The Europeanized Elite in Russia, 1762–1825 : : Public Role and Subjective Self / / ed. by Andrei Zorin, Andreas Schönle, Alexei Evstratov.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Cornell University Press Complete eBook-Package 2016
• MitwirkendeR: Andriainen, Stanislav,; Evstratov, Alexei,; Fedyukin, Igor,; Iosad, Alexander,; Korchmina, Elena,; Marrese, Michelle Lamarche,; Randolph, John,; Schönle, Andreas,; Velizhev, Mikhail,; Zorin, Andrei,
• HerausgeberIn: Evstratov, Alexei,; Schönle, Andreas,; Zorin, Andrei,
• Place / Publishing House: Ithaca, NY : : Cornell University Press, , [2020]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: NIU Series in Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (420 p.) :; 10 illustrations

This illuminating volume provides a new understanding of the subjective identity and public roles of Russia's Europeanized elite between the years of 1762 and 1825. Through a series of rich case studies, the editors reconstruct the social group's worldview, complex identities, conflicting loyalties, and evolving habits. The studies explore the institutions that shaped these nobles, their attitude to state service, the changing patterns of their family life, their emotional world, religious beliefs, and sense of time.The creation of a Europeanized elite in Russia was a state-initiated project that aimed to overcome the presumed "backwardness" of the country. The evolution of this social group in its relations to political authority provides insight into the fraught identity of a country developing on the geopolitical periphery of Europe. In contrast to postcolonial studies that explore the imposition of political, social, and cultural structures on colonized societies, this multidisciplinary volume explores the patterns of behavior and emotion that emerge from the processes of self-Europeanization. The Europeanized Elite in Russia, 1762–1825, will appeal to scholars and general readers interested in Russian history and culture, particularly in light of current political debates about globalization and widening social inequality in Europe.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Illustrations -- Abbreviations -- Note on Transliteration and Dates -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 INTERNALIZING PUBLIC ROLES -- From Passions to Ambitions -- Curiosity, Utility, Pleasure -- 2 THE COURT AND THE FAMILY -- Dramatic Conflicts and Social Performance at the Russian Court in the 1760s -- Performing Womanhood in Eighteenth-Century Russia -- 3 THE DOMESTIC ECONOMY -- The Practice of Personal Finance and the Problem of Debt among the Noble Elite in Eighteenth-Century Russia -- Self-fashioning, Estate Design, and Agricultural Improvement -- 4 OFFICERS OFF THE BATTLEFIELD -- Warriors in Peace -- The Political Language of the Europeanized Military Elite in the Early Nineteenth Century -- 5 ALTERNATIVE SOCIABILITIES AND SPIRITUALITIES -- The Emotional Culture of Moscow Rosicrucians -- The Moscow English Club and the Public Sphere in Early Nineteenth-Century Russia -- 6 EXPERIENCING THE OTHER -- Russian Prince vs. "German Swine" -- Between Friends, the Coachman -- 7 THE RADICAL BIFURCATION -- The Instability of Time and Plurality of Selves at Court and in Society -- Sentimental Piety and Orthodox Asceticism -- CONCLUSION -- Bibliography -- Contributors -- Index