I decided to choose the account of an anonymous Englishwoman in Russia published in 1855 based on the advice of Professor Kollmann and my own interests, since it is a much broader account than the other primary source I had. As I was mentioning at the very end of class last time, she uses the discourse of “civilized” v “uncivilized” and “savage” v “civilized” extensively. It seems to me that for her, cultures fit into a spectrum from savage to civilized, and Russia falls somewhere short of civilized but beyond savage. There is also a consistent idea of superficial civilization in Russia – she refers to Russia as a “painted lady.” I also discovered in my further research that this was apparently a common view of Russia by both Russians and foreigners, and various metaphors were used for the superficiality of “civilization” or stability in Russia. I think that for her, and probably a lot of other Europeans of the time, “Enlightenment” was what brought societies higher up the scale of civilization to become truly civilized. She uses the term very frequently, and I’m thinking of exploring what enlightenment meant to her, who appeared enlightened and who did not, why Russians fell short of enlightenment as a whole, and what this meant in relation to being civilized. I’m still intrigued by her fixation on religion and the police, so I’m thinking of exploring this main topic through these areas, especially since I’ve been finding out some interesting things.
So are you envisioning a paper that explores this one text? Perhaps you could work in some comparisons to other traveler accounts of Russia during that time period?
ReplyDeleteI think it would be very interesting if a comparison could be made between the supposed spectrum of savage to civilized and the social spectrum present in Russia at the time. How would Russia be led into a more "civilized" part of the spectrum? More specifically, which group in Russian society would dictate whether it could change its position on this other scale?
ReplyDeleteIt would interesting to explore why she remained anonymous? Is it an indication of the time in Russia? Does any part of her accounts indicate a reason why she would want to remain unknown? What does it add to the account and take away from the account?
ReplyDelete~Mackenzie
I like the idea of 'spectrum' itself a lot - in what we've read so far and in the general discourse of travel writing things seem often to be grouped into black and white civilized and uncivilized.
ReplyDeleteHi Helen, The question of what enlightenment meant to her in light of the fact that she uses terms like "civilized" and "savagery" seems perfect. I especially like it because it's aimed at revealing a world that is different from our modern one - it's hard for me to imagine whom we would call "savage" today. So the answer will really teach me something about how other human beings could see the world in other times (which is one of the great things studying history can do!). I would need to know more about what she says about religion and police, but I'm guessing you mean that those are important focal points for her for understanding the degree to which a society is either savage or civilized. That's interesting. It makes me want to know more :-)
ReplyDeleteI guess the thing that struck me was the fact that this English woman was out exploring new lands in the mid 19th century. To be honest, I am not too familiar with the exact social status afforded women in Great Britain at this time, but I have not previously heard too many writings about women adventuring out to new countries. Thus, I am curious how this may affect her perception of "enlightenment"...
ReplyDeleteIt definitely sounds intriguing. I don't know much about Russia, so I can't suggest any sources. Nevertheless, maybe you could draw on Pagden who delves into commensurability, civility, etc.
ReplyDelete