Christopher Ely - Böcker

Boundless Russia, humble yet full of hidden grandeur—such visions of "the motherland" became crucial markers of Russian national identity. This Meager Nature is the first full-length study to trace the cultural construction of Russia's landscape during the nineteenth century, showing how artistic and literary representations of nature reflected and shaped Russians' ideas about themselves and their nation.In the early 1800s, Russians commonly accepted the European judgment that their land lacked aesthetic value. That view changed with the outpouring of literary and artistic creativity that followed the century's political upheavals. Artists such as Aleksei Savrasov, Fedor Vasil'ev, Ivan Shishkin, and Nikolai Nekrasov turned to their native land and revealed the power of grey skies, vast open fields, and simple birch forests.Russians came to embrace their land's modest beauty, which represented strength and hidden depths. The historical creation of Russia's sense of place resulted not so much from its citizens' encounters with their environment, Ely argues, as from their long-term struggle to distinguish Russia from Europe. The humble beauty of the Russian land served to assert the genuineness of Russia against the inauthenticity of western Europe. For those who embraced it, the "meager" beauty of the landscape provided a powerful means for experiencing and expressing Russian national identity.

Exploring the creation, transformation, and imagination of Russian space as a lens through which to understand Russia's development over the centuries, this volume makes an important contribution to Russian studies and the "new spatial history." It considers aspects of the relationship between place and power in Russia from the local level to the national and from the eighteenth century through the present.Essays include: Melissa K. Stockdale, "What is a Fatherland? Changing Notions of Duty, Rights and Belonging in Russia"; Mark Bassin, "Nationhood, Natural Regions, Mestorazvitie: Environmental Discourses in Classic Eurasianism"; John Randolph, "Russian Route: The Politics of the Petersburg-Moscow Road, 1700-1800"; Richard Stites, "On the Dance Floor: Royal Power, Class, and Nationality in Servile Russia"; Patricia Herlihy, "Ab Oriente ad Ultimum Oriente: Eugen Scuyler, Russia and Central Asia"; Robert Argenbright, "Soviet Agitational Vehicles: Colonization from Place to Place"; Christopher Ely, "Street Space and Political Culture under Alexander II"; Sergei Zhuk, "Unmaking the Sacred Landscape of Orthodox Russia: Religious Pluralism, Identity Crisis, and Religious Politics on the Ukrainian Borderlands of the late Russian Empire"; Cathy A. Frierson, "Filling in the Map for Vologda's Post-Soviet Identity"; and Lisa A, "Kirschenbaum, Place, Memory and the Politics of Identity: Historical Buildings and Street Names in Leningrad-St. Petersburg."

Although the radical populist movement that arose in Russia during the reign of Tsar Alexander II has been well documented, this important study opens with questions that haven't yet been addressed: How did Russian radical populists manage to carry out a three-year campaign of revolutionary violence, killing or wounding scores of people, including top government officials, and eventually taking the life of the tsar himself? And how did this all occur under the noses of the tsar's political police, who deployed vast resources and huge numbers of officials in an exhaustive effort to stop the killing?In Underground Petersburg, Christopher Ely argues that the most powerful weapon of populist terrorism was the revolutionary underground it created. Attempts to convey populist ideals in the public sphere met with resistance at every turn. When methods such as propaganda campaigns and street demonstrations failed, populists created a sophisticated urban underground. Linked to the newly discovered weapon of terrorist violence, this base of operations allowed them to live undetected in the midst of the city, produce their own weaponry, and attempt to ignite an insurrection through violent attacks—putting terrorism on the map as a technique of political rebellion. Accessible to non-specialists, this insightful study reinterprets radical populism, clarifying its crucial place in Russian history and elucidating its contribution to the history of terrorism. Underground Petersburg will appeal to scholars and students of Russia, as well as those interested in terrorism and insurrectionary movements, urban studies, and the sociology of subcultures.

Exploring the creation, transformation, and imagination of Russian space as a lens through which to understand Russia's development over the centuries, this volume makes an important contribution to Russian studies and the "new spatial history." It considers aspects of the relationship between place and power in Russia from the local level to the national and from the eighteenth century through the present.Essays include: Melissa K. Stockdale, "What is a Fatherland? Changing Notions of Duty, Rights and Belonging in Russia"; Mark Bassin, "Nationhood, Natural Regions, Mestorazvitie: Environmental Discourses in Classic Eurasianism"; John Randolph, "Russian Route: The Politics of the Petersburg-Moscow Road, 1700-1800"; Richard Stites, "On the Dance Floor: Royal Power, Class, and Nationality in Servile Russia"; Patricia Herlihy, "Ab Oriente ad Ultimum Oriente: Eugen Scuyler, Russia and Central Asia"; Robert Argenbright, "Soviet Agitational Vehicles: Colonization from Place to Place"; Christopher Ely, "Street Space and Political Culture under Alexander II"; Sergei Zhuk, "Unmaking the Sacred Landscape of Orthodox Russia: Religious Pluralism, Identity Crisis, and Religious Politics on the Ukrainian Borderlands of the late Russian Empire"; Cathy A. Frierson, "Filling in the Map for Vologda's Post-Soviet Identity"; and Lisa A, "Kirschenbaum, Place, Memory and the Politics of Identity: Historical Buildings and Street Names in Leningrad-St. Petersburg."

Boundless Russia, humble yet full of hidden grandeur—such visions of "the motherland" became crucial markers of Russian national identity. This Meager Nature is the first full-length study to trace the cultural construction of Russia's landscape during the nineteenth century, showing how artistic and literary representations of nature reflected and shaped Russians' ideas about themselves and their nation.In the early 1800s, Russians commonly accepted the European judgment that their land lacked aesthetic value. That view changed with the outpouring of literary and artistic creativity that followed the century's political upheavals. Artists such as Aleksei Savrasov, Fedor Vasil'ev, Ivan Shishkin, and Nikolai Nekrasov turned to their native land and revealed the power of grey skies, vast open fields, and simple birch forests.Russians came to embrace their land's modest beauty, which represented strength and hidden depths. The historical creation of Russia's sense of place resulted not so much from its citizens' encounters with their environment, Ely argues, as from their long-term struggle to distinguish Russia from Europe. The humble beauty of the Russian land served to assert the genuineness of Russia against the inauthenticity of western Europe. For those who embraced it, the "meager" beauty of the landscape provided a powerful means for experiencing and expressing Russian national identity.

Russian populism, the belief that the peasantry embodied authentic Russian identity and once liberated from their poverty would lead the country to a brighter future, has animated Russian thought across the political spectrum and inspired much of Russia's world-historical literature, music and art in the 19th century. This book offers the fullest and most authoritative account of the rise, proliferation and influence of populist values and ideology in modern Russia to date.Christopher Ely explores the complete story of Russian populism. Starting from the cursed question of how to reconnect the popular masses with the Europeanized elite, he examines the populist obsession with the peasant commune as a model for a future socialist Russia. He shows how the desire for revolution led Russian radicals to flood into the countryside and later to pioneer terrorism as a form of political action. He delves into those artists influenced by populist ideals, and he tells the story of the collapse of populist optimism and its rebirth among the Socialist Revolutionary neo-populists. The book demonstrates that populism existed in forms ranging from radical socialist to religious conservative. Blending lively theoretical analysis with a wealth of primary sources and illustrations, Russian Populism provides a highly engaging overview of this complex phenomenon; it is invaluable reading for anyone interested in the momentous final decades of the Russian Empire.