From “Vremia” to “Epokha”: The Polish Issue in the Journals of M.M. and F.M. Dostoevsky in the Context of the Russian Nation Discourse

Abstract

The Polish uprising of 1863 was the starting point for the start of discussions about the Russian nation. The staff of “Vremya” and “Epokha” magazines, published by the Dostoyevsky brothers, took an active part in those discussions. Representatives of this group can be identifi ed as Pochvennniks (national loyalists). Positioning themselves as supporters of a center path between Westerners and Slavophils, the Pochvenniks put forward their own concept of the Russian nation formation. First, they assumed that Russia was a separate civilization, different from the European civilization. Secondly, the Poles were perceived as a standard of something «different», starting from which the Russian nation was constructed. Unlike the Slavophils, who saw the ideal in the past, and the Westerners, who were focused on the future, the Pochvenniks proceeded from the assumption that the Russian nation was being formed there and then. A prerequisite for its formation was the abolition of serfdom, and a catalys – the Polish uprising. The success of the Russian nation creation process depended on the two factors: establishment of the unity between educated society and the people and the refusal to follow the mainstream of Western civilization.