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How Did Fyodor Dostoevsky View Of Westernization

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Dostoevsky's Russia existed in a crossroads: increasing westernization to keep up with the rest of Europe or retraction inward to develop the slavic way without outside corruption. Starting with Peter the Great in the 17th century, Russian leaders looked to the west for advancement; however, a flurry of reforms and uprisings, specifically the Emancipation of the Serfs and the revolution in Poland, created doubt about the merits of westernization for many Russians. One such Russian had the name of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Many popular Russian writers during the 1860s called for greater reforms even after the Emancipation of the Serfs. Those writers included liberals, Nihilists, and Utilitarians advocating for conformity with a more advanced Western Europe and blamed Russian traditionalism with the degradation of Russian hegemony. …show more content…

He closely followed slavophiles who believed that Russian must find its own path towards modernization, rather than fall into chaos and revolution that comes from mirroring the west. Through his writing, Dostoevsky attempts to connect westernization with destruction, and traditional Russian beliefs, such as Orthodoxy, with peace. Fyodor Dostoevsky utilizes two distinct rates of temporal advancement- a rapidly advancing rate associated with crime and murder contrasting with seemingly eternal pauses associated with peace- to parallel the bipolar nature of a westernizing Russia with brisk Western time paralleling slow Orthodox time, elucidating that cultural shifts towards Western European modernization serve as the basis for crime among disillusioned Russians while maintaining traditional Russian culture correlates with peace and

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“I will drag you kicking and screaming into the modern world”, this famous quote from the Czar, Peter the Great involved a lot of symbolic changes. In the 16th to 17th century Russia was considered to be a country that was out of order and brutal in the eyes of major powers in Europe. However, after the rule of Peter the Great, this view changed and Russia was no longer seen as a “backwards” nation. Peter the Great modernized Russia by infusing 'western' technology and by forcing his people to reject many of their orthodox christian, 'tradition-bound' customs. Specifically these included: forcing the male population to wear western clothes and cutting their beards (or pay tax), building a modern Navy, melting down Church bells to make cannons, and lastly, building a new capital city his so called, "window to the west."

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He is self-critical, and self-sadistic, and he likes to critique on others as well. “A decent man is bound to be a coward and a slave. It is the law of nature for all decent people all around the earth”. (The Notes from the Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Part II, Book 1, page 32). It is well known that the society accepts people whom it can bind by its laws and rules.

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Seton-Watson, a British Historian stated “He was a devoted husband and father, loved the country and wildlife, and was a good landlord. Of constitutional, social and economic problems, he understood little.” In the matter of demands for political freedom and equal rights, the Tsar turned a deaf ear to constant liberals. His belief that it was his right to have unlimited control over the Russian people was of more importance than the harsh lives of the Russian peasants which formed 70% of his subjects. His inability to understand the existing social conditions in Russia and needs of the lower social classes enhanced the Tsar’s ignorance towards issues that Russia was confronted with within the 20th century.

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Peter the Great marked the start of an embrace of European culture, giving rise to two opposing themes to Russia. There is traditional Russia, which is often associated with features such as autocracy and the deprivation of freedom (Verizhnikov, 212). On the other hand, the modernizing force is generally defined as the inflow of Western lifestyles and ideals into Russia (Lewitter, 493). This is an attempt to broadly replicate post-Enlightenment societies, including their culture, architecture, and economy, with an emphasis on self-consciousness or as the Westernizers put it, the “free development of personhood” (Hamburg and Poole, 37). In the annals of Russian history, Catherine the Great stands out as one of the few who provoked significant

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Raskolnikov 's act of violence is what causes him to go insane, impacts the lives of the people around him, and finally violence is Raskolnikov’s way of proving himself as an above-average individual. Dostoyevsky used violence to change the course of not only Raskolnikov’s life but also the lives of the people around him. The story shows how one man 's image of himself as a higher being can cause him to commit violent acts, which impact everyone around

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759 Words | 4 Pages

In fyodor dostoevsky’s “ Crime and Punishment”, The central character Raskolnikov Experiences a change in character, which later on will also change his opinion on crime as well. Raskolnikov’s conversation with Sonia allows him to experience a new outlook on the crime he has committed. Dostoyevsky’s writing closely follows the idea of “The Overman” otherwise know as the “Ubermensch”. This theory originally published by german philosopher Nietzsche is expressed in Raskolnikov’s article “on crime”. In part V, Porfiry is keen to understand what Raskolnikov intended to say with this article.

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Looking at the World from the Underground Fyodor Dostoyevsky prepares the world as he knows it for a revolution. Notes From The Underground plays into the Russian Revolution. According to class discussion, this is not as radical as Dostoyevsky would get. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “In 1849 he was arrested for belonging to a radical discussion group; sentenced to be shot, he was reprieved at the last moment and spent four years at hard labour in Siberia, where he developed epilepsy and experienced a deepening of his religious faith” (Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, 2014).

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The biographical history of an author greatly influences the way he or she writes a novel. In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment, Dostoyevsky envelops his life history within the novel, creating characters who parallel with those in his real life. Similar to many of the other Russian children at the time, Dostoyevsky was not brought up with a loving father; as a matter of fact, his father was a very stern and rigid man, contrary to Dostoyevsky’s loving and caring mother. At a young age, Dostoyevsky’s father forced him to enroll in an engineering school, disregarding Dostoyevsky’s love for literature. One night, when his father was walking him to enroll in the school, Dostoyevsky encountered a government courier viciously beating his

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776 Words | 4 Pages

Thus Russia applies a technique of looking for Western faults while ignoring or shadowing its own deficiencies. This model could earlier be also reflected in more constructive forms as it existed as a mission of the improvement of various Western accomplishments due to the Russian/Soviet inability to offer its own break-throughs. As demonstrated by semiotician Yuri Lotman, Russian thinkers claimed a better understanding and implementation of the Greek doctrine than the original Orthodox Christianity (the Byzantine Empire acting at that point as an equivalent of the West). Later, the Russian interpreters of the French enlightenment once again claimed their better understanding of its main principles than the French. The Bolsheviks also borrowed their main tenets from Western socialist and communist doctrines and then altered them to suit their purposes and presented this alteration as an improvement (Lotman 2002,

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Ultimately, Dostoevsky’s critique of society attempts to explain the societal problems of individuals alienating themselves from each other by living in the

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Thus, Dostoevsky’s descriptions of setting and character reveal a use of space

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The Russian Revolution, which was started by Lenin and his followers, was a rebellion that occurred in 1917 which forced higher powers to act to the needs of the lower class. For instance, many citizens were worried for their protection in consequence to the lack of survival necessities due to an early drought. Furthermore, their current czar during the time was incapable for his position as a czar and made horrendous decisions as czar. For example, when the czar, Nicholas, entered in World War I, he sent untrained troops into countless battles of failure which costed in mass amounts of lost life (paragraph 23).

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193 Words | 1 Pages

When thinking about the mid-18th century Enlightenment movement, the word “Reason “ has become that represents this movement. French philosophers believed reason could impart critical, well-informed solutions to many social issues and is essence improve the human condition. Fyodor Dostoevksky ‘s Notes from Underground is considered one of the more famous anti-Enlightenment novels because of the rejection for such notions. This novel portrays Dostoevskys’ belief that there were gaps in this idea that the mind can be freed from ignorance through reason, and his rejection of the idea that humans could achieve a higher exsistence by doing so.

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1493 Words | 6 Pages

It is a known fact that society undoubtedly fears change. Whether it is fear of the unknown or fear of being vulnerable, society as a whole does not like the idea of change. However, that is simply not the case for the author of Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy. Unlike the rest of society during his time Leo Tolstoy sees change as the only method to improving society. Many people in Russian society are, in fact, afraid of change and are more concerned with how they appear to others than what positive effect they could potentially have on society.

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1052 Words | 5 Pages

Saint Petersburg, the setting of Crime and Punishment, plays a major role in the formation in Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s acclaimed novel. Dostoyevsky’s novels focus on the theme of man as a subject of his environment. Dostoyevsky paints 1860s St. Petersburg as an overcrowded, filthy, and chaotic city. It is because of Saint Petersburg that Raskolnikov is able to foster in his immoral thoughts and satisfy his evil inclinations. It is only when Raskolnikov is removed from the disorderly city and taken to the remoteness of Siberia that he can once again be at peace.

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