Russian Culture

“Russian Culture”

When we hear the term Russian culture many Americans tend to have negative thoughts like the cold war, their government ruling with an iron hand, and the Red Scare. These thoughts do not do the justice to the Russian people or to their long history as a people dating back to INSERT DATE. One of the major themes throughout Russian history and this course is the idea that the Russian people value intangible things more than the tangible. The Russian people have a long rich heritage, they are deep in there Christian faith, and they pride themselves on hospitality and value there community, families, and fellow Russian people. They have learned how to sacrifice from the constant invasions and being forced farther and farther into the cold artic forests. They have worshiped, respected, and revered Mother Earth. However, most importantly the Russians stayed true to themselves and have let their culture survive and even thrive during even the most difficult points in their history. They have kept their beliefs, and have continually been making beautiful works of art and music. To Americans and the western world these things may not seem all that important but to Russia and her people these beliefs are everything.

Russian culture dates back INSERT YEAR ,at this time Russia was the geologically shapeless country because of the lack of natural borders, and it’s history began with the formation of northern warrior-trader cities.(Billington, The Icon and the Axe, 3). At this time Russians were pagans of the gens religion, the gens religion was about viewing the individual as a transient moment in the life of the clan. Seeing oneself as part of a whole family and not as an individual shows the start of Russians view on se...

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... draw strength from their spiritual beliefs, and most importantly they are a people who make the best out of every situation and don’t lose themselves during hard times. As the Russian painter Ivanov expressed it, “to be Russian is happiness” (Massie 220) Although this is a seemingly simple quote it has a profound effect because it shows that Russians don’t need anything except themselves to be happy.

Works Cited

Massie, Suzanne. Land of the Firebird: the Beauty of Old Russia. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980

Tolstoy, Leo. "Master and the Man." The Death of Ivan Ilych and Other Stories. New York: New York American Library, 2003. 235-89.

Aleksandr Afanasev, “Russian Fairy Tales”, (New York: Pantheon, 1949)

Leonid Gakkel, “Rachmaninoff’s Loneliness,” Izvestiia, March 20 1998

Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Alyosha,” Brothers Karamazov, (New York: Norton, 1979)