Before the country’s Revolution and subsequent decades under communism, Russian intellectuals were known for heading off into the countryside and monasteries in search of the “pure Russian soul”—a thing that they believed existed, and they were sure resided within the minds of the repressed and recently enslaved peasantry. They believed that if Russian peasants could be truly free, in mind and soul as well as body, the spirit of Russia would come into flower and thrive. Orlando Figes, author of
I've been wondering lately why our ancestral identity matters so much to us that we would idealize histories that have never been. Why do so many people *want* to have come from a wholly fictionalized version of the world? I'm not really concerned that it matters (it does in a 'the thing speaks for itself' kind of way), but why does it matter?
I enjoyed the essay and enjoyed this comment thread even more.
Thank you for this wonderful essay, Antonia, and for its insight and conclusions.
I've been wondering lately why our ancestral identity matters so much to us that we would idealize histories that have never been. Why do so many people *want* to have come from a wholly fictionalized version of the world? I'm not really concerned that it matters (it does in a 'the thing speaks for itself' kind of way), but why does it matter?