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> "Russian soul" is secretly adoring and mimicking the West Pretty sure it's not secret at all. St Petersburg founded in the 1700s (and then made the capital o
by ativzzz 3y ago
> "Russian soul" is secretly adoring and mimicking the West
Pretty sure it's not secret at all. St Petersburg founded in the 1700s (and then made the capital of Tsarist Russia) was literally an attempt to westernize Russia.
I think the "Russian soul" is more of an inner conflict between the desire to live a Western life while under the heavy influence of non-Western traditions and culture
- renegade-otter 3y agoI am not sure what "non-Western culture" means in this context. The only culture I see is the culture of cruelty and sadism.
- cmrdporcupine 3y agoIt's not clear what "western culture" really means, other than as a demagogic slogan (used by either side). There are "western" cultureS, plural. Many traditions. And that's the precise strength.
- ativzzz 3y agoWestern in the early 18th century referred generally to the cultural reaction of (mostly Western) Europe to the enlightenment that was happening at the time. Russia did not have that movement, so Peter the Great attempted to "Westernize" by bringing some of the ideas into Russia via St. Petersburg, while still maintaining the traditional non-Western Russian Tsarism (I don't know of a better word than non-Western because Eastern doesn't really correspond to a broad culture similar to Westernism as thought of in Western Europe) This is the internal conflict of the "Russian soul"