Gayda Fyodor

Ideas about the mission of “intelligentsia” in russian public thought of the second half of the 19th — early 20th centuries

Abstract

The article studies the ideas about the mission of the “intelligentsia” that developed in Russian public thought in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. This question has not yet been suffi ciently studied in a rich historiographic tradition devoted to the topic of the Russian intelligentsia. This topic remains largely journalistic. However, this issue turned out to be fundamentally important in the context of selfidentifi cation of the “intelligentsia” already at the end of the 19th century. The author of the article considers the formation of relevant ideas among thinkers of the conservative, liberal and socialist directions. The article concludes that discussions about the “intelligentsia” were primarily based on diff erent ideas about its attitude to the people. Both conservative “pochvenniki” (I. S. Aksakov, N. Ya. Danilevsky), and moderate liberals (A. D. Gradovsky), and socialist “narodniki” (G. I. Uspensky, N. K. Mikhailovsky) insisted on the enlightening duty of “intelligentsia”. Without this, this, the “intelligentsia” lost its meaning. Enlightenment was understood in a predominantly ideological sense. The very concept of “intelligentsia” in the discussions was revised, i.e. instead of an “educated society”, it turned into a “bearer of ideas”. Secular understanding was supplemented by religious in the early twentieth century (V. A. Ternavtsev, D. S. Merezhkovsky, Vyach. I. Ivanov, A. A. Blok, S. N. Bulgakov). In this new conception, the “intelligentsia” was to be completely transformed. Nevertheless, the transformation would preserve its leading social role for the “new intelligentsia”.

Keywords

Russian intelligentsia, I. S. Aksakov, G. I. Uspensky, N. K. Mikhailovsky, V. A. Ternavtsev, D. S. Merezhkovsky, S. N. Bulgakov

References

1. Arslanov R., Blokhin V. (2014) “Intelligentsiia v vozzreniiakh rossiiskikh liberalov i reformatorovdemokratov kontsa XIX — nachala XX v.” [Intelligentsia in the views of Russian liberals and democrat reformers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries]. Vestnik RUDN: Istorija Rossii, 2, p. 22‒36 (in Russian).
2. Kolerov M. (1996) Ne mir, no mech. Russkaia religiozno-fi losofskaia pechat’ ot «Problem idealizma» do «Vekh». 1902–1909 [Not the piece, but the sword. Russian religious and philosophical press from the “Problems of idealism” to the “Milestones”. 1902‒1909]. St. Petersburg (in Russian).
3. Nikoliukin A. (2001) “Fenomen Merezhkovskogo” [Phenomenon of Merezhkovsky], in D. S. Merezhkovskij : pro et contra. Lichnost’ i tvorchestvo Dmitriia Merezhkovskogo v otsenke sovremennikov. Antologiia [D. S. Merezhkovsky: pro et contra. Dmitry Merezhkovsky’s personality and literary work in evaluation of contemporaries. An anthology]. St. Petersburg. P. 7‒28.
4. Vikhavainen T. (2004) Vnutrennii vrag: bor’ba s meshhanstvom kak moral’naia missiia russkoi intelligentsii [Internal enemy: the fi ght against philistinism as a moral mission of the Russian intelligentsia]. St Petersburg (in Russian).

Information about the author

Gayda Fyodor

Academic Degree: Doctor of Sciences* in History;
Academic Rank: Associate Professor;
Place of work: St. Tikhon’s Orthodox University for Humanities; 6/1 Likhov per., Moscow, Russian Federation;
Post: Leading Researcher;
ORCID: 0000-0001-9586-8010;
Email: fyodorgayda@gmail.com.

*According to ISCED 2011, a post-doctoral degree called Doctor of Sciences (D.Sc.) is given to reflect second advanced research qualifications or higher doctorates.