The calendar reforms of Peter the Great introduced on January 1, 1700 have produced a surprising ... more The calendar reforms of Peter the Great introduced on January 1, 1700 have produced a surprising amount of confusion and misunderstanding. This articles proposes firstly to clarify the aims and outcomes of these reforms, so far as the available sources allow. Secondly, through an examination of the New Year celebrations mandated by Peter's edicts, the article examines the legitimating arguments that have been deployed, including ideas about Russia's relation to western countries, about the position of the Orthodox Church in the polity, and about the prerogatives of the ruler in these matters. As a result of the changing arguments invoked by Peter and his entourage, the reforms introduced a regime of plural temporalities that has affected the course of Russia's development and the elaboration of its identities to this day. The reforms had little to do with heralding a secular, modern society. If initially they represented a failed pragmatic attempt to create a civil calen...
A l’heure actuelle, les villes ex-socialistes de l’Europe centrale et orientale se trouvent dans ... more A l’heure actuelle, les villes ex-socialistes de l’Europe centrale et orientale se trouvent dans une periode que l’on pourrait qualifier de post-postsocialiste. Plus de vingt-cinq ans apres la chute du Mur de Berlin, l’urgence d’une reaction contre l’urbanisme socialiste s’est estompee et la rhetorique de transition, avec sa teleologie neoliberale implicite, ne convainc plus personne. Depuis sont intervenus d’autres evenements d’envergure, tels l’accession a l’Union europeenne pour certains p...
... As K. Sivkov intimates, they remained to a large extent prisoners of an old, pre-Petrine ment... more ... As K. Sivkov intimates, they remained to a large extent prisoners of an old, pre-Petrine mentality: "They look with wide-opened eyes, but their horizon ... In his letters to Petr Panin and to his sister,Denis Fonvizin de-veloped a keen sensitivity to the everyday life of the French, to ...
This article offers an analysis of the trope of ruin in the poetry of Aleksandr Kushner (born 193... more This article offers an analysis of the trope of ruin in the poetry of Aleksandr Kushner (born 1936), in particular through a close reading of two of his poems: “In a slippery graveyard, alone” and “Ruins”. The analysis of these poems is preceded by an overview of ruin philosophy from Burke and Diderot to Simmel and Benjamin, with particular emphasis on the way the trope of ruin contemplation stages a confrontation between the self and what transcends it (death, history, nature, etc.). This philosophical background serves as a heuristic tool to shed light on the poetry of Kushner. Through the trope of ruin, Kushner explores the legitimacy of poetic speech after the collapse of all meta-narratives. Kushner has no truck with Diderot's solipsism, nor with Hegel's bold narrative of progress, nor with Simmel's peaceful reconciliation with the creative forces of nature. Nor, really, does he intend to bear witness to history, the way Benjamin does in the faint anticipation of so...
The calendar reforms of Peter the Great introduced on January 1, 1700 have produced a surprising ... more The calendar reforms of Peter the Great introduced on January 1, 1700 have produced a surprising amount of confusion and misunderstanding. This articles proposes firstly to clarify the aims and outcomes of these reforms, so far as the available sources allow. Secondly, through an examination of the New Year celebrations mandated by Peter's edicts, the article examines the legitimating arguments that have been deployed, including ideas about Russia's relation to western countries, about the position of the Orthodox Church in the polity, and about the prerogatives of the ruler in these matters. As a result of the changing arguments invoked by Peter and his entourage, the reforms introduced a regime of plural temporalities that has affected the course of Russia's development and the elaboration of its identities to this day. The reforms had little to do with heralding a secular, modern society. If initially they represented a failed pragmatic attempt to create a civil calen...
A l’heure actuelle, les villes ex-socialistes de l’Europe centrale et orientale se trouvent dans ... more A l’heure actuelle, les villes ex-socialistes de l’Europe centrale et orientale se trouvent dans une periode que l’on pourrait qualifier de post-postsocialiste. Plus de vingt-cinq ans apres la chute du Mur de Berlin, l’urgence d’une reaction contre l’urbanisme socialiste s’est estompee et la rhetorique de transition, avec sa teleologie neoliberale implicite, ne convainc plus personne. Depuis sont intervenus d’autres evenements d’envergure, tels l’accession a l’Union europeenne pour certains p...
... As K. Sivkov intimates, they remained to a large extent prisoners of an old, pre-Petrine ment... more ... As K. Sivkov intimates, they remained to a large extent prisoners of an old, pre-Petrine mentality: "They look with wide-opened eyes, but their horizon ... In his letters to Petr Panin and to his sister,Denis Fonvizin de-veloped a keen sensitivity to the everyday life of the French, to ...
This article offers an analysis of the trope of ruin in the poetry of Aleksandr Kushner (born 193... more This article offers an analysis of the trope of ruin in the poetry of Aleksandr Kushner (born 1936), in particular through a close reading of two of his poems: “In a slippery graveyard, alone” and “Ruins”. The analysis of these poems is preceded by an overview of ruin philosophy from Burke and Diderot to Simmel and Benjamin, with particular emphasis on the way the trope of ruin contemplation stages a confrontation between the self and what transcends it (death, history, nature, etc.). This philosophical background serves as a heuristic tool to shed light on the poetry of Kushner. Through the trope of ruin, Kushner explores the legitimacy of poetic speech after the collapse of all meta-narratives. Kushner has no truck with Diderot's solipsism, nor with Hegel's bold narrative of progress, nor with Simmel's peaceful reconciliation with the creative forces of nature. Nor, really, does he intend to bear witness to history, the way Benjamin does in the faint anticipation of so...
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