2015 Theses Bachelor's

“To Fortify our Fatherland”: Russian National Identity Between East and West, 1825-1855

Himmelman, Chaya

This thesis examines Russia’s paradoxical national identity in the nineteenth century. Russians sought to make themselves both a part of Western Europe, but also a distinctively Russian nation. This projects explores the way in which this discussion of Russian national identity, a discussion limited to the upper echelons of society, permeated Russian political, intellectual, and literary spheres. My findings lead me to argue that the West was a necessary component in Russia’s conception of itself in the nineteenth century.