Afterword
Journal: Cornell University Press eBooks
Year: 2020

In 1836, Petr Chaadaev published his famous first "Philosophical Letter" (written circa 1828-29) where he defines Russia in almost exclusively negative terms as lacking identity, history, any contribution to civilization, and even a definite facial expression: "I find that even in our gaze there is something strangely vague, cold, uncertain, which resembles somewhat the facial appearance [physionomie] of the peoples who are placed at the very bottom of the social ladder.In foreign countries, esp