Russia and Europe

Chapter 7: Is the West Decaying?

 7  Is the West Decaying?     O,  never  on  earth,  from  the  days  of  creation,   Was  seen  such  brilliant  illumination!   But  woe,  the  age  passed,  and  a  deathly  shroud   Covered  the  whole  West  in  dark  profound…   Hear  the  voice  of  fate  take  a  new  cadence:   Awake,  slumbering  East,  into  new  radiance!   —Khomiakov1     In  the  preceding  chapters,  I  have  tried  to  show  that  the  classification  and  com-­‐‑ parison  of  historical  events  as  developmental  stages,  or  steps  toward  perfec-­‐‑ tion,  contradicts  the  laws  of  natural  systems,  since  it  does  not  encompass  the   full  gamut  of  phenomena,  and  as  in  zoology  or  botany,  leads  to  an  artificial   system  in  the  construction  of  a  science.  To  the  division  into  ancient,  medieval,   and  modern,  or  more  numerous  periods  as  levels  of  development,  a  qualita-­‐‑ tive  distinction  must  be  added  by  introducing  the  dividing  principle  of  cul-­‐‑ tural-­‐‑historical  types  as  the  highest  principle  of  division.  I  attempted  to  define   the  indicators  for  grouping  historical  phenomena,  and  from  those  I  found  the   major   ethnographic   distinctions   by   which   humanity   is   divided   into   several   large   groups.   One   of   these   groups   consists   of   the   Slavic   family   of   peoples,   which   are   just   as   distinct   as   the   Sanskrit,   Iranian,   Hellenic,   Latin,   and   Ger-­‐‑ manic  peoples.  Thus  the  family  of  Slavic  peoples  forms  an  original  cultural-­‐‑ historical  type,  just  like  the  other  tribes  named  here.  If  the  Slavic  type  is  de-­‐‑ nied  the  independent  development  of  its  principles,  then  it  must  be  denied  all   historical  significance  and  reduced  to  the  level  of  mere  ethnographic  material,   to   serve   foreign   goals—and   the   sooner,   the   better.   To   clarify,   a   digression   seems  necessary  to  explain  the  relationship  of  the  national  to  the  universally   human,   both   in   general   and   particularly   concerning   scientific   development,   which  usually  resists  [the  influence  of]  nationality  all  the  more.  I  will  rely  on   external,  formal  evidence.  I  do  not  address  the  essence  of  the  Slavic  character   nor  the  essence  of  the  character  of  other  cultural-­‐‑historical  types,  but  only  try   to  show  that  if  the  Slavic  family  has  the  same  degree  of  difference  from  other   ethnographic  families  of  humanity  in  general,  and  the  families  of  Aryan  ex-­‐‑ traction  in  particular,  as  they  have  from  each  other,  then  the  root  difference  in   historical-­‐‑cultural   development   must   also   be   the   same.   The   only   argument                                                                                                                             1  From  the  1834  poem  “Mechta”  (The  Dream).   136 RUSSIA AND EUROPE against  this  seems  to  be  the  following.  The  analogy  assumes  an  original  Slavic   civilization,  but  the  Slavic  tribe  might  be  an  exception,  not  unique  enough  to   develop  or  produce  a  distinctive  culture.  This  argument  often  comes  with  a   categorical  challenge  to  explain  what  exactly  this  new  civilization  will  consist   of,  what  its  science,  art,  civil  and  social  order,  etc.,  will  be  like.  In  my  view  this   is  completely  absurd,  since  if  it  were  possible  to  give  a  satisfactory  answer,   there  would  be  no  reason  for  this  civilization  to  develop.  In  general  terms,  I   can  only  give  a  tentative  answer  to  this  difficult  question  by  comparing  its  be-­‐‑ ginnings,  in  the  character  of  civilizations  that  have  managed  to  reveal  them-­‐‑ selves  to  this  point  in  the  Slavic  cultural-­‐‑historical  type.  But  a  firmer  answer   to  this  question  is  a  long  way  off.  For  now  we  must  turn  to  an  investigation,   not  into  the  more  or  less  likely  future  results  of  this  development  from  time   immemorial,  but  into  those  fundamental  distinctions  between  the  Slavic  type   and  the  Germanic-­‐‑Roman  or  European  type,  since  the  whole  question  rests  on   this  distinction.  I  do  not  hope  to  settle  the  whole  matter  of  this  difference,  but   would  wish  to  present  some  of  its  characteristics,  the  foundations  of  which   were  already  articulated  by  the  Slavophiles  to  which  I  have  taken  the  liberty   of  making  a  few  additions.  But  before  we  begin  with  this,  I  would  like  to  clear   up  one  essentially  inconsequential  formal  concern  which  must  be  resolved  be-­‐‑ fore  we  enter  into  another  line  of  thought  and  evidence.   Many  in  the  past  have  wrangled  over  this  question:  If  Slavs  have  the  right   to  historical-­‐‑cultural  distinctiveness,  then  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  they   have   unfortunately   chosen   an   unwelcome   time   to   present   themselves   and   their  demands.  The  West,  or  Europe,  finds  itself  at  the  apogee  of  its  civiliza-­‐‑ tional  greatness.  Its  splendor  shines  to  all  corners  of  the  globe;  the  world  is   enlightened  and  warmed  by  the  light  and  heat  coming  forth  from  it.  Is  this   any  time  for  the  modest  beginnings  of  a  new  culture  or  a  new  civilization  to   appear?  And  why  this...