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Euro-Orientalism

Liberal Ideology and the Image of Russia in France (c. 1740-1880)

by Ezequiel Adamovsky (Author)
©2006 Monographs 364 Pages

Summary

Drawing from a range of critical perspectives, in particular postcolonial, this book examines the relationship between perceptions of Russia and of Eastern Europe and the making of a ‘Western’ identity. It explores the ways in which the perception of certain characteristics of Russia and Eastern Europe, whether real or attributed, was shaped by (and used for) the construction of a liberal narrative of the West, which eventually became dominant. The focus of this inquiry is French culture, from the beginning of the debate about Russia among the philosophes (c.1740) to the consolidation of a professional field of Slavic studies (c.1880). A wide range of writing – literature, travel accounts, histories, political tracts, scientific journals, and parliamentary debates – is examined through the work of major authors (from Montesquieu, Diderot and Rousseau to Tocqueville, de Maistre and Guizot, from Mme. de Staël, Hugo and Balzac to Dumas, Michelet and Comte), as well as that of many less well known figures. The book also explores possible continuities between those first academic accounts of Russia and Eastern Europe and present-day scholarship in Europe and the USA, to show that the liberal ideological accounts constructed in the nineteenth century still to a great extent inform contemporary academic studies.

Details

Pages
364
Publication Year
2006
ISBN (Softcover)
9783039105168
Language
English
Keywords
Frankreich Russlandbild Geschichte 1740-1880 Russia /History France /History Eastern Europe /History
Published
Oxford, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Frankfurt am Main, New York, Wien, 2006. 364 pp., 10 fig.

Biographical notes

Ezequiel Adamovsky (Author)

The Author: Ezequiel Adamovsky has a Ph.D. in History (SSEES/University College London) and is currently Professor of Russian History at the University of Buenos Aires, and Researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) in Argentina. He has published books and articles in prestigious academic journals of several countries, mainly in the field of intellectual history.

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Title: Euro-Orientalism