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Apocalypse/Utopia: The Russian Roots of Revolution

Module description

Contrary to Marx’s expectations, the first socialist revolution happened in Russia. This module explores the Russian roots of revolution, looking at apocalyptic and utopian trends in a culture caught between expectations of the end of the world and the creation of the Kingdom of God on earth. Analysis of texts from the 14th to the 19th century will show what may have set Russia on course for revolution, and how far these influences are uniquely Russian

You do not need any knowledge of Russian to take this module; texts will be provided in both Russian and in English translation.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The module aims to:

• Explore aspects of Russia’s cultural and historical past, looking far beyond the immediate circumstances of the early twentieth century which led up to the revolutions of 1917, and placing what happened then in a far broader context of apocalyptic and utopian thinking
• Look at the apocalyptic response to the 13th-century Mongol invasion and religious schism in the 17th century
• Trace the development of utopian ideas in peasant uprisings in the 17th and 18th centuries, and then among the intelligentsia of the nineteenth century, including Western-influenced utopian socialism, the Slavophile idealisation of the peasant commune, and Nikolai Fedorov’s project for achieving immortality, before exploring ways in which apocalyptic and utopian thinking combined in the revolutionary movement
• Study a selection of primary texts, including philosophical, documentary, and literary texts, which will give some indication of the ideas which were most widely discussed, and show the extent to which authors of literary texts involved themselves in current debates

The two principal literary texts to be read are the novels by Nikolai Chernyshevskii, What is to be Done? (Chto delat′?) and Fedor Dostoevskii, The Devils (Besy); it would be helpful if you could obtain your own copy of these two texts. We will also read excerpts from medieval chronicles, texts by Old Believer Archpriest Avvakum, and by nineteeth-century revolutionary figures including Petr Tkachev (these will be made available via ELE).

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of apocalyptic and utopian thinking in Russian culture and analyse the relationship between them as messianic visions of destruction and redemption
• 2. In analysis of selected texts, demonstrate an understanding of questions relating to Russian exceptionalism, i.e. the extent to which these trends in Russian thought and culture may be seen as uniquely Russian
• 3. Assess the extent to which such trends helped to prepare the ground for revolution
• 4. Explain the possible interaction between different kinds of texts (literary, philosophical, political) in the broader Russian cultural context

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Present arguments to a professional standard in both written form
• 6. Argue at length and in detail about an aspect of the topic

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Manage learning time and learning activities with minimal guidance from the module tutor
• 8. Adopt a critical approach to the selection and organisation of a large body of material in order to produce, to a deadline, a written argument of some complexity

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Introduction to the module
• Apocalyptic thinking: visions of the end of the world in responses to Mongol invasion; religious schism
• Utopian thinking: peasant uprisings; influence of Western European Enlightenment and utopian socialist ideas; Slavophilism; influence of Old Believer culture; Nikolai Fedorov and the quest for immortality
• Nineteenth-century revolutionary movements and the combination of apocalyptic and utopian trends; Chernyshevskii’s What is to be Done and Dostoevskii’s The Devils

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Archpriest Avvakum, ‘The Life of Archpriest Avvakum by Himself’ (excerpts)
• Nikolai Chernyshevskii, What is to be Done?
• Fedor Dostoevskii, The Devils
• Nikolai Fedorov, The Philosophy of the Common Task (excerpts)
• Petr Tkachev, ‘Program of the Journal “The Tocsin”

Secondary literature:

• David M. Bethea, The Shape of Apocalypse in Modern Russian Fiction (Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1989)
• Leonid Heller & Michel Niqueux, Histoire de l’Utopie en Russe (Paris: Presses universitaires de France, 1995)
• Leonid Heretz, Russia on the Eve of Modernity: Popular Religion and Traditional Culture under the Last Tsars (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2008)
• Andrea Oppo (ed.), Shapes of Apocalypse: Arts and Philosophy in Slavic Thought (Myths and Taboos in Russian Culture) (Academic Studies Press, 2013)
• Andrzei Walicki, A History of Russian Thought from the Enlightenment to Marxism (Stanford University Press, 1979)
• A Documentary History of Russian Thought from the Enlightenment to Marxism , translated and introduced by Derek Offord and William Leatherbarrow (Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1987)
• A History of Russian Thought , edited by William Leatherbarrow and Derek Offord (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=4651

Key words search

Russia; apocalypse; utopia; revolution