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Who are the “Enemies of Russia”? The Question of Russophobia in the Samizdat Debate Before Glasnost'
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Extract
The Communist system has forced the Russian people into a state of sulking introspection which seeks outlets in xenophobia, petulant demonstrations of national superiority—or, at the opposite end, maudlin admissions of national inferiority.
Milovan Djilas
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- Copyright © 1996 Association for the Study of Nationalities of Eastern Europe and ex-USSR, Inc.
References
Notes
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78. Metanoia, p. 6.Google Scholar
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86. “A Word to the Nation,” Survey , Vol. 16, No. 1, Winter 1971, pp. 191-199. The Veche editorial article entitled “‘Survey’ o russkom natsionalizme,” pointed out that “A Word to the Nation (Slovo natsii)” was written in response to part of the “anti-Russian” Program of the Democratic Movement (Arkhiv Samizdata, No. 2040, [Veche, No. 9], pp. 171-172).Google Scholar
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95. In his press conference in Zurich (November 16, 1974) Alexander Solzhenitsyn stated that his article, “Raskaianie i samoogranicheniie kak kategorii natsional'noi zhizni” (Iz-pod glyb, Moskva, 1974, [Paris: YMCA-Press, 1974], pp. 115–250), was directed against the authors of Metanoia. See Dve press-konferentsii k sborniku “Iz-pod glyb” (Paris: YMCA Press, 1974), p. 50. For Solzhenitsyn's comments on Metanoia see also Vestnik R. Kh. D., No. 111, 1974, p. 7.Google Scholar
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99. Ibid., p. 397.Google Scholar
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101. Ibid., p. 28.Google Scholar
102. Ibid., p. 29.Google Scholar
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106. “Otryvki iz dnevnika” in Arkhiv Samizdata, No. 1140 (Veche, No. 4), p. 43. Compare I. Starozhubaev, “Neskol'ko slov po povodu” in Arkhiv Samizdata, No. 1775 (Veche, No. 7), p. 78. Mikhail Agurskii, a contributor to Solzhenitsyn's collection Iz-pod glyb, recognized defensive patriotism as a legitimate expression of Russian national protest and general recognition of the suffering of the Russian masses sacrificed for Soviet objectives which they did not understand. See Michail Agursky, “Contemporary Russian Nationalism–History Revisited,” Research Paper (Jerusalem: The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Soviet and East European Centre, 1982), No. 45, January, pp. 2–3.Google Scholar
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108. Osipov, Vladimir, Tri otnosheniia k rodine, p. 8. Similarly, an anonymous Russian Orthodox priest expressed his concern about the future of Russia's youth (“Zaiavlenie sviashchennika” in Arkhiv Samizdata, No. 1020 [Veche, No. 2], p. 103).Google Scholar
109. Borisov, V. M., “Natsional'noe vozrazhdenie i natsiia–lichnost',” Iz-pod glyb, pp. 199–215.Google Scholar
110. Ibid., p. 200.Google Scholar
111. Shafarevich, I. R., “Obosoblenie ili sblizhenie,” Iz–pod glyb , p. 113. Compare Solzhenitsyn's comments on Shafarevich's article in Dve press-konferentsii , p. 45.Google Scholar
112. In his interview with the Associated Press on 25 April 1972, Osipov pointed to the Chinese threat as one of the reasons for the new nationalist movement represented in Veche (Vladimir Osipov, Tri otnosheniia k rodine, p. 202).Google Scholar
113. Solzhenitsyn, A., Pis'mo vozhdiam Sovetskogo Soiuza (Paris: YMCA-Press, 1974), p. 14. In the forward to the émigré edition Solzhenitsyn stated that his Letter was motivated by a single idea: “How to avoid a national catastrophe” (A. Solzhenitsyn, Pis'mo vozhdiam, p. 5).Google Scholar
114. Ibid., p. 26.Google Scholar
115. Osipov, Vladimir, “Pis'mo v redaktsiiu,” p. 295.Google Scholar
116. Starozhubaev, I., “Neskol'ko slov po povodu,” p. 81.Google Scholar
117. “Mysli–prozhektory,” p. 30.Google Scholar
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119. Shafarevich, I. R., “Osoblenie ili sblizhenie,” p. 106. In his chapter “The Influence of the Orthodox Church on Russian Ethnic Identity” Michael Meerson-Aksenov stated that “the psychology of a small, colonized ethnic group is characteristic of Russian ethnocentrist patriotism. It is preservationist patriotism, suffering from an anticolonial complex directed against a certain form of cosmopolitan danger–Marxism.” See Edward Allworth, ed., Ethnic Russia in the USSR, p. 111.Google Scholar
120. Shafarevich, I. R., “Osoblenie ili sblizhenie,” p. 104. Borisov, in one of the major articles of the Iz-pod glyb collection entitled “Natsional'noe vozrazhdenie i natsia-lichnost',” described Marxist ideology as primarily the ideology of national nihilism. A new Communist society was supposed to be built in the place of old Russia. “Marxism in Russia,” wrote Borisov, “undertook such an ‘overcoming’ of nationhood, the likes of which world history had never known” (p. 215). As a result, in a short time the Russian nation lost almost entirely its historical memory, crucial for the preservation of national identity. Furthermore, the annihilation of Russian historical traditions and the replacement of Russian Orthodoxy with the new atheistic faith led to the destruction of Russian national culture.Google Scholar
121. Shafarevich, I. R., “Est'-li u Rossii budushchee?” Iz-pod glyb, p. 276.Google Scholar
122. An anonymous author of “Mysli-prozhektory” wrote, “Russia will be resurrected in spite of everything and everyone. There should be meaning in suffering!” (“Mysli-prozhektory,” p. 29).Google Scholar
123. Shafarevich, I. R., “Est'-li u Rossiii budushchee?” p. 264. In his comments on the Iz-pod glyb collection, Evgenii Barabanov argued that the Christian initiative is a spiritual activity against evil in the world (Dve press-koferentsii, p. 26). Solzhenitsyn in his article, “Obrazovanshchina,” called for personal sacrifice. In his view, the new real Russian intelligentsia should primarily be a “sacrificial elite” (Solzhenitsyn, A. I., “Obrazovanshchina,” Iz-pod glyb , p. 255).Google Scholar
124. The image of crucified Russia suffering for universal salvation was best presented in the preaching of Father Dudko in his samizdat essay, “S russkoi gol'goty” (“V svete preobrazheniia,” Vol'noe slovo, Posev, No. 33, 1979, p. 49).Google Scholar
Some nationalist writers saw sacrificial tendencies throughout the entirety of Russian history. For example, B. Ibragimov described Russia's past in terms of her heroic sacrifice for the sake of the European Christian community. In his idealized interpretation of Russian history, thirteenth-century Russia had rescued Europe from the Tatar invasion by absorbing the enemy into her own flesh and blood. Russia's war with Napoleon in 1812 has been portrayed as a deadly struggle against the Anti-Christ. And, finally, the Russian victory over fascist Germany saved Europe from barbarism quite similar to that of the Tatar yoke (Ibragimov, L., p. 311).Google Scholar
Leonid Borodin, a former member of a Leningrad dissident nationalist organization VSKhSON, in his article “O russkoi intelligentsii,” openly defended the sacrificial character of Russia's history as an important part of her national heritage. In particular, he portrayed the Soviet historical experience in terms of Russia's sacrifice to supply the West with “practical” knowledge of Communism (L. Borodin, “O russkoi intelligentsii,” Grani, No. 96, 1975, p. 248).Google Scholar
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129. Ibid., p. 229. Dmitrii Pospelovskii in his article “Vol'nye mysli o sbornike ‘Iz-po glyb’,” also pointed out that, in spite of his criticism, Solzhenitsyn to a large extent agreed with O. Altaev (Pospelovskii, D., “Vol'nye mysli o sbornike ‘Iz-pod glyb’ ,” Grani, No. 97, 1975, p. 184).Google Scholar
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132. According to Solzhenitsyn's low esteem of the Russian population, neither workers nor “smatterers” were capable of a passive, Ghandi-like protest against the Soviet authorities (Solzhenitsyn, A. I., “Obrazovanshchina,” p. 256).Google Scholar
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135. Osipov, Vladimir, “Pis'mo v redaktsiiu,” p. 295.Google Scholar
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138. Ibid., p. 85.Google Scholar
139. Ibid., p. 96.Google Scholar
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141. Ibid., p. 47.Google Scholar
142. Ibid., p. 111.Google Scholar
143. Ibid., p. 108.Google Scholar
144. Ibid., p. 111.Google Scholar
145. Ibid., p. 7.Google Scholar
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147. In his editorial note, Michael Meerson-Aksenov pointed to the influence of the Metanoia articles on Solzhenitsyn (An Anthology, p. 353).Google Scholar
148. Solzhenitsyn, A. I., “Raskaianie i samoogranichenie,” Iz-pod glyb , p. 130.Google Scholar
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150. Ibid., p. 127.Google Scholar
151. Ibid., p. 147. Gorskii's influence can be seen in Solzhenitsyn's passionate denial of Communist messianism in his Letter to the Soviet Leaders (Solzhenitsyn, A., Pis'mo vozhdiam, p. 47).Google Scholar
152. Shafarevich, I. R., “Osoblenie ili sblizhenie,” p. 111.Google Scholar
153. Compare Solzhenitsyn, A. I., “Raskaianie i samoogranichenie,” p. 137.Google Scholar
154. Ibid., p. 143.Google Scholar
155. See “The VSKhSON Program,” in John Dunlop, The New Russian Revolutionaries , p. 292.Google Scholar
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157. In “Section II” of the VSKhSON Program the authors contended that even “Fascism…does not represent as all-encompassing a tyranny as Communism” (Dunlop, John, The New Russian Revolutionaries, p. 256).Google Scholar
158. Paradoxically, the members of the VSKhSON, strongly influenced by Berdiaev's philosophy, rejected Berdiaev's basic idea about the specifically Russian character of Communism in the Soviet Union. Compare Nikolai Berdiaev, Russkaia ideia (Paris: YMCA-Press, 1971), pp. 249–250.Google Scholar
159. Compare “Section III” of the VSKhSON Program in John Dunlop, The New Russian Revolutionaries , p. 268.Google Scholar
160. Solzhenitsyn, A. I., “Raskaianie i samoogranichenie,” p. 118.Google Scholar
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162. Shafarevich, I. R., “Obosoblenie ili sblizhenie,” p. 99.Google Scholar
163. Siniavskii, Andrei, in his thoughtful article,“Russian Nationalism,” published in 1988 in a Radio Liberty Research Bulletin, described the concept of “self” (svoi) and “other” (chuzhoi) as deeply rooted in the Russian national character and enhanced by the Soviet government's constant hostility toward the West (Andrei Sinyavsky, “Russian Nationalism,” Russian Nationalism Today, Radio Liberty Research Bulletin, 19 December 1988 [Special Edition], pp. 30–31). According to Siniavskii, Russians' feelings of inferiority and distrust of other peoples found expression in their notorious xenophobia. Both the feeling of national inferiority and xenophobia, in turn, could be viewed as a reflection of the much more basic instinct of envy. During the October Revolution such envy was used to fuel the class struggle and, in the time of glasnost, it manifested itself in Russian hatred of Jews–the symbolic “foreign object in the body of the Soviet Union” (p. 31).Google Scholar
164. Nelidov, Dmitrii in his socio-psychological analysis of the ideocratic consciousness stated that the theory of enemies played a crucial role in sustaining the ideocratic state which fed on people's fear. “Without enemies,” he wrote,”‘double think’ could simply not exist…” (p. 287).Google Scholar
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166. Osipov, Vladimir, Tri otnosheniia k rodine, p. 128.Google Scholar
167. Borodin, L., p. 244.Google Scholar
168. Ibid., p. 246.Google Scholar
169. Osipov, Vladimir, Tri otnosheniia k rodine, p. 18.Google Scholar
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171. Solzhenitsyn, A. I., “Raskaianie i samoogranichenie,” p. 131.Google Scholar
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174. Kopelev, Lev, “The Lie Can Be Defeated Only by Truth” in An Anthology , p. 320.Google Scholar
175. Agurskii, Mikhail, “The Intensification of Neo-Nazi Dangers in the Soviet Union” in An Anthology, p. 414. Agurskii, Mikhail, a friend of Solzhenitsyn and one of the contributors to the Iz-pod glyb collection, saw the Russian national movement as a powerful obstacle for neo-Nazism. Agurskii defended Solzhenitsyn's Letter as the only “humanist alternative in Russia to racism and neo-Nazism” (p. 418). In his view, Christian religion was the only deterrent against Soviet racism which was “a new form of paganism” (p. 419).Google Scholar
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179. “Ia veriu v nash narod–na vsekh urovniakh,” Posev, No. 4, 1979, p. 24.Google Scholar
180. Ibid. In his émigré article “Literaturnyi protsess v Rossii,” Siniavskii blamed Russia for the agony of emigration in the following words: “Everybody runs and runs away. Russia the mother, Russia the bitch, you will answer for that too” (Siniavskii, Andrei, “Literaturnyi protsess v Rossiii,” Kontinent , No. 1, 1974, p. 183). Both Solzhenitsyn and Shafarevich quoted Siniavskii's words as the classical example of “russophobia.” Compare Dve press-konferentsii, p. 17, p. 49.Google Scholar
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185. Ibid., p. 5.Google Scholar
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199. Shragin, Boris, “Toska po istorii,” in Samopoznanie , p. 246.Google Scholar
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