The Image of Spain in Russia at the Second Half of the 1870s – 1880s: the Peculiarities of the Perception of the Country`s Socio-Political Sphere

The article deals with the representations of the Russian educated society of the second half of the 1870s–1880s of socio-political development of Spain. The deconstruction of Russia`s perception of Spain in the 19th century is topical as the part of the research field of interaction and interference between Russia and Europe as one of the main themes for Russian thought. It is notable that Russia and Spain both located far from the geographic center of Europe and having to deal with fringe movements have a lot in common, that causes keen interest of Russian authors to the Spanish realities. The image of the Other, presented in their works, reflects significant features of the Russian society of those times, and the study of the issue can have a positive feedback of drawing on Spainish experience. The article fits within the framework of such a research direction as imagology, but appeals to the wider problems of intellectual history in general. The characteristics of Spanish realities given by Russian authors are represented within the context of the genesis of Russian thought that had always been in a dialogue with Europe. The representations of Spain are analyzed on the base of the materials of five travelogues published in the 1880s when both countries were going through the period of modernization. The article defines the peculiarities of the individual perception of the socio-political and economic spheres of Spain`s life by particular authors as well as general views on this country in Russia, for example an increased interest to the phenomenon of the Spanish Inquizition. The article reveals the changes in the perception of Spain by Russian authors in the 1880s as well as its main factors. Russian educated society`s representations of Spain from the point of view of the development of the state during this time period became less integral and were reinforced and supplemented with the problem of regionalism. Catalonia, the very symbol of regional independence movement, became another center in the country`s image along with the areas such as Castilla and Andalusia that were traditionally familiar to the Russian readers in terms of culture.

1. Walicki, A. (1979) A History of Russian Thought from the Enlightenment to Marxism. Stanford: Stanford University Press. (Russ.ed.: Walicki, A. (2013) Istorija russkoj mysli ot prosvescenija do marksizma. Moscow: Kanon+ Publ.).

2. Groys, B. (1992) ‘Poisk russkoi natsional’noi identichnosti [Searching of Russian National Identity]’, Voprosy Filosofii, (9), pp. 52–60. (In Russian).

3. Saburova, T. A. (2005) Russkii intellektual’nyi mir/mif (Sotsiokul’turnye predstavleniia intelligentsii v Rossii v XIX stoletiia) [Russian Intellectual World / Myth (Socio-cultural Representations of the Intelligentsia in Russia in the 19 th Century)]. Omsk: Izdatelʹstvo OOO ‘Izdatelʹskiĭ dom “Nauka”’ Publ. (In Russian).

4. Uspenskii, B. A. (2004) Istoriko-filologicheskie ocherki [Historical and Philological Essays]. Moscow: Iazyki slavianskoi kul`tury Publ. (In Russian).

5. Chubaryan, A. (2017) ‘Russia and Europe: A View to the Future in the Context of the Past and the Present’, Dialog so Vremenem, (59), pp. 43–53. doi: 10.21267/AQUILO.2017.59.6157. (In Russian).

6. Shemyakin, I. G. (2013) ‘The Phenomenon of “Liminality”: Socio-cultural Contents and Historical Types’, Dialog so Vremenem, (42), pp. 23–45. (In Russian).

7. Repina, L. P. (2012) ‘“National Character” and the “Image of the Other”’, Dialog so Vremenem, (39), pp. 9–19. (In Russian).

8. Samsonova, N. G. (2015) ‘Russian Thought about Spanish Revolution of 1868–1874’, Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, (4), pp. 152–164. Available at: http://www.vestospu.ru/archive/2015/articles/Samsonova4-16.html (In Russian).

9. Kuleshova, V. V. (1984) ‘Ispaniia glazami russkikh puteshestvennikov vtoroi poloviny XIX — nachala XX veka [Spain through the Eyes of Russian Travelers of the Second Half of the 19th — Early 20th Century]’, in Pozharskaya, S. P. (ed.) Problemy ispanskoi istorii [Problems of Spanish history]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., pp. 222–240. (In Russian).

10. Petrova, A. A. (2014) ‘The political System of the Spain Restoration during the Reighn of Alfonso XII: Russian Travellers Glance’, Trudy Kafedry istorii novogo i novejšego vremeni Sankt-Peterburgskogo gosdarstvennogo universiteta, (12), pp. 196–208. (In Russian).

11. Vediushkina, S. V. (2004) ‘Ispaniia i ispantsy v izobrazhenii Vasiliia Ivanovicha Nemirovicha – Danchenko [Spain and the Spaniards in the Representation of Vasily Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko]’, in Rossiia i Evropa: Diplomatiia i kul’tura [Russia and Europe: Diplomacy and Culture]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., pp. 208–229. (In Russian).

12. Kuzina, N. A. (2019) ‘Spain in 19th Century in the Notes of Russian Travelers’, Latin-American Historical Almanac, 21(1), pp. 190–206. doi: 10.32608/2305-8773-2019-21-1-190-206. (In Russian).

13. Moseikina, M. N. (2016) ‘Kataloniia i «katalonizm» v russkoi literature puteshestvii vtoroi poloviny XIX – nachala XX veka [Catalonia and “Catalonism” in Russian Travel Literature of the Second Half of the 19th -early 20th century]’, in Rossija i mir glazami drug druga: iz istorii vzaimovosprijatija [Russia and the world through each Other’s Eyes: from the History of interference]. Moscow: Institut rossiiskoi istorii RAN Publ., pp. 69–80. (In Russian).

14. Moseikina, M. N. (2017) ‘Problemy modernizatsii Ispanii rubezha XIX – nachala XX vv. v otsenke russkikh puteshestvennikov [Problems of Modernization of Spain at the Turn of the 19th – early 20th Centuries in the Assessment of Russian Travelers]’, in España y Rusia: destinos históricos y actualidad. Moscow: Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenia Publ., pp. 449–456. (In Russian).

15. Bukharmedova, L. M. (2004) ‘Rossiia i Ispaniia v gody pravleniia Al’fonsa XII (Po materialam Arkhiva vneshnei politiki Rossiiskoi imperii) [Russia and Spain during the Reign of Alphonse XII (Based on the Materials of the Archive of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire)]’, in Rossiia i Evropa: Diplomatiia i kul’tura [Russia and Europe: Diplomacy and Culture]. Moscow: Nauka Publ., pp. 128–140. (In Russian).

16. Volosyuk, O. V. (2015) ‘Spain and Russia in the Second Half of the 19th Century: Confrontation, Dialogue or Alliance’, Novaia i noveishaia istoriia, (2), pp. 143–153. (In Russian).

17. Skibina, O. M. (2014) ‘Travelling Essay: Genre Syncretism (on Example of Russian Publicism of 19th Century)’, Theoretical and Practical Issues of Journalism, (4), pp. 88–97. (In Russian).

18. Yurchik, E. (2011) ‘«La leyenda negra» en la literatura de la Ilustración española’, Istoriya, 2(8). Available at: https://history.jes.su/s207987840000246-9-1/ (In Russian).

19. Kalugina, E. O. (2001) ‘Chernaia Legenda ob Ispanii v russkoi kul’ture [The Black Legend of Spain in Russian Culture]’, in Pogranichnye kul’tury mezhdu Vostokom i Zapadom: (Rossiia i Ispaniia) [Liminal Cultures between East and West]. Saint Petersburg: Soiuz pisatelei Sankt-Peterburga Publ. pp. 252–257. (In Russian).

20. Erokhina, E. A. (2012) ‘Ideas of Romanticism and the Image of Russia as a Slavic Country’, Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriâ: filosofiâ, 10(1), pp. 137–141. (In Russian).

21. Tsimbaev, N. I. (2003) ‘Idei federalizma i federativnogo ustroistva Rossii v obshchestvennoi mysli [Ideas of Federalism and the Federal Structure of Russia in Public Discourse]’, in Ocherki russkoi kul’tury XIX veka. Vol. 4 Obshchestvennaia mysl’ [Essays about 19th Century Russian Culture, Vol.4 Public Thought]. Moscow: Izdatelstvo Moskovskogo universiteta Publ., pp. 457–497. (In Russian).

22. Chesnokov, V. S. and Yanshin, A. L. (1996) ‘Zabytyi podvizhnik nauki [The Forgotten Researcher]’, Vestnik Rossijskoj akademii nauk, 66(9), pp. 832–835. (In Russian).

23. Berezhnaya, L. A., et al. (2006) Zapadnye okrainy Rossijskoj imperii [The Western Borderlands of the Russian Empire]. Moscow: Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie Publ. (In Russian).

24. Miller, A. I. (2000) ‘Ukrainskii vopros’ v politike vlastei i russkom obshchestvennom mnenii (vtoraia polovina XIX v.)[Ukrainian Question: Russian Empire and Nationalism in the 19th Century]. Saint Petersburg: Aleteiia Publ. (In Russian).

25. Leontieva, O. B. (2010) ‘Vlast’ i narod v zerkale istoricheskikh predstavlenii rossiiskogo obshchestva XIX v. [Power and People Reflected by Historical Views of the 19th Century Russian Society]’, in Images of time and historical representations. Moscow: Krug Publ., pp. 844–885. (In Russian).

26. Grosul, V. J. (ed.) (2000) Russkii konservatizm XIX stoletiia: Ideologiia i praktika. [Russian Conservatism of the XIX Century: Concept and Expience]. Moscow: Progress-tradicija Publ. (In Russian).