Serfdom, Society, and the Arts in Imperial Russia

The Pleasure and the Power

Stites Richard

Serf-era and provincial Russia heralded the spectacular turn in cultural history that began in the 1860s. Examining the role of arts and artists in society's value system, Richard Stites explores this shift in a groundbreaking history of visual and performing arts in the last decades of serfdom. Provincial town and manor house engaged alike with the culture of Moscow and St. Petersburg, while thousands of serfs and ex-serfs created work or performed it. Mikhail Glinka raised Russian music to new levels and Anton Rubinstein struggled to found a conservatory. Long before the itinerants, painters explored town and country in genre scenes of everyday life. Serf actors on loan from their masters brought naturalistic acting from provincial theatres to the imperial stages. Stites' richly detailed book offers new perspectives on the origins of Russia's nineteenth-century artistic prowess.

About the Author

Richard Stites is Distinguished Professor of International Studies at the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University.

Reviews

"A remarkable book... Stites has embarked on a very detailed and nuanced analysis, a la Habermas... This is a splendid book, very well and perceptively written, con brio. It makes the whole movement of Russian culture come alive, while maintaining a strict scholarly and informative underpinning, in a way which catches the reader up in the infectious enthusiasm and humane judgements of the author" – Isabel de Madariaga, Times Literary Supplement

"This work can be used for undergraduate and graduate courses in cultural history and Russian history and enjoyed by the general public. It provides material and inspiration for further studies in many directions" – Lina Bernstein, Slavic and East European Journal

"In 'Serfdom, Society, and the Arts', Stites makes another significant contribution to cultural and social history... His narrative is masterful and moving. In addition to being a rich repository of empirical information, Serfdom, Society, and the Arts teaches historians how to bring imagination and empathy to cherished subjects" – Elise Kimerling Wirtschafter, The Russian Review

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