Description
Book SynopsisThe reforms initiated by Peter the Great transformed Russia not only into a European power, but into a European culture--a shift, argues Cracraft, that was nothing less than revolutionary. The author of seminal works on visual culture in the Petrine era, Cracraft now turns his attention to the changes that occurred in Russian verbal culture.
Trade Review[This is] the third volume of
James Cracraft’s authoritative study of what he terms Peter’s ‘cultural revolution’… In his first two volumes Cracraft dealt with architecture and the arts. In
The Petrine Revolution in Russian Culture, the focus is on ‘verbal culture’: the creation of what was virtually a new language, with a greatly expanded vocabulary, written in a ‘civil script’ suited to printed publication… James Cracraft provides a solid and thorough evaluation of Petrine Russia’s great leap forward in the arts of civilization. -- John Keep * Times Literary Supplement *
This volume is the third, final, and most synthetic of the massive study of Petrine culture that
James Cracraft undertook nearly two decades ago. Taken together, the works amount to an unquestionable
tour de force by an outstanding historian of early modern Russia… As ever, Cracraft is an elegant expositor whose points of view are equally accessible to specialists and general readers… What we have, then, is something more than the proverbial welcome addition to the field. Cracraft has provided us with a genuinely important work, the capstone of decades of study, that deserves a wide audience and discussion. -- Gary Marker * American Historical Review *
The work demonstrates for historians and political scientists how new avenues might be taken to illuminate the State’s exercise of power in Russia. Furthermore, it should serve as a spur for novel approaches in the study of statecraft in general. -- Andrew Gentes * Australian, Slavic, and East European Studies *
No previous author has attempted to document the changes in the Russian language during Peter the Great’s reign by setting such a wide range of texts in historical context—with full reference to the European background—in a discussion accessible to non-specialists.
James Cracraft extends the definition of literature beyond
belles lettres and private writings, in which the Petrine era is relatively poor, to ‘verbal culture,’ in which it is rich, thereby offering a much wider range of material from a crucial age of reform and allowing exploration of such phenomena as the vocabulary of political power. In no other work in print in English can one find such detailed expositions of the publishing history and contents of such key texts as the Naval Statute and Military Statutes. Cracraft’s judicious interpretation will be invaluable to serious students of Russian history. This is a work of immense erudition and a major contribution to scholarship. -- Lindsey Hughes, University College London
Table of ContentsFigures Preface Note on Dates and Transliteration 1. Introduction Historiography Language, Culture, Modernity Russian before Peter 2. The Nautical Turn Russia in Maritime Europe The Naval Statute of 1720 Other Nautical Texts Institutionalization 3. Military Modernization Military Revolutions: Europe to Russia The Military Statute of 1716 Textbooks and Schools 4. Bureaucratic Revolution Advent of the Modern European State The Petrine State The General Regulation of 1720 Regulations and Justifications 5. Science and Literature Geometry, Geography, History Eloquence, Theology, Philosophy The Academy 6. The Language Question The Print Revolution in Russia Lexical Proliferation Dictionaries and Grammars Russian after Peter 7. Conclusion The Petrine Revolution in Russia The Persistence of Muscovy Abbreviations Appendix I: Texts Appendix II: Words Notes Bibliography Index
