Andreas Schönle and Andrei Zorin. On the Periphery of Europe, 1762–1825

Andreas Schönle and Andrei Zorin’s On the Periphery of Europe, 1762–1825: The Self-Invention of the Russian Elite is an analytical overview of Europeanization in Russia. Unlike most previous studies, it focuses neither on state initiatives nor on imitation of European ideas, but rather on the Russian elite’s emotions, practices, and perceptions under the influence of Europeanization. The “elite” in question is a small group of Russian nobles—wealthy serf owners, ennobled officers, and the descendants of pre-Petrine boyars—“subject to an interiorized requirement to act on behalf of the public good and rise above their sole private interest” (5). The heart of the book is in chapters 2–7. Chapter 2 explores the elite’s “exposure to Europe” through travel; through the purchase of luxury goods such as paintings; through social practices in balls, clubs, and Masonic lodges; and through new reading practices (i.e., “intensive” reading, with its emotional scripting). Chapter 3 analyzes the...

Elite · Imitation · Political science · Politics · Reading (process) · Sociology · State (computer science) · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies