“Games” of Enlightenment: The Contribution of Historical Studies to Sociological Theory of early Russian Modernity

Abstract

This essay is constructed in the form of a sociological re-interpretation of the ideas outlined in a book written by A. Stroyev titled “Avantyuristy Prosveshcheniya [Adventurers of Enlightenment.]”, representing by itself a unique example of humanitarian synthesis of historical and philological methods in studying the very phenomenon of European adventurism. The author, an internationally recognized expert in the history of western literature, realized a long-term project dedicated to researching European adventurers and what life was like for them in the Russian Empire during the second half of the 18th century. At that time the word “adventurer” had less of a negative connotation than before or since. The term was used to define an individual who was not restricted in their mobility, be it territorial, textual or societal. There were quite a few personalities who etched their names into Russian history books. They were mostly Frenchmen and Italians, among which were famous figures like Casanova and Cagliostro, but a lot of those adventurers were not nearly as well known, as impactful as they were. They were not scammers or charlatans; moreover, their identity was not about fooling members of society by any means. All of them were highly educated, extremely creative persons and gifted writers. They were not content with their identity being boiled down to any single aspect: they constructed their lives as a piece of art, regularly changing their image and occupation. All of their behavioral patterns appealed to play and theater-like acting. Thus, Russian elites were very attracted to them, this including empresses, as were ordinary lay people. In this sense they contributed to the very process of conceiving new social roles in Russia’s conservative society, while disseminating values of freedom and equality, republicanism, and network-societies, and finally promoting and embodying the philosophy and ideals of a highly mobile modern individual. Playing the roles of knowledgeable “consultants”, they cultivated the taste for social imagination and utopianism among Russian aristocracy, and not only. French philosophers, visiting Russia as adventurers and keeping respectful relations with Kathrine II, offering her their consultancy, nevertheless did not influence the course of Russian modernization. They failed in all attempts to prove their theoretical constructions in practice. And Russian authorities, on its side, rejected their advice as being inadequate to our realities, strengthening so far anti universalism in politics and culture. To sum things up, we can say that European adventurers inadvertently facilitated the early Modern process of transgression of the vast majority of old principles and stereotypes. But nevertheless, all of these social consequences were unintentional and, in many ways, accidental. Adventurers were ego-driven, and with them being the new social “facts per se” they were a powerful driving force that contributed to long term repercussions in Russia’s westernization.