Provincial Russia in the Age of Enlightenment
Subtitle: the memoir of a priest's son
By: Dmitrii Ivonovich Rostislavov ; translated and edited by Alexander M. Martin.
Contributors: Martin, Alexander M.
Publisher: Northern Illinois University Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: DeKalb
Language: eng
Number of pages: 236
Subjects: Rostislavov, Dmitriĭ Ivanovich, 1809-1877; Ri͡a︡zanʹ (Ri͡a︡zanskai͡a︡ oblastʹ, Russia) -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
Description: "The memoir of Dmitrii Ivanovich Rostislavov - a mathematician, teacher, and social critic - offers a rare firsthand view of provincial Russia in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Translated into English for the first time, these extraordinary observations reveal much about daily village life and the cultural milieu of the time.

An acute observer, Rostislavov discusses social and ethnic relationships as well as matters pertaining to education, law enforcement, religious practice, and folk beliefs.".

"Rostislavov's account of his own education is a harrowing description of coming of age in a Darwinian world of violence and cruelty. Coarse, impoverished schoolboys, brutal and corrupt teachers, and callous landlords formed a harsh environment characterized by sadistic corporal punishment and bitter class hatreds. Variously humorous, elegiac, and passionate, his narrative shows why even those from relatively privileged backgrounds came to detest the authoritarian order of the old regime.".

"In a probing analysis of the Russian national order, Rostislavov found the twin evils facing Russia to be the coarseness of traditional society and the authoritarianism and corruption of the regime and its representatives. Russia's hope for the future, he believed, lay with cultural changes that would ultimately raise the society's moral level. Illustrations, maps, and an introduction illuminating the historical context accompany this remarkable account of life in provincial Russia."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [225]-230) and index.