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Pushkin is our best history teacher
Historically, this holiday is associated with the end of the Time of Troubles in Russia in the 17th century. But we know that the Time of Troubles has been going on for a long time, and the current situation in relations with Poland makes this holiday even more significant. Therefore, despite the historical inaccuracy, the holiday was discontinued.
What should I do? History is everything to us. Since we live “inside” history, history contains our historical memories and shapes our way of thinking. According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, it leaves a trace when it leaves.
But how can we learn history, which we already know is everything to us? My answer: With the help of "All Ours" - Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin!
Don't be surprised. Let me remind you that the idea "Pushkin is our everything" was first expressed by the Russian writer Apollon Aleksandrovich Grigoriev in 1859 in his essay "A Look at Russian Literature after Pushkin's Death". As a result, studying history with the help of a national genius is just what the doctor ordered. Nathan Yakovlevich Eidelman, an outstanding historian, writer and publicist, had the opportunity to assess the scale of A.S. Pushkin's personality as a historian in the book "A.S. Pushkin: History and Modernity".
If "if you become a historian, you are born a poet", then why should someone who was born such a poet become a historian? Indeed, due to their constant interest in Russian classics of the past, only Karamzin and Pushkin can be considered professional scientists. Because along with literary works, purely scientific methods of work were used. It was not only artistically comprehended, but previously unknown facts, entire layers of material were discovered.
If we analyze the poet's historical and artistic works, do we not discover very important and necessary ideas that will benefit the historian of our century? Do we not expect here some way to cope with the past, which will probably become our scientific future even in a century and a half?
Studying Pushkin's historical works "reveals much more than meets the eye. It illuminates not only what the poet discovered or overlooked, but also important details about things to which we do not always have access, but which are very interesting. The process of uniting the past and the present into a single category of consciousness; It approaches such important questions as the role of reason, emotion, science and art in the perception of history. As an opportunity to predict the future; As facts accumulate and science develops, some features of the historical worldview are simultaneously acquired and lost."
N. Ya. Eidelman was inspired by the following remarkable observation made in the last century: "Pushkin belongs to a constantly living phenomenon that does not stop at the moment of death, but continues to develop in the consciousness of society. Each era makes its own judgment about them. No matter how accurately you understand, you will always leave the next era to say something new and more truthful, and no one will be able to express everything...
The modern historian, in his own words, finds himself at the source (Pushkin) from which flows the light of pure truth.
It is noteworthy that Pushkin conceived of publishing an almanac, Sovremennik, on all the most important aspects of Russian life, including history, literature, politics, and science. For this, the "sailors" beat him up. Here are a few examples of, so to speak, "compassionate" criticism:
"The poet exchanged his golden lyre for the squeaky, ever-working pen of the journalist. He gave up his freedom for nothing."
"Meanwhile, the poet rested on his laurels too early and, instead of responding to us with new poetic works, published thick, heavy volumes of dry and boring magazines, filled with other people's articles. Instead of the great, strong and beautiful poetry of his heyday, we read his slow, lazy prose and his bitter, sad complaints. Have pity on the poet!
It is noteworthy that Pushkin, publishing Sovremennik, embodies the most modern anthropological approach, including a synthesis of science and culture. Among other things, he hoped that such an almanac would bring in profit and allow him to pay off his debts. But I was wrong. Pushkin, who wanted to raise his readership to his level, to his aesthetic requirements, clearly overestimated the artistic tastes and intellectual needs of his contemporaries. Or maybe he understood the difficulties of his business, but did not want the current situation and could not give up.
This modern approach to the history of Pushkin is reflected in the poem by N. Ya. It was felt that Eidelman followed his idol step by step, trying to find out what was hidden behind Pushkin's prose, poetry and journalism.
I was lucky to attend N. Ya.'s lectures together with my students. At the lecture given at our school by the remarkable historian, he spoke in simple and understandable language to senior students about how every time Russia was at a turning point in its development, striving for modernization, disputes flared up around the personality of Peter. On the one hand, Pushkin paid tribute to Peter, who opened a window to Europe and ensured the comprehensive modernization of the economy, military affairs, governance, education and everyday life of Russia. But on the other hand, the cruel methods of modernization, which destroyed the destinies of individuals, were unacceptable in the poet's moral outlook. All this is in The Bronze Horseman. "This is already for you!" - Evgeny challenges Peter.
In this lecture, Nathan Yakovlevich expressed the idea that politics and morality are in principle incompatible, but if politics deviates too far from morality, catastrophe is inevitable.
The 20th century gave us bloody examples of modernization. Stalin, for example, suffered from famine. China may remember Mao's "Great Leap Forward" that killed millions. But at the same time, it enriched history with the experience of a bloodless revolution carried out by the writer and playwright, the President of Czechoslovakia Vaclav Havel. He carried out a peaceful and conflict-free "divorce" with the then Czech Republic. And Slovakia. In contrast, remember the bloody anti-communist coup that took place in Romania on December 25, 1989. As a result, the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena were shot. Anti-communist coups took place almost simultaneously in Czechoslovakia and Romania, but were bloodless in one country and excessively bloody in the other. It depends on the historical figure!
The past cannot be changed, so it is worth learning from history and fighting for the future. History does not tolerate the subjunctive mood. But why "whether you fly or crawl, the end is known: everyone will fall to the ground and everything will turn to dust ..." (M. Gorky) From this indisputable history follows a joyless fatalism. As usual, popular humor responded to this gloomy prospect. The fairy tale myth of the Knight of the Crossroads is well known. It was written in 1878 by V.M.
This work is a unique interpretation of the epic about Ilya Muromets. On the Hero's Path there was a stone with a strange inscription engraved on it. According to the prophecies, if Ilya turned one way, he would be killed, in another - he would get married, and in a third - he would become rich. The man decided to try his luck and went along the road that led to his death. He encountered 40 robbers, but managed to defeat them. Then he returned to the stone and wrote that the prophecy did not come true. The same thing happened on other routes.
The painting captures the moment of destruction. At this moment, the knight does not yet know how his journey will end and whether what the inscription on the stone predicted will come true. The rider lowers his head and a sad thought takes hold of him. Muted tones, black birds and scattered bones emphasize the gloomy mood.
And the humorous reaction of the public in the form of jokes is as follows: The gloomy knight, a warrior, a hero, seasoned in military exploits, stood thoughtfully at a crossroads, wondering which way to choose. Then a voice was heard from the sky: "If you stand still too long, you will get a punch in the face!"
In my opinion, the thesis that history does not tolerate the subjunctive mood is yet another tricky answer that leads away from the necessary question. With such a "choice", so to speak, the only thing left to do is to choose the path of the fool, to which Kirill Komarov's poem is dedicated.
I stood for a long time, not knowing where to go.
And if you go straight ahead..." And here you can’t figure out a damn thing.
I chose this path. And it was a stupid path.
This is how we teach them to think about money and sex.
The world speaks to you, but you do not know its language.
How do I know that I am following the path of a fool?
In fact, it turns out that the person who chose this path was not a fool at all. Let's remember the beginning of many Russian fairy tales. "My eldest son was a smart child, and my second son was such and such. "My brother was a complete idiot." Faced with a stupid choice, the younger son acts according to the situation and wins the battle with luck.
Therefore, let us trust Pushkin with understanding our fundamental history.