The explosive development of Russian Culture
Review of Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes
Not only is this a deep literary work in its own right, but it offers a series of riveting narratives that review Russian history from the time of Peter the Great (d. 1725). It is also simply fun to read and brilliantly reviews the historical context.
Figes begins with the establishment of St. Petersburg, a city that was designed to look towards the West and Enlightenment. As he hoped, Peter the Great stimulated the Russian aristocracy to consume and then mimic the cultures of France, Germany, and Britain. They learned the languages and spoke them in their homes, almost embarrassed to speak their native Russian, unless they were communicating with their peasants. At that time, there was not even a literature that could be called Russian. In other words, the elite was alienated from its own culture for more than a century. For its part, Moscow represented the medieval primitivism that they were striving to leave behind.
It was only with the disillusionment first of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic invasion that the aristocracy began to rediscover its Russian side. Pushkin undertook the development of Russian vocabulary, in which many emotional states and conceptions were inexpressible. I cannot think of a single other example of an individual creating an entire branch of literature by an act of will, but that is exactly what Pushkin accomplished. With this vocabulary, the elite began to write poetry and novels, though very few works of expository prose – in this way, Russian writers sought to encapsulate western ideas for their readers in their work, which became a major cultural portal as well as to higher states of thought, such as philosophy; this was a key to their exalted position in society and their appeal to foreign intellectuals – Russian art was easily comprehensible, self contained, and presented in an earthy and accessible manner. This was the start of an extraordinary flowering.
Figes covers a number of other themes, not just other art forms, but also the world of the peasantry, Orthodox Religion, and the ancient cultural influences (Scythians, Genghis Khan and many minorities). Though idolized by portions of the intelligentsia, Figes informs us, there was a brute reality to them that anyone in close proximity understood. Nonetheless, many artists found great richness in folk arts, including music and design. I learned a great deal about Russian faith, which is mystical, based not on word but sentiment, dependent on revelation and icons as a window into the divine; this reflects the Byzantine influence, Hesychasm. Figes connects it all in historical context, written at a fairly high level, say, undergraduate with some knowledge of basic Russian history. He concludes that there is no "deep Russian soul" as many imagine.
The chapters on the Soviet period are very rich, explaining how Lenin then Stalin were trying to entirely re-make a society, improvising the whole way. For example, in throwing people together in collective housing, they hoped vaguely to accustom them to a socialist ideal, like they would suddenly want to share everything. A major theme is the impact of totalitarian ideology on the artistic class, which unsurprisingly was negative – repressive, occasionally violent, psychologically devastating. Some of the most moving passages, in high literary style, are described almost poetically.
Finally, Figes covers the emigre scene, the extraordinary diaspora of talent to which Nabokov, Stravinsky, Diaghilev, Chagall and many others belonged. All of them shared a bitter sense of exile, a love for Russia that is perhaps impossible for outsiders to understand. He puts their innovations in context, from Diaghilev's experiments in ballet that reinvented classical traditions to Nabokov's experiments with language. Though I knew a lot about these artists, Figes continually surprised me with detail and interpretation.
This is a wonderful synthesis and overview. I enjoyed every single page, found a review of the history, and learned of many artists I want to explore further.
Figes is a brilliant stylist, almost a poet in expression but also in theme. There was a passage about a poet, long numbed into silence and waiting in line to see a loved one in Soviet political prison, who promised a depressed woman in line that she would be able to express her feelings someday in her poetry - it justified decades of her suffering. There are many similar passages.