Readings: Alexander Herzen, “The Russian People and Socialism” (1851); Petr Lavrov, “Historical Letters” (1868-9); Nikolai Mikhailovskii, “What is Progress?” (1869); Mikhail Bakunin, “Statism and Anarchy, Appendix A” (1873) Unlike the other movements we have studied in this course so far, which have been purely theoretical, the subject of today’s lecture – Populism (narodnichestvo), and related […]
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In Herzen’s footsteps: a visit to Ventnor
You never quite know where your research is going to take you, but I have to admit I didn’t expect it to be to the Isle of Wight. That, however, is where I ended up a couple of months ago as a result of my Russians in London post on Alexander Herzen, after I was […]
Posted by Sarah Young on November 10, 2011
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/11/10/in-herzens-footsteps-a-visit-to-ventnor/
The games Russian boys play
Whilst doing some research for my Russians in London series (to be resumed at some unspecified point), I came across a truly unexpected document from the pages of Chums, a middle-class boys’ weekly magazine published between 1892 and 1941, later associated with the scout movement, but in its early years probably most notable for its […]
Posted by Sarah Young on October 16, 2011
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/10/16/the-games-russian-boys-play/
Vera, or The Nihilists
My interest in British views of Russians recently led me to read Oscar Wilde’s first play, Vera, or The Nihilists, apparently inspired by Vera Zasulich’s attempted assassination of the Governor of St Petersburg in 1878. It’s spectacularly bad, and I’m surprised neither that its first productions, in London in 1880 and New York in 1882, […]
Posted by Sarah Young on May 9, 2011
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/05/09/vera-or-the-nihilists/
Atamansha
According to one of my mailing lists, a poll to identify the women who best symbolize modern-day Russia has seen the top two places given to ageing lite entertainment diva and staple of celebrity gossip magazines, Alla Pugacheva (I could never see the point, even ironically – perhaps because I like music), and the arch-Putinite […]
Posted by Sarah Young on March 8, 2011
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/03/08/atamansha/
Kropotkin: an addendum
I’ve finally got round to reading Rudolf Rocker, The London Years, trans. Joseph Leftwich (Nottingham: Five Leaves; Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2005). It’s a powerful and readable book, even if the translation is a bit clunky. Among many points of interest, it contains a couple of marvellous descriptions of Kropotkin that really give a very strong […]
Posted by Sarah Young on January 12, 2011
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2011/01/12/kropotkin-an-addendum/
Crystal Palace (F. C.): Chernyshevsky’s barmy army
This piece first appeared on the SSEES Research Blog on 30 May 2013. When one thinks of Russian connections to English football, it is most likely the owners and shareholders of certain premier league clubs that will to spring to mind, or the small number of Russians who have played for English clubs, including Roman […]
Posted by Sarah Young on June 12, 2013
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2013/06/12/crystal-palace-f-c-chernyshevskys-barmy-army/
Russian Thought lecture 7: Tolstoy: from Christian love to Christian anarchism
Readings: L. N. Tolstoy, “A Confession” (1879), “The Law of Violence and the Law of Love” (1908), “Postface to The Kreutzer Sonata” (1889) We now move onto Lev Tolstoy (1828-1910) who was not only one of the most important novelists in the nineteenth century, but also one of Russia’s most important thinkers. But while nobody would […]
Posted by Sarah Young on January 28, 2013
https://sarahjyoung.com/site/2013/01/28/russian-thought-lecture-7-tolstoy-from-christian-love-to-christian-anarchism/