Provincial Russia in the Age of Enlightenment : the memoir of a priest's son

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Provincial Russia in the Age of Enlightenment : the memoir of a priest's son

Dmitrii Ivanovich Rostislavov ; translated and edited by Alexander M. Martin

Northern Illinois University Press, c2002

  • : cloth
  • : pbk

Other Title

Zapiski

Uniform Title

Zapiski

Available at  / 4 libraries

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Note

Bibliography: p. [225]-230

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

The memoir of Dmitrii Ivanovich Rostislavov-a mathematician, teacher, and social critic-offers a rare firsthand view of provincial Russia in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Translated into English for the first time, these extraordinary observations reveal much about daily village life and the cultural milieu of the time. An acute observer, Rostislavov discusses social and ethnic relationships as well as matters pertaining to education, law enforcement, religious practice, and folk beliefs. Rostislavov's account of his own education is a harrowing description of coming of age in a Darwinian world of violence and cruelty. Coarse, impoverished schoolboys, brutal and corrupt teachers, and callous landlords formed a harsh environment characterized by sadistic corporal punishment and bitter class hatreds. Variously humorous, elegiac, and passionate, his narrative shows why even those from relatively privileged backgrounds came to detest the authoritarian order of the old regime. In a probing analysis of the Russian national order, Rostislavov found the twin evils facing Russia to be the coarseness of traditional society and the authoritarianism and corruption of the regime and its representatives. Russia's hope for the future, he believed, lay with cultural changes that would ultimately raise the society's moral level. Illustrations, maps, and an introduction illuminating the historical context accompany this remarkable account of life in provincial Russia.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgements Translator's Introduction Preface: My Goals and Intentions in Writing My Memoir 1. My Family Background 2. The Village of Palishchi and Its Environs 3. A Village Household 4. Corporal Punishment at Home 5. My Early Education 6. My Family Moves to Tuma 7. Outlaws and Law Enforcement 8. Our Home Life in Tuma 9. Hospitality 10. Household Work 11. Agricultural Work 12. Community Life in Tuma 13. How the Clergy Would Tour the Parish 14. The Kasimov Church School 15. The Church-School Students 16. My Life in Kasimov 17. Society in Kasimov 18. The Tatars of Kasimov 19. Governor-General Balashov 20. The Merchant Riumin 21. The Death of the Tsar Endnotes Bibliography Index

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