National Consciousness in Eighteenth-Century Russia

The Russification of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and Arts in the eighteenth century

“…109 With the founding of the Russian Academy of Letters in 1783 under the ubiquitous Princess Catherine Dashkova as President, the bulk of the translating work was transferred to this new body. 110 Hence, when A. P. Protasov was appointed by (in this case) Director Dashkova to be the Head of the Translating Department in 1790," 1 its ramifications would have been considerably lessened. As in the case of the Arts departments, which Protasov also headed, its function would have been to render such service as was essential to the Academy only.…”

The Construction of National(ist) Subject: Applying the Ideals of Louis Althusser and Michel Foucault to Nationalism

“…In many cases, the selection of the "the right" people for doing the job of historical research has been at the center of heated nationalist debates. For example, in Russia during the 18 th and 19 th centuries, the growing Russian nationalist elites were expressing constant dissatisfaction with the descriptions of Russia's past by non-Russian historians (Rogger 1960). It was continuously stressed that foreign historians do not appreciate the glory of Russia's achievements and are essentially prejudiced, and that Russian historians are absolutely necessary to write the "true" history.…”

“…If there is a level to our being that the want of any other word for it I might call 'soul' (I believe there is), then for some reason that I can never understand, the language that my soul speaks, and the place it comes from, is Irish" (1995:3). Similarly, the early 18 th century Slavophiles argued that Russian elite is polluting its consciousness or soul by using French (Rogger 1960). Early Russian nationalists, such as Karamzin and Shishkov argued that the new generation not only speaks French, but also becomes French.…”

“…In the same 18 th century Russia, for example, the Empress Catherine established a particular institution of Free Russian Assembly aimed at the study, normalization, grammatical ordering and fixing of the Russian language (Rogger 1960). The major task of this ISA was to publish a grammar and a dictionary, and set a standard for using Russian in bureaucratic and administrative matters.…”

“…Thus, Russian nationalism for centuries has been struggling to define the particular features of the national character of the Russians as opposed to the Westerners. In the 18 th century, for example, such intellectuals as the Princess Dashkova, Karamzin and Scherbatov wrote a number of "studies" in which they characterized Russianess as being simple, unspoiled, straightforward and honest, loyal and God-fearing (Rogger 1960). Continuously over time various Russian intellectuals have added new cultural features such as genuine sensibility, generous soul, warmth, friendship, spontaneity or feeling and behavior to the portrait of the essential national subject.…”