The Natural School (mid-1840s)

Faddei Bulgarin

Since I can't seem to get away from literature and it represents much of the political and philosophical environment of Russia, I continue to subject my readers to more exploration of literature.Ford and I have been discussing the debate between the Slavophiles and the Westernizers. He sympathizes with the Slavophiles while I tend toward the Westernizers. Some of this debate comes to bear in the discussion of the "natural school" of literature. I will here delve into the transitional nature and effects of the natural school. As far as I understand, the natural school is what Belinsky describes as the tale of real life. Although Belinsky describes the natural school positively, Bulgarin speaks of it deprecatingly (Terras 263). The works in the natural school have not had a unanimous acceptance in the literary world as of late.

Belinsky and Bulgarin are both authors and literary critics who identify with opposite sides of the Westernizer and Slavophile debate. Slavophiles seem to oppose the ideas explored in the natural school because they claim it gives Russia a negative image and adopts foreign ideas (Terras 188).

Vissarion Belinsky

As far as I can tell, the natural school has appeared among the literature of the Romantics. In many ways, the literature of the natural school resembles and contains elements from Romantic literature. For example, just as the Romantics tend to include a hero the "individual" who clashes with society (Terras 175) so too do the writers in the natural school include a hero, poet, or dreamer who clashes with society (264). Literature of the natural school also includes romantic irony.

However, the two schools do differ in very key ways, especially with regards to the political ideologies conveyed and the effort used to make the literature closer to true nature in the natural school. The natural school focuses on the lower-classes in a way that does not spare gruesome details about the virtues of the characters (Harper 402). While some writers who oppose the naturalists write about the serfs and lower-classes, they do not enter into as much detail of the negative aspects of that life (404). I have read some refutations from Belinskii against the conservatives who oppose the naturalist literature. He argues in part that this exploration of the real details of life is part of the responsibility of literature (408). This is in opposition to the argument of the opposition who argue that art's purpose is to help people lose themselves in the aethetic experience rather than be reminded of what they are trying to escape (405).

Nikolai Gogol

Nikolai Gogol, a great writer of absurd and strange tales, might be the instigator of the naturalist way of thinking (Harper 400). His story, "The Overcoat," highlights social injustice and inequality. His satire seems to be echoed in other works by naturalist authors like Turgenev. Gogol creates characters who are deeply flawed and effectively calls attention to and condemns human errors (Cruise 42). Indeed, a key characteristic of the natural school seems to revolve around the nature in which characters are selected and treated (Harper 413). 

In addition to Gogol, the natural school and its tendency to satirize society seems to reflect the vaudeville comedy of France (Cruise 42). It stands to reason that the Westernizers who are part of the natural school would embrace a comedic form from the west and copy the French vaudeville. 

Another recognized writer of the natural school is Dmitry Grigorovich. He wrote a sketch I found particularly interesting called "The Organ Grinders of Saint Petersburg" (Terras 268). The tales he tells in the story of peasant life are rather depressing and note needless suffering and brutality (268). Since I live in St. Petersburg, I recognize the reality of his description to a degree because I have walked through poor districts before. 

Dmitry Grigorovich

Even though the opposition to the natural school is intense, with staunch opposition to its "polemical" and excessively "social" themes, naturalist literature has continued. I tend to agree with Belinskii (maybe because I am from the West?") that like Shakespeare was once considered distasteful and soon accepted, the natural school will soon be accepted (Harper 404).

Works Cited

Cruise, Edwina Jannie. “THE NATURAL SCHOOL IN SATIRICAL CRITICISM.” Ulbandus Review, vol. 2, no. 2, 1982, pp. 39–51., www.jstor.org/stable/25748070.

Harper, Kenneth E. “Criticism of the Natural School in the 1840's.” American Slavic and East European Review, vol. 15, no. 3, 1956, pp. 400–414., www.jstor.org/stable/3001102.

Terras, Victor. A History of Russian Literature. Yale University Press, 1991.

Pushkin: "The Bronze Horseman" (1837)

The famous statue of Peter the Great or "The Bronze Horseman."

A few years ago, I received word that my brother and sister-in-law passed away and that their estate was to either go into my hands or their son’s hands. I decided I had more or less become a citizen of Russia because of my long stay here, so I opted to let my nephew, Marvin, take over the estate until I returned (if ever) as long as he supplied me with the means to continue writing about Russia in Russia. Life has since become much more comfortable, and I was able to purchase an estate just outside of St. Petersburg. My friends often invite me to lecture at the university, so I have opportunities to associate with educated people and even receive some extra income.

Ford has become quite educated, and I often hesitate to call him my butler because I allow him so much independence. He recently expressed interest in acquiring a rank in the state service, so I encouraged him to pursue that and relay to me any interesting information I might be able to use for my research. I have plenty of other servants to help me at my estate.

In my never-ending perusal of literature, I have of course become familiar with the lauded Aleksandr Pushkin. He has recently published a narrative poem I find of particular significance. The poem is called “Медный всадник” or “The Bronze Horseman,” which refers to the famous statue of Peter the Great here in St. Petersburg. Because I was privileged to see the statue put in place and because of the controversy the poem has urged, I feel compelled to make a study of the poem.

A painting of Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin.

The poem itself is written in a way with which I am not familiar. The poem has an introduction and two subsequent parts. The introduction seems to be praising St. Petersburg and Tsar Peter the Great in an ode-like way, but the end of the introduction seems to be satirizing the ode-like attitude by pointing out the dangers of living in St. Petersburg, both from military and natural forces. Throughout the two parts after the introduction, Pushkin appears to be both noting how glorious St. Petersburg is and how tragic its history (Terras 212). This is all present along with the plot of the story that tells a story of a young man name Yevgeny who loses his love in a terrible flood and subsequently seems to encounter the supernatural (Terras 212).

Yevgeny loses his mind after experiencing the trauma of the flood and the loss of his beau and wanders through St. Petersburg (Pushkin and Dewey 67-68). After waking from a violent dream, Yevgeny makes his way back to the statue of Peter the Great (69). He remembers seeing the statue during the flood, above all the turmoil and curses the statue as if he were cursing Tsar Peter for forcing Russians to live in St. Petersburg (70). Yevgeny runs away and imagines he hears the bronze hooves of the horse sounding on the street as it follows him (70-1).

The poem follows a haphazard rhyme scheme because Pushkin seems to choose a different rhyme scheme for each stanza. For example, he writes:

A wave-swept shore, remote, forlorn: Here stood he, rapt in thought and drawn To distant prospects. Broad and chartless The river ran, along it borne A lonely skiff, rough-hewn and artless. Darke against the marshy green Of moss-grown banks appeared some mean Log huts: the poor Finns’ habitation; And forests which had never seen The mist-veiled sun’s illumination Were live with whispers. (Pushkin and Dewey 59)

На берегу пустынных волн Стоял он, дум великих полн, И вдаль глядел. Пред ним широко Река неслася; бедный чёлн По ней стремился одиноко. По мшистым, топким берегам Чернели избы здесь и там, Приют убогого чухонца; И лес, неведомый лучам В тумане спрятанного солнца, Кругом шумел. (Пушкин)

The English translation I have here does not follow Pushkin’s original rhyme scheme, but both resemble each other because of the lack of consistent rhyme. This lack of predictable rhyme persists throughout the rest of the stanzas in the poem (Pushkin and Dewey 59-71; Пушкин).

Pushkin’s poem is unique besides the fact that his rhyming scheme is unconventional. He uses quite a bit of contrast in this poem in order to make points about the history of St. Petersburg and about the character, Yevgenii (Zekulin 229). The fact that Yevgeii curses the statue of long-dead Peter the Great seems to indicate that the poem is blaming Tsar Peter for the misfortunes inherent with living in St. Petersburg (229). Additionally, the poem highlights the nature of Yevgenii as a small man who is up against the forces of nature and history. Yevgenii’s madness seems to come as a result of injustice and a realization of his powerlessness, but his madness seems to in part stem from the maddeningly treacherous experience of living in a place like St. Petersburg.

When reading this poem, I found it has some similarities to what Lomonosov has done in his poetry before as well. Pushkin wrote this poem as if he was allowing the narrator, who jumps through time to describe St. Petersburg and forward to describe Yevgenii’s misfortune, to speak on behalf of the Russians (Zekulin 235). This poem shows Pushkin allowing his narrator to be the mouthpiece for Russia experience in St. Petersburg. He followed another convention of Lomonosov’s when he used Church-Slavonic language. However, Pushkin diverted from Lomonosov’s pattern because he maintained some Russian conversational language as well.

Overall, I greatly appreciate Pushkin’s clear and enjoyable poetry that sheds light on some of the common issues of living in St. Petersburg. While the poem has a touch of the mythical, it still catches the imagination in a way that voices a common experience.

Works Cited

Pushkin, A.S. and John Dewey. "The Bronze Horseman: A St Petersburg Story." Translation & Literature, vol. 7, no. 1, May 1998, p. 59. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=prf&AN=4019686&site=eds-live.

Terras, Victor. A History of Russian Literature. Yale University Press, 1991.

Žekulin, Gleb. “On Rereading ‘The Bronze Horseman.’” Canadian Slavonic Papers / Revue Canadienne Des Slavistes, vol. 29, no. 2/3, 1987, pp. 228–240., www.jstor.org/stable/40868750.

The Decembrists, Karamzin, and Their Literature

These days in St. Petersburg I have been trying to keep up with the burgeoning intellectual and political climate. The Kunstkammer definitely represents quite a bit of the Westernization of Russia as far as science is concerned, but noticed that certain journals resembling English journals circulated after Alexander opened the presses, so to speak (Massie 154). Obviously, political turmoil abroad and here because of the Napoleonic wars. With the recent Decembrist uprising, the literature regarding the national identity has definitely become a deeper matter, though the new tsar, Nicholas, has placed stricter censorship on publications (Terras 169).

A Painting of the Decembrist Revolt, December 14, 1825

The late Nikolai Karamzin’s work in particular seems to contrast with much of what the young Decembrists have to say (his more politically charged works, that is). Because of his recent death and the political turmoil right now, I think contrasting the different sides here would be helpful. The nuances to the different sides are, of course, many-layered, yet I will attempt to outline some of the differences between the Decembrists’ Romantic ideas and Karamzin’s more conservative western ideals.

Nikolai Karamzin

Nikolai Karamzin had quite the literary career even before he was commissioned by Tsar Alexander to write the History of the Russian State. From the writings I have read by him, he seems conservative and talented.  Though it was a fiction, he wrote a sort of travelogue like mine called Letters of a Russian Traveler (Terras 156). Reading his history, I noticed his support of the westernization the Russian’s have taken since Peter the Great first came to power (163). This could be because a monarch from Peter’s line commissioned him to write the book, but many of his previous writings have been in support of Westernization (163). For example, Karamzin wrote an essay called “On the Love of the Fatherland and National Pride,” which asserted that the language of the upper class, with its westernized vocabulary, was the language that should be spoken to express the highest of emotions (162). Later, a man name Shishkov argued with Karamzin’s assertion about language in an essay called “Discourse on the Old and New Style of the Russian Language” (164). Shishkov took the stance that the Russian language had become corrupted by the influence of western ideals (164).

Though Karamzin might have become increasingly sympathetic to those who are considered now to be conservative, his writings influenced people to become “Westernizers” (Terras 163). These Westernizers have ideas which are opposed to some of the ideas of the Decembrists, who Romanticize the Russian past and believe literature should have a civic and national duty (171).  The Decembrists, are primarily young aristocracy and upper class men who saw or heard about the progressive politics in the West and desired to implement the same in Russia, as demonstrated by their recent uprising (168-9). Even though they primarily sympathize as slavophiles, however, they often see Karamzin’s work as relevant to their cause. Many of them have read Karamzin’s History and appreciate history for the way it instills a nationalistic feeling, but they don’t agree with the way the Russian ruler or prince is glorified (Ziolkowski 29-30).

"Pole Star", a Decembrist journal.

After examining the Decembrists general ideas in some of their current works and in their works before their revolt in "The Polar Star", they seem to like Karamzin’s writings because of the opportunity the history gave them to learn from historical figures (Terras 173; Ziolkoski 31-32). They seem to see Slavophilic ideas that support a communal way of living to be quite similar to the constitutional and democratic countries to the west, but they oppose a certain version of Westernization at the same time that would allow the monarch to stay in power (Rabow-Edling 369-70).  

The Decembrist’s quick defeat about a year ago seems to have permanently alienated that group of intellectuals from the tsar and his government, yet in some of the literary works I have read recently, I can see their ideas showing up in a subtle way (Terras 169;  171).

Works Cited

Massie, Suzanne. Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia. Heart Tree Press, 1996.

Rabow-Edling, Susanna. "The Decembrists and the Concept of a Civic Nation." Nationalities Papers, vol. 35, no. 2, May 2007, pp. 369-391. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00905990701254391.

Ziolkowski, Margaret. “Hagiography and History: The Saintly Prince in the Poetry of the Decembrists.” The Slavic and East European Journal, vol. 30, no. 1, 1986, pp. 29–44., www.jstor.org/stable/307276.

Terras, Victor. A History of Russian Literature. Yale University Press, 1991.

The Academy of Science

Today, my Russian hosts informed me and Ford of one of the most fascinating places in St. Petersburg: the Kunstkammer. I am always seeking to learn more of what the Russian Empire has to offer, and since my exploration of folktales had been rather exhausted, I decided to tour the intriguing museum of oddities and science. We found the museum right next to the Neva, across the river and slightly north of the great statue of Peter the Great.

View of the Kunstkammer across the Neva.

Apparently, the Kuntskammer is not only a museum of oddities established by Peter the Great over sixty years ago but also houses the Russian Academy of Science and Art (Shiryaev 225). Today, many of the most world-renown scholars study and experiment at the Kunstkammer making discoveries in every kind of science. They even have a journal they publish with their discoveries called "Acta Academiae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae" or "The Acts of the Academy" (Shiryaev 226).

All these things were made known to me by one Semyon Kirillovich Kotel'nikov, an "academician" and a curator at the Kunstkammer (Leonov 108). Ford and I arrived at the museum and were delighted when we were informed that no entry fee was necessary (The History of Kunstkammer). When I told the staff that I was hoping to write a guide of sorts to be published in England, they gladly fetched Semyon Kirillovich to give us a personalized tour and tell us of the history and current state of the Kunstkammer.

The museum houses thousands of curiosities gathered by Tsar Peter’s command. We toured the halls seeing jars of deformed beasts and unsettling phenomena, but additionally, we saw artifacts from all over the world, scientific, cultural, and artistic. Many stuffed animals were there for study as well as a botanical garden (Kuntskamera Museum Exhibitions, Level 2; Shiryaev 225). Semyon took us to some laboratories and library collections where we saw students and teachers taking advantage of the information available. Additionally, we were able to see the observatory that had burned down and been rebuilt. We found the director of the observatory, Rumovskii, and talked with him briefly, for he was very busy (Schulze 326).

Partway through the tour, I realized I hadn’t any idea who the director of the Academy of Science was. Semyon Kirillovich informed us that Princess Dashkova had recently been appointed head (Schulze 322). I had never heard of a female being in charge of such a thing, but I knew that our Tsarina Catherine was very intelligent and must have trusted Princess Dashkova enough to guide the Academy. Semyon Kirillovich praised the Princess for her leadership and said that though she had instituted some reforms, he saw them as beneficial for the Academy (Schulze 331).

I had many questions for our guide concerning the financial state of the Kunstkammer. Luckily, Semyon Kirillovich was privy to some of the policies. Apparently, Tsar Peter had wanted to ensure that the museum was able to continually add to its own growth and allotted a stipend for the acquiring of artifacts and oddities as well as books too (Leonov 109).  

Tsar Peter was very invested in the growth of the Academy of Science and Art. He seemed to have transplanted the ideas of the German and English academies right into Russia. When Peter planned the Academy of Science and Art, he wrote the guidelines called the Project (Schulze 307). Within it, he outlined what the academicians and directors of the Academy were to do. His plans detailed the branches of study the Academy would include,  mandated diligence in gathering information from all parts of the world, and declared the Academy not only a research institution but a teaching one (307-09). He gathered scientists from all over to come to St. Petersburg and study at his facility (Shiryaev 225). However, one of the most famous scientists who studies at the Russian Academy was Russian: Lomonosov (Schulze 311). Lomonosov has since died, but he contributed greatly to the scientific inquiry of chemistry, physics, geology, mineralogy, geography and astronomy (318).

Lomonosov is not the only great scientist who has graced the Academy. Scientists from Germany, Switzerland, and Prussia have also been housed here (Shiryaev 226). We didn’t run into many of these scientists while we were there but were privileged to sit in on a lecture by a Russian chemist name Sokolov (Schulze 319).

Soon, though fascinating the tour, our feet grew weary. I decided to return another day to the Kunstkammer to peruse its oddities and scientific wonders.

Works Cited: 

Leonov, V. P., et al. Libraries in Russia : History of the Library of the Academy of Sciences from Peter the Great to Present. De Gruyter, 2005. EBSCOhost,ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=556516&site=eds-live.

Schulze, Ludmilla. “The Russification of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences and Arts in the Eighteenth Century.” The British Journal for the History of Science, vol. 18, no. 3, 1985, pp. 305–335., www.jstor.org/stable/4026383.

Shiryaev, A. N. "On the History of the Foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences and about the First Articles on Probability Theory in Russian Publications." Theory of Probability & Its Applications, vol. 44, no. 2, June 2000, p. 225. EBSCOhost, ezproxy.uvu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cph&AN=10664715&site=eds-live.

“The History of Kunstkammer.” Kunstkamera: Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography; Russian Academy of Sciences, www.kunstkamera.ru/en/history/the_history_of_kunstkammer/.

       "The First Pages in the History of the Academy of Sciences." Kunstkamera: Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography; Russian Academy of Sciences, http://www.kunstkamera.ru/en/history/encyclopedia_of_peters_kunstkammer/the_first_pages_in_the_history_of_the_academy_of_sciences/

Russian Folktales

I had a great time in Muscovy while I was there. The people were rather fond of my sandwiches, so I didn't wont for employment. Ford also seemed to enjoy taking part in constructing their unique houses. Additionally, by some stroke of mercy, I was raised from poverty for a time by a generous sum of money from my brother. Soon, I was able to wander Muscovy at my leisure and make some acquaintances with the gentry. My Russian has improved quite a bit, and I attribute that partially to the socialization I have been able to accomplish but also due to the amazing tales I became fond of--but more of that later.

A Map of St. Petersburg as I first found it.

Once I started spending time with the gentry of Muscovy, I learned that the Russian monarch, Tsar Peter, has required that all nobility relocate to his new capital in the north, St. Petersburg. The whole ordeal was rather exciting to me, but the Russian nobility were generally put out. I decided to join the nobility and continue my wanderings there, so I once again packed my things. Ford too put down his hammer and joined me again as my vassal. This time, I made sure to bring a towel in case any highwaymen decided to attack.

I secured great lodgings in St. Petersburg by coming into the good graces of a noble family here. They have allowed me to stay with them, and I rather think they believe an acquaintance with an Englishman will endear them to their western-minded monarch. Of course, I have no complaint and have been able to continue to explore what is here in this strangely built city. It seems to change every day, accelerating in growth at an unimaginable rate, making the swamp environment more bearable. Here, I have been able to resume my language studies with one of my favorite pass-times: listening to the storytellers.

While making sandwiches at the inn, I was privileged to hear the spinnings of a storyteller who would often offer me a story for a sandwich. Until recently, the storytellers have had to be rather secretive it seems (Propp 43). I  searched town high and low until I was able to find a suitable pub with one of the most talented storytellers I have heard. And, when my gracious hosts realized my fascination, they invited the storyteller to attend to them and even acquired a book for me called The Great Mirror (Propp 44).

The Great Mirror is a collection of stories that not originally come from Russia, but the book has been translated into Russian from Polish, I believe. Half of the stories have religious overtones and are rather didactic while the others are simply anecdotal (Propp 44). The book is also sometimes called the The Speculum Exemplorum "The mirror of examples" if my Latin is not incorrect.

One of the Lubok with pictures. "Mice Carrying a Cat"

While I was on one of my ramblings, I came across yet another wonderful discovery! While perusing the markets on the street one day, an exuberant vendor shoved a pamphlet of sorts under my nose, “Would the Englishman like a lubok?” he asked. Usually I would have moved on, but I decided to give it a glance. What was written on the pages seemed to be another tale of which I was so fond. I tossed the vendor a kopeck or two and managed to read the whole story before I got home (Terras 149). The Story I read was a bit crude but offered an interesting diversion. Since then, I almost always buy a new pamphlet as I walk through the market.

A picture of the Tsar Maiden.

One of my favorite stories to hear and read is called, “The Tale of the Tsar Maiden” (Propp 46). But I have heard others; "The Tale of the Seven Sages" and "The Tale of Shemyaka's Judgement" are two I have heard often (Terras). "The Tale of the Seven Sages" is one that has also appeared in other works even Chaucer and The Decameron (Terras 111). I have found it in Historia septum sapientum Romae, another compilation of folktales. Even though the story itself is not originally from Russia, the Russians have adopted and tell the story. The story allows the storyteller to tell many tells within a tale.

Some stories have a tragic twist to them, like Father Frost in which a cruel stepmother forces her husband to send his daughter away and fend for herself in the middle of the frosty winter. The sweet daughter ends well because Father Frost takes pity on her, but the cruel stepmother and the stepmother's daughter do not fare so well (Russian Folktales from the 18th Century 889-981).

Father Frost and the Snow Maiden (Дед мороз и Снегурочка)

Russian Folk Tales from the 18th Century. Volume One: The Cultural Heritage Story Book Series, Transcribed and edited by Patrick Bruskiewich, Pythagoras Publishing, 2015.

Terras, Victor. A History of Russian Literature. Yale University Press, 1991.

Propp, Vladimir Yakovlevich Propp. The Russian Folktale. Edited and Translated by Sibelan Forrester, Wayne State University Press, 2012.

The Clothing and Appearance of Russians

Having spent a delightful time in Novgorod, I began to become anxious to experience another city’s attractions. Ford decided he too had had enough of Novgorod, so we departed on horse with all the belongings we could.

We met some….complications.

Not forty-two miles from Muscovy, as we were taking a brief rest at noon-day, some horsemen bore down on us. Any mercy we might have hoped for was lost when we saw them appraise our foreign-ness and pull weapons out of their sleeves as bandits are wont to do here (Olearius 128).

The skirmish was brief: Ford surprised us all by pulling out the first thing he grabbed and--brandishing the towel-- managed to disarm a bandit before we were both restrained. What happened next was humiliating to say the least, but suffice it to say, we had our belongings stolen and naught but our dressing gowns and slippers left. They seemed to think those items of clothing looked too much like normal Russian clothes to be valuable. You see, I later found out that all foreigners in Moscow were required to wear clothing from their native countries so as to reduce confusion on the part of the Russians. Consequently, foreign clothing was at a premium since foreigners had altogether adopted the Russian way of dress (Olearius 129-30).

I did not see the sense in stealing clothes from myself and Ford simply because our clothes were from an entirely different time of English fashion, but I suspect the bandits did not allow such a thing to cross their minds.

Luckily, while I was bemoaning my fate and expecting to die in a strange land at the hand of brutal marauders, a passing hunting party dispersed the fiends. Ford and I were offered company on remaining leg of our journey and even given a kopeck or two out of pity.

On our eventual arrival to Moscow, we were overcome by the grandeur but felt urgently that we must find a way to survive. I resolved to try my hand at sandwich making again, and Ford found work building the extraordinary houses they have here in Moscow (Massie). With the money we had begged, I decided to write my brother for money out of desperation.

It is here I wish to describe the daily dress of the Russian gentlemen in this new place and time I have found myself, for I continue to be forced to wear my dressing gown and slippers here. I am by no means blending in completely, but it would be far worse in England.

The Russian men have a very distinct way of dress. Just as in England, the quality and extravagance of apparel correlates with the status of the wearer. A Russian man will generally wear something of a shirt, which looks like a Greek shirt, but not as long as the Greeks. “The collar is flat and smooth without pleats; and the back, from the shoulder down, is covered with a triangular [piece of cloth] and sewn with red silk” (Olearius 127). Often the collar is clasped with a string or two large pearls. Beneath, they wear trousers of the same light material. Over all this, they may place the kaftan, which can look something like a dressing gown.

A kaftan is something like a coat that buttons or clasps in the front and falls as low as the knees. The sleeves are large (as evidenced from the bandits who cleverly stored weapons in them) and the collars stand tall behind and around the neck (Barbarous 243).

A thin--often gold--girdle is finally tied around the waist with the tassels falling to the ankles. Herein lies a most curious habit of the Russians: they store knives and spoons in their belts for convenience (Barbarous 243). When I first saw this, I thought it was absurd, but I have since mended my ways and store my own sandwich-making tools within my own belt!

Russian men almost always wear a hat. Boyars wear tall, intimidating hats while the common man wears a simple felt or velvet triangular hat. The hats are often made of fox fur, sable, or velvet if the wearer is wealthy. As boyars and other wealthy men pass in the street, I find I gasp at the grand ornamentation of clothes. Boyars especially include vast amounts of gold, jewels, and pearls in their attire.

The boots the Russians wear are created from leather and are pointed at the toe. Heavy winters demand that winter boots be lined with fur. Boots can also be painted.  The Russians experience harsh winters and find comfort and warmth in furs with which they line almost every item of clothing. Even the women add fur to their ensembles frequently (Olearius 128).

In physical appearance, the Russian men have wide bellies and long, thick beards. The hair on their head they keep short, unless, as my friend Ivan told me, they fall out of favor with the tsar.


Works Cited

Cherniavsky, Michael. “Ivan the Terrible as Renaissance Prince.” Slavic Review, vol. 27, no. 2, 1968, pp. 195–211. www.jstor.org/stable/2493710.

Rude and Barbarous Kingdom: Russia in the Accounts of Sixteenth-Century English Voyagers. Edited by Lloyd E. Berry and Robert O. Crummey, The University of Wisconsin Press, 1968.

Olearius, Adam. Travels of Olearius in Seventeenth-Century Russia. Translated and Edited by Samuel H. Baron, Stanford University Press, 1967.

Massie, Suzanne. Land of the Firebird: The Beauty of Old Russia. Heart Tree Press, 1996.