Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Tolstoy and Nationalism
Book seven features Nicholas and the wolf hunting. After the hunting, Nicholas and his siblings enjoy Russian style dinner and dance. I think Tolstoy included these scenes to shoe the Russian peasant lifestyle which was, for the most part, not represented in popular culture (novels, etc). Tolstoy's depiction of the peasant lifestyle as embodying true Russian spirit is reflective of Lenin's critique of Tolstoy. Lenin said that Tolstoy is valuable because he effectively showed the contradictions of the Russian working class. Tolstoy ' s bias toward 'Russian'characters is apparent throughout the novel, as people belonging to the Moscow circle is sown as superior to those in the St. Petersberg. His nationalistic view (calling Russian army as ours and presenting an attractive view of Russian culture) must have inspired the Russian readers who have been facing internal and external turmoils (I can't say the specifics because I don't know history at the time Tolstoy wrote War and Peace).
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I think you're right in mentioning the contradictions of the Russian working class and Lenin's critique. I also thought that to some extent, Denisov's speech defect exposed the dilemma of the Russian educated classes. I think Tolstoy uses Denisov's character effectively to portray the historical understanding of the class to which he (Denisov) belongs.
ReplyDeleteI find your connection with Denisov is very interesting. Are you referring to Denisov's speech defect or the fact that he doesn't use French? I think it would make more sense to have Denison as a reflective character of the Russian working class if he can't speAK French
DeleteI think its great that we get to see a little bit of Russian culture and it may just be the beginning. We have been exposed to so much French culture through the Russian aristocrats and this is a good break and opportunity to contrast the two cultures and really think about what it meant to be a Russian at the time, whether working class or not.
ReplyDeleteYes! To a certain extent, I felt the upper society culture was superfocal and shallow because it blindly assimilated French. Hopefully we'll see greater representation of Russian culture not only among the working class but also upper class society.
DeleteI definitely agree with Aminata. We have seen so much french culture, and it was refreshing and exciting to see some of the actual Russian culture. I hope Tolstoy uses Natasha more to show us more of this culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Antonio and Aminata. The characters speak French and some have studied abroad. The characters do not represent their Russian heritage very much throughout the book until Natasha begins to dance. I would love to see more Russian culture expressed through the characters.
ReplyDeleteI also think it emphasizes the point we talked about in class. Natasha is special and different. She was raised a Russian aristocrat with a French governess but still can do this peasant dance. Showing her true Russian blood, the idea this dance is in her. But also it shows how she can step into both classes. Natasha never seems to be defined by one role, she's a more fluid character.
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