Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia

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The book tells us about the complex interaction between these two cultures and the influence this interaction has had on the national consciousness and the arts.

Figes has gathered a lot of cultural information and organized it into one book, which is very helpful if you want to get a general review of Russia's culture without referring to multiple sources. She did so because it was - analogues to the Lieder example above - part of her internalized native sensibility or national consciousness. For those of us who admire the Russian composers and authors, Figes' book gives us invaluable information about the context in which they lived and work.Her spoken Russian, which she had picked up from the servants, was very primitive and full of peasant slang. The roots of this can be seen in the ancient Golden Ring towns where the most beautiful churches and monasteries with amazing frescos and iconography date back to 10th and 11th century. Tolstoy shows that however grand and foreign-educated they might be, at heart the Russians are Russians. Between Figes’ sketches of historical and artistic figures, his delightful prose and wry humor, it’s a marvelous exploration of a complex country, culture and people. Figes mobilizes a cast of serf harems, dynasties, politburos, libertines, filmmakers, novelists, composers, poets, tsars and tyrants .

Dekabristlerden en ılımlılarından biri olarak bilinen Volkonski bile “Gürcüler, Finlandiyalılar ve Ukraynalılar Ruslaştırılmalı yalnızca “aşağılık” olarak tabir edilen Yahudiler ülkeden sürülmeli ve yok edilmeli" gibi bir anlayışa sahipti. The point is that she has the "soul of the Russian people" in her heart and even though she's the daughter of an aristocratic count she "understands" the culture of the Russian peasants. If not complicated enough sitting in two wildly different continents, the cultural history of Russia is again further complicated by the October Revolution and the impact of the subsequent dramatic regime change on the arts, and yet again the penetrating eye of the author enables one to slip effortlessly between the two without losing sight of the immense change it caused.

What is completely fascinating is the rich Russian’s obsession with the peasant, from how they are described in novels such as War and Peace, to how the upper classes, tried to live like them and even toil the land like them, bare foot and all.

I felt as if i wanted to, and was ready to look back further into Russia's history, Orlando Figes excellent historical survey was just the ticket for the journey. Some threads that go through the entire book and tie the narrative together, such as the history of the Fountain House in St.One of those books that, at times, makes you wonder how you have so far managed to do without it' Independent on Sunday 'Thrilling, dizzying . Klasik müzik severler için ilginç ayrıntılar mevcut ancak ben daha çok diğer alandaki etkileriyle ilgilendim. A small bit of backstory: Russian is strongly influenced by Greek, and shares many cognates with, and calques and direct loanwords from, French (e.

Despite Russia's immense size and diversity it is this unique temperament that has held together a people scattered from Europe to Asia and enabled them to survive in the face of their own fearful history. Gorki ile ilgili bölümleri ilgi çekiciydi ancak ilk bölümlerdeki tarafsız ve bilgilendirici anlayış bu bölümlerde kendisini göstermedi maalesef. But, as I have ventured down my Russian rabbit hole I have learned to appreciate their talents and now feel it is a shame that Figes doesn’t spent a little more time on them.

I'm now contentedly exploring Zamoyski's 1812 about the fateful march on Moscow, listening to Glinka and developing a real appreciation of Pushkin, thanks in no small part to Mr Figes wonderful book. Their souls ate and slept, they felt cold and pain, and they often came back to the family household, where by custom they took up residence behind the stove. Grande spazio è dedicato a tutti i maggiori autori dell'epoca, anche per quanto riguarda la pittura e la musica. But if writing straight historical fact is a precarious endeavour, even more so is writing a cultural history of a country to which you are not native, in which you have not spent a significant portion of your life, and about which much misinformation abounds. Tatar kelimesini farklı formlara sokup “ iğrenç, korkunç” gibi bir manada kullanmaları ve Avrupa’dan tokat yiyince çoğu Rus aydınının( Anna Ahmatova ve Lermontov’da dahil) “ ben aslında tatarım, benim köklerim tatar korkun bizden triplerine girmeleri mi dersiniz” Yani bu bölümün okunması lazım ya başka bir şey demiyorum.