overcoat,”

N. Gogol, "The Inspector General" in Reeve.

Vissarion Belinsky, “Letter to Gogol,” in Riha # 26, Edie, vol. 1, Dmytryshyn or in L&O.

 

 

 

Oct. 3

Gogol’

N. Gogol, Dead Souls

 

 

 

Oct. 5

Radical Anarchism

 

M. Bakunin, “The Reaction in Germany,” in Edie, vol. 1.

M. Bakunin, “The Paris Commune and the Idea of the State,” in Edie, vol. 1.

M. Bakunin, “God and the State,” in Edie, vol. 1.

M. Bakunin, “Statism and Anarchy,” in L&O

“The Catechism of a Revolutionary,” in Dmytryshyn.

M. Bakunin, (extract from letter on Nechaev quoted in Frank.)

 

 

 

Oct. 10

The Superfluous Man

Essay #2 due

A. Herzen, Who Is To Blame?

 

 

 

 

Oct. 12

The Men of the 1860's: N. Chernyshevsky, N. Dobroliubov

N. Dobrolyubov, “What is Oblomovism,” in Riha #28.

N. Dobrolyubov, “When Will the Real Day Come?” in Matlaw

N. Chernyshevsky, “The Russian at the Rendez-vous,” in Matlaw.

N. Chernyshevsky, “The Aesthetic Relations of Art to Reality,” in Edie, vol. 2

N. Chernyshevsky, “The Anthropological Principle in Philosophy,” in Edie, vol. 2

N. Chernyshevsky, “[On Liberalism,]” in L&O.

N. Chernyshevsky, “The Aesthetic Relationship of Art to Reality,” in L&O.

N. Chernyshevsky, “A Critique of Philosophical Prejudices against Communal Landholding,” in L&O

 

 

 

Oct. 17

Fathers and Sons

Turgenev, Fathers and Sons

 

 

 

Oct. 19

Nihilism

D. Pisarev, “Plato’s Idealism,” in Edie, vol. 2

D. Pisarev, “Nineteenth-Century Scholasticism,” in Edie, vol. 2

D. Pisarev, “The Realists,” in Edie, vol. 2

D. Pisarev, “Thinking Proletariat,” in Edie, vol. 2

D. I. Pisarev, “Bazarov,” in L&O.

 

 

 

Oct. 24

The Left’s Response

Chernyshevsky, What Is To Be Done?

 

 

 

Oct. 26

Dostoevsky

F. M Dostoevsky, “Mr. –bov and the Question of Art,” in L&O

Notes from the Underground

Crime and Punishment (extracts)

 

 

 

Oct. 31

Dostoevsky

F. M. Dostoevsky, Brothers Karamazov (extracts)

F. Dostoevsky, “Summer Impressions,” in Edie, vol. 2

F. Dostoevsky, “The Diary of a Writer,” in Edie, vol. 2

F. M. Dostoevsky, “Winter Notes on Summer Impressions,” in L&O

 

 

 

Nov. 2

The Populists

Essay #3 due

P. Lavrov, “Historial Letters,” in Edie, vol. 2

P. Lavrov, “Historical Letters,” in L&O

P. Lavrov, “Program of the Journal Forward,” in L&O

P. Lavrov, “Knowledge and Revolution,” in L&O

N. Mikhailovsky, “Pravda,” in Edie, vol. 2

N. Mikhailovsky, “What is Progress?,” in Edie, vol. 2

N. Mikhailovsky, “The Three Stages of History,” in Edie, vol. 2

 

 

 

Nov. 7

The Radical Left

 

P. N. Tkachev, “[On Historical Leaps],” in L&O

P. N. Tkachev, “Program of the Journal The Tocsin,” in L&O.

“Demands of Narodnaia Volia,” in Dmytryshyn.

 

 

 

Nov. 9

Tolstoy

L. Tolstoy, “The Law of Violence and the Law of Love,” in Edie, vol. 2

L. Tolstoy, "What Is Art?," in Bayley,

L. Tolstoy, "The Memoirs of a Madman," in Bayley,

L. Tolstoy, "I Cannot Be Silent," in Bayley,

L. Tolstoy, "A Confession" in Bayley,

L. Tolstoy, "The Power of Darkness," in Reeve or in Bayley.

 

 

 

Nov. 14

Critics and Conservatives

 

C. Leontyev, “The Average European as an Ideal and Instrument of Universal Destruction,” in Edie, vol. 2

K. Pobedonostsev, “The Falsehood of Democracy,” in Riha #34.

“Pobedonostsev’s Criticism of Modern Society,” in Dmytryshyn.

 

 

 

Nov. 16

Russian Marxists

G. Plekhanov, “On the Role of the Individual in History,” in Edie, vol. 3

G. Plekhanov, “Materialism or Kantianism,” in Edie, vol. 3

G. Plekhanov, “Fundamental Problems of Marxism,” in Edie, vol. 3

G. Plekhanov, “Our Differences,” in L&O.

“Program of Plekhanov’s Group for the Emancipation of Labor, 1884,” in Dmytryshyn.

V. Lenin, “Materialism and Empirio-Criticism,” in Edie, vol. 3

V. Lenin, “Philosophical Notebooks,” in Edie, vol. 3

“Lenin’s concept of the Revolutionary Party,” in Dmytryshyn.

 

 

 

Nov. 21

The Reaction Against Marxism

N. Berdyaev, “Subjectivism and Objectivism,” in Edie. Vol. 3.

N. Berdyaev, “Marx vs. Man,” in Edie, vol. 3.

N. Berdyaev, “Freedom,” in Edie, vol. 3.

N. Berdiaev, “Philosophical Verity and  Intelligentsia Truth,” in Vekhi, pp. 1-16.

S. Bulgakov, “Heroism and Ascetism,” in Vekhi, p. 17-50.

P. Struve, “The Intelligentsia and Revolution,” in Vekhi, pp. 115-30.

S. Frank, “The Ethic of Nihilism,” in Vekhi, pp. 131-56.

 

 

 

Nov. 28

Pre-Revolutionary Theology

Apocalypse

N. Fyodorov, “The Question of Brotherhood,” in Edie, vol. 3

V. Solovyov, “Lectures on Godmanhood,” in Edie, vol. 3

V. Solovyov, “The Meaning of Love,” in Edie, vol. 3

V. Solovyov, “Foundations of Theoretical Philosophy,” in Edie, vol. 3

V. Soloviev, “Christianity and Revolution,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 1-5.

V. Soloviev, “Morality and Politics,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 6-19.

V. Soloviev, “On the Christian State and Society,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 20-31.

V. Soloviev, “The Social Question in Europe,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 32-36.

V. Soloviev, “Nationality from a Moral Point of View,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 37-53.

V. Soloviev, “A Family of Nations,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 65-68.

V. Soloviev, “What is Russia?,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 73-75.

V. Soloviev, “Russia in a Hundred Years,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 123-26.

V. Soloviev, “The Spiritual Condition of the Russian People,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 126-130.

V. Soloviev, “On the Death Penalty,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 171-84.

V. Soloviev, “The Idea of a Superman,” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 255-63.

 

 

 

Nov. 30

Apocalypse

Essay #4 due

V. Soloviev, “A Brief Tale of the Anti-Christ” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 264-290

V. Soloviev, “Pan-Mongolism” in Politics, Law and Morality, pp. 293-94.

V. Rozanov, “The Apocalypse of Our Times,” in Edie, vol. 2.

V. Ivanov, "The Nomads of Beauty" in Markov.

V. Bryusov, "The Coming Huns" in Markov.

Bely, A. Petersburg

 

 

 

Dec. 5

Moscow and St. Petersburg as Cultural Symbols

A. Pushkin, “The Bronze Horseman,” in Rzhevsky.

A. Pushkin, Eugene Onegin (First Canto),

 N. Gogol', Nevsky Prospect;

A. Herzen, My Past and Thoughts (extracts);

Z. Gippius, "Petersburg;" in Markov.

Sidney Monas, “St. Petersburg and Moscow as Cultural Symbols,” in Stavrou.

 

 

 

Dec. 7

Conclusion

 

 

 

 

Dec. 14

Final Exam

 

 

Instructor Home Page

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Course Syllabus

Andrew M. Drozd

adrozd@bama.ua.edu
The University of Alabama
Last Update: 8/23/06