Language and Power in Nineteenth-Century Russia

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The emergence of a national literature in nineteenth-century Russia coincided with a rise in patriotic sentiment and the creation of a nationalist state ideology. In some instances cultural nationalism was in step with the political mood and engaged in its own project of promoting native Russian culture. In others, literature, philosophy, and theology were read and misread through a nationalist political lens with the result that the frames of reference of different discourses would often clash. Discussions on national identity were struggles both over ideas and over the language used to express those ideas. This panel considers the statuses of the French and Russian languages in such debates and the competing contexts of political, philosophical, and religious discourses. We focus on the frames of reference through which Chaadaev's first "Philosophical Letter" may be read and the attitude of the Slavophiles towards French-speaking among the nobility, drawing in particular on Konstantin Aksakov's play, Prince Lupovitsky.

Sub Unit

• Literature: Russian and Eurasian

Chair

• Gabriella Safran, Stanford U

Papers

• Russian versus French in the Education of the Russian Nobility in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century - Vladislav Rjeoutski, German Historical Institute in Moscow (Russia)

• Reading Chaadaev in French and Russian: A Comparison of the French and Russian Versions of his First 'Philosophical Letter' - Daniel Green, Harvard U

• Language and Cultural Nationalism: Slavophile Attitudes Towards Franco-Russian Bilingualism - Derek Offord, U of Bristol (UK)

Discussant

• Olga Y. Maiorova, U of Michigan