Book Description
'Whenever two Russians come together, the shadow of autocracy is with them...haunting the secret of their silences.' First published in 1911, Under Western Eyes traces the experiences of Razumov, a young Russian student of philosophy who is uninvolved in politics or protest. Against his will he finds himself caught up in the aftermath of a terrorist bombing directed against the Tsarist authorities. He is pulled in different directions - by his conscience and his ambitions, by powerful opposed political forces, but most of all by personal emotions he is unable to suppress. Set in St Petersburg and Geneva, the novel is in part a critical response to Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment but it is also a startlingly modern book. Viewed through the 'Western eyes' of Conrad's English narrator, Razumov's story forces the reader to confront the same moral issues: the defensibility of terrorist resistance to tyranny, the loss of individual privacy in a surveillance society, and the demands thrown up by the interplay of power and knowledge. This new edition is based on the first English edition text, and has a new chronology and bibliography.
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The task is not in truth the writing in the narrative form a _precis_ of a strange human document, but the rendering--I perceive it now clearly--of the moral conditions ruling over a large portion of this earth's surface; conditions not easily to be understood, much less discovered in the limits of a story, till some key-word is found; a word that could stand at the back of all the words covering the pages.
Customer Reviews:
The Reluctant Revolutionary.......2006-09-27
Joseph Conrad had famously hard feelings for the Russians, occupiers of his Polish homeland. In "Under Western Eyes" (1911), Conrad employs tough love in depicting the Russian character, hopelessly divided between reckless radicalism and reactionary reasonlessness, between devotion and despair.
Razumov is a college student in St. Petersberg content to labor under the Czarist system, under which he hopes to advance through study. Fate intervenes in the form of a fellow student, Victor Haldin, fresh from blowing up a secret police chief, who thinks Razumov is the man to aid his escape. Razumov is horrified instead, not at the murderous nature of the act but what it could mean to Razumov's future. Will he turn Haldin in, or try and get him out of the city?
The introduction of my Penguin edition notes a popular criticism of "Under Western Eyes" is that its characters "exist only for the sake of the ideas." That's a problem of much of Conrad's fiction, and after the very taut and thrilling first part is over, we are treated to a number of garden-path colloquies in Geneva that slow things down considerably. But the ideas Conrad deals with, about Russia's political and philosophical underpinnings, are often fascinating and certainly to the point, especially considering the novel was written as the real Russia stood ready to implode from the strife depicted here.
Conrad tended to view revolutionaries with cynical remove, especially when they employed violence as a means to an end, yet many of the revolutionaries we meet here are a more sympathetic lot than the nihilistic goons of "The Secret Agent." "You have either to rot or to burn," explains Sophia Antonovna, a genuinely good character who supports the revolution. She's not one to wither quietly while there's injustice to be fought.
Razumov might disagree. It's not that he believes in the system, just the futility of fighting it. "The exceptional could not prevail against the material contacts which make one day resemble another," he tells himself. "Tomorrow would be like yesterday." But as he is pushed into the world of revolution despite himself, he finds himself doubting more and more the shaky pillars of his prior existence.
It's not clear to me which point-of-view Conrad held; likely he saw the merits of every ideology depicted here, a relativism that made him doubtful of any one solution. Certainly "Under Western Eyes" is about as even-handed a book about revolutionary struggle as you might care to read, compelling, deep, and quotable from first page to last. One wishes that Conrad could have sustained the dramatic force of the Part First in the latter three-fourths of the novel, but what you get is one of Conrad's most important books.
Those thinking novels about Russians are reflexively depressing and opaque are not going to have their minds changed here, but they will enjoy the chance at seeing one of the world's most complicated nations through the prism of one of literature's most discerning, eloquent minds.
Words are the greatest foes of reality.......2006-05-22
An English teacher (the 'Western Eyes') tries to find the truth behind the autobiography of a Russian agent, for 'words are the greatest foes of reality', and 'speech has been given for the purpose of concealing our thought.'
The Russian agent betrayed a friend-terrorist and meets afterwards his sister and mother. His friend combatted autocratic despotism, the destroyer of the spirit of progress and truth, of freedom, law and justice.
This novel is Conrad's version of Dostoevsky's 'Crime and Punishment': 'A moral spectre is infinitely more effective than any visible apparition of death.'
Conrad was a visionary: 'A violent revolution falls into the hands of narrow minded fanatics and tyrannical hypocrites. The scrupulous and the just, the noble, humane and devoted natures, the unselfish and the intelligent may begin a movement but it passes away from them.'
His picture of the world of revolutionary conspirators is excellent: double agents, opportunists, naive idealists, hypocrites, rogues, agitators, fanatics and cynics. 'It did not matter what it was, vanity, despair, love, hate, greed, intelligent pride, a stupid conceit, it was all one to him as long as the man could be made to serve.'
But this book has many flaws: melodramatic overreactions (attack on Ziemianitch, secret love of Razumov), high improbabilities (confession of Razumov, interventions of 'Western Eyes') or the ultimate verdict ('he was the victim of an outrage. He had confessed voluntarily.')
Joseph Conrad was an ambitious writer, but this book has not the same high standard as his masterpieces 'Heart of Darkness' and 'Lord Jim'.
A worth-while read.
"All revolt is the expression of extreme individualism.".......2006-01-16
Impoverished Russian student Kirylo Razumov doesn't have a great deal in life to look forward to. From an obscure background--and possibly illegitimate--Razumov's one dream is to write a prize essay for an upcoming examination. Pathetically, he imagines that winning the coveted silver medal granted by the Ministry of Education will lead to an illustrious career. As Razumov daydreams about the contest, a few miles away, fellow student and revolutionary Victor Haldin throws a bomb on a politician. The politician is killed and Haldin seeks refuge with Razumov until he can safely leave St. Petersburg.
Razumov's solitary ways and quiet intensity have led Haldin to the mistaken conclusion that Razumov is a reflective person with similar political leanings. Razumov, however, sees Haldin's arrival as disastrous, and angrily worries that his unwilling involvement will cause him to seen as part of a revolutionary organization with which he has no sympathy. Razumov chooses to betray Haldin to the authorities and imagines that he will somehow then be free of the entire affair.
Once brought to the attention of the sinister Councillor Mikulin, Razumov is caught in a noose of intrigue and espionage. He becomes a tool for the state as he finds himself recruited as a spy and sent to Switzerland--here he is to report back on the activities of Haldin's mother and sister, Nathalie and any revolutionary contacts Haldin may have had. Razumov isn't motivated by idealism, or politics, nonetheless, he finds himself adrift in a nest of anarchists--with no moral guide, no convictions and no desire to be involved.
"Under Western Eyes" is one of the greatest novels of the twentieth century, and it's arguably Conrad's finest. It's to Conrad's credit that he ultimately creates sympathy for Razumov's character. At first, Razumov's desire to save his own hide seems despicable. But once the less-than-stellar motives of the violent anarchists are revealed, then he is seen caught between two opposing forces--a small insect about to be squashed in the political fanaticism of others. Nathalie Haldin acts as the moral centre of the novel as she refuses to become involved and used by the tainted politics of the "feminist" revolutionary Peter Ivanovitch. Ivanovitch and his decrepit, repulsive patron, Madame de S. spout fine speeches about revolution and equality while savagely and hypocritically mistreating their downtrodden servant, Tekla. Razumov is one of the few characters to recognize this servant as a fellow human being.
Once the story moves to Switzerland, the tale unfolds through the eyes of an English gentleman who admires Nathalie Haldin while remaining a perplexed observer of Russian politics. Conrad includes a few pages of commentary at the end of the novel in which he notes that "the ferocity and imbecility of an autocratic rule" creates an equivalent response--the "atrocious answer of a purely Utopian revolutionism encompassing destruction." "Under Western Eyes" is often overlooked on college curriculums in favour of the more accessible "Heart of Darkness." And that's unfortunate, as this is a marvelously complex novel--displacedhuman
The Conscience of a Conservative.......2005-03-30
You have to be around my age (i.e., older than dirt) to remember Barry Goldwater, a right-wing Republican from Arizona who wrote a book with the above title and spectacularly lost to Lyndon Johnson in the presidential race of '64. I invoke his long-dead phrase because, without the irony, it could be UWE's subtitle. Conrad actively hated leftists and self-proclaimed "revolutionaries," and this disgust shines through all of his best work, from the sniveling proto-unionist Donkin in "...Narcissus" through the bestial "generals" of "Nostromo" and, needless to say, the uber-hypocrite Kurtz. Razumov's moment of conservative illumination, in the snow on the night Haldin destroys his life, can be read as serious, humorous, or anywhere in between--but it is genuine. That fragment he pins to his wall (and which Councilor Mikulin finds so fascinating) sums up with Conradian depth and precision today's popular doctrine of personal responsibility. Peter Ivanovich, one of the slimiest characters on record (not to mention his "Egeria") could easily send major liberals over the wall. Naturally, all readers are free to interpret political novels as they see fit, but Conrad's biographers have documented his rightward tilt. UWE is wonderful proof that genius does not play politics. The novel's other virtues are too numerous to list here. I could read it every year for the rest of my life, and probably will.
But each heart knows sorrow after its own kind.......2004-11-01
Joseph Conrad is one of the most wonderful writers for me (although there are a couple of his novels that I am yet to come to grips with). Often novels give me cause to reflect on my life and my place in the universe, but this one is so personal to me that I wonder if my recommendation can be meaningful to others. You see, the narrator of Under Western Eyes is an English speaking man, an older man, an observer, who becomes a possessor of secret knowledge which reflects on the things he sees taking place around him - of the one holding the secret, of the ones ignorant of it. But the second most important character is a young woman, Natalie Haldin, living away from Russia with her mother (in Geneva). And by chance I have a work-based friendship with a colleague who happens to be a Russian woman living away from Russia (in Australia). The last chapter telling of the final meeting between Natalie and the narrator - for quite personal reasons (but it is so well written) was an emotional torment for me, my final meeting has yet to occur - I hope!
The most important character in the novel (I discount the narrator, as I would myself, although he is of great importance - you may think the greatest) is a young student, Razumov, who betrays Natalie's brother and then is imposed on by the powers to spy on Russian dissidents in Geneva. There he meets Natalie and others who are totally unaware of his role in Natalie's brother's betrayal and subsequent execution. But it is known that he was a fellow student of Natalie's brother so they are drawn to him. Would Natalie and Razumov become romantically allied? Only if the secret is kept?
I will not answer these questions. But I will say that Razumov, weak throughout the novel with the same sort of uncertainties that challenge me, turns out to be the most courageous of characters and, in fact, is afforded one tiny morsel of reward.
Conrad is a great user of words although he does say very early on that words are the great foes of reality (page 1). The title of this review is a quote. Here are two more):
The man who says he has no illusions has at least that one (page 188)
There is always something to weigh down the spiritual side in all of us (page 122)
While the novel may not have the same personal impact for you as it did for me, it is very engaging and rewarding. Typically for Conrad though, the writing is very dense, and for me at least, needed lots of time and reflection.
Amazon.com
Martin Malia, Professor Emeritus of Russian History at the University of California at Berkeley, hopes to rescue Russia from its status as menacing Other and restore it to its rightful place as a member of Europe. In Russia Under Western Eyes, Malia argues that there is no real polarity between Europe and Russia, but that "Russia has at different times been demonized or divinized by Western opinion less because of her real role in Europe than because of the fears and frustrations, or the hopes and aspirations, generated within European society by its own domestic problems." Following recent German historiography, Malia traces a continuum of development from West (most advanced) to East (somewhat laggard) and points out that there is as much difference between, say, Germany and France as between Russia and Europe. In the end, however, Russia remains a poor, weak sister--her growth stunted by bad choices, notably Communism.
Malia chronicles the West's varying assessments: Russia celebrated for its enlightened despotism; Russia despised for its Oriental despotism; Russia welcomed back as simply one distinct culture within Europe; and, after the 1917 Revolution, Russia (to quote Churchill) as a "riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma." Nearly half the book focuses in on Soviet Russia, as both an "experiment" (1917 to 1945) and as an "empire" (1945 to 1991). Not one to sit on the fence, Malia is clear about his position: Soviet Communism is an experiment that failed because Communism itself is doomed to fail. Though many scholars agree, Malia's anti-Soviet ferocity (he has often been described as "an old-fashioned cold warrior") somewhat diminishes the scholarly value of this work. General readers, however, will appreciate the sweeping scope of this remarkable book.
Book Description
As the dust clears from the fall of Communism, will Western eyes see Russia, the unclaimed orphan of Western history or Russia as she truly is, a perplexing but undeniable member of the European family? A dazzling work of intellectual history by a world-renowned scholar, spanning the years from Peter the Great to the fall of the Soviet Union, this book gives us a clear and sweeping view of Russia not as an eternal barbarian menace but as an outermost, if laggard, member in the continuum of European nations.
The Russian troika hurtles through these pages. The Spectre, modernity's belief in salvation by revolutionary ideology, haunts them. Alice's looking glass greets us at this turn and that. Throughout, Martin Malia's inspired use of these devices aptly conveys the surreality of the whole Soviet Russian phenomenon and the West's unbalanced perception of it. He shows us the usually distorted images and stereotypes that have dominated Western ideas about Russia since the eighteenth century. And once these emerge as projections of the West's own internal anxieties, he shifts his focus to the institutional structures and cultural forms Russia shares with her neighbors.
Here modern Europe is depicted as an East-West cultural gradient in which the central and eastern portions respond to the Atlantic West's challenge in delayed and generally skewed fashion. Thus Russia, after two centuries of building then painfully liberalizing its Old Regime, in 1917 tried to leap to a socialism that would be more advanced and democratic than European capitalism. The result was a cruel caricature of European civilization, which mesmerized and polarized the West for most of this century. As the old East-West gradient reappears in genuinely modern guise, this brilliantly imaginative work shows us the reality that has for so long tantalized--and eluded--Western eyes.
Customer Reviews:
More Interesting than Most Intellectual Histories.......2002-03-12
Why I bought this book:
I was reading The Bathhouse at Midnight, which is about magic in Russia. Malia's book was cited lots. I didn't have it, and was starting to feel that "I'm missing something" sensation. So I went on a bookstore crawl and found Russia Under Western Eyes.
This is a good book.
I enter this rather tentatively. I don't usually comment on what I call "real books" even though I read them, feeling that I don't have the qualifications. Ye Olde BA doesn't seem to mean much, anymore.
On the other hand, if you are an educated person who generally flees at high speed from "intellectual history", read this.
Malia is not a socialist. He may or may not deconstruct in other books, for all I know he is a firm believer in what Kelly Neff refers to as literary donatism (which is all I believe deconstruction is in the end). In this book he writes as if you were meant to read it, which makes a nice change.
He chooses to bounce Western intellectual history off dreams of Russia. Is there anything new in it? No. His point is simple and (if you bothered to pay any attention to pre-Revolutionary Russia) glaringly obvious. On the other hand, we are so enamoured of the disaffected intelligent from the 1860's on that we ignore what they were painfully aware of - their ideas were adapted from the West. It irritated them, but there it was. The West has consistently shown a tendency to bounce its ideals and its nightmares off Russia; as a point for guidance in a sea of material, it's not a bad one.
Malia doesn't like what communism did to Russia. Neither do I. Anyone who stands up and says communism was a bad thing tends to get a "good boy!" from me. Good little socialists, beware: he handles hard and soft versions of the ideal briskly. The reviewer who wants to make him an embittered right-winger needs to do a re-think, and maybe a re-read without the blinkers; Malia mentions that Europe asked if Russia was part of it, he never questions it. Malia points up a pattern - Russia tends to hit similar points of politics and economics about 50 years after the West. OK, but this doesn't mean Russia is out of the modern world, and Malia says so. That, in fact, was part of the problem.
Ask the average Russian if he'd like to live like an American without having to be one. He'd probably say "Bring it on!" We're still letting the disaffected intelligentsia form our opinions - oh, suburbia, too boring, such ennui, oh, the deadening of our souls by wealth! Our souls are our personal responsibility, and poverty in my view is miserable, not enlightening. Sharing the wealth is a fine thing, provided that we remember that the point is to have no more poor, not reduce everyone to an identical level of penury.
Malia gets it right, the book is interesting if not new, and it remembers that the question the socialists never ask is, in your new society of fulfillment, who handles the garbage?
Monumental.......2001-03-31
It is difficult to explain this book in the space of a few sentences, because the scope of its topic is breathtaking, and its depth considerable. This is not a book about Russia per se; rather, it is about the symbiosis of Russia and Europe over the last 300 years. For as Malia clearly demonstrates, Russia - in all her iterations - cannot be considered without taking into account the philosophical (and hence ideological and political) influences of Europe. Russia is Europe, and very much the product of evolving European movements spawned by the Enlightenment - such rationalism, romanticism, and socialism.
In this reader's analysis, a central theme in Russia Under Western Eyes is how efforts to rationalize human society culminated in the dark experiment launched in the Red October of 1917. Malia demonstrates how Lenin perverted Marx by making the proletariat subservient to the Party, and how sheer folly was maintained through a jettisoning of principles and reliance on `the Method' through the successive stewardship of Stalin, Khruschev, Breshnev, and ending with Gorbachev.
My only complaint: while Malia is right in asserting that the planned economy of the USSR was decaying on its own from the end of World War II, Ronald Reagan's appearance on the world stage, and the effect his policy of confrontation had on bringing the Cold War to its omega point, deserves a more considered treatment. This is mitigated, however, by Malia's excellent treatment of the dissidents and their contribution to exposing the Soviet lie.
This is a tome of erudition, written by a scholar who has an amazing grasp of the `big picture.' One will draw from it a good understanding of the philosophical development of Europe, the ideas that changed the face of the Continent, and their effect on Russia through the centuries.
Like the Marquis de Custine, Malia has peeked through the sometimes brocaded, sometimes iron curtains of Russia and recorded poignant observations for posterity. Unlike Custine, however, Malia has produced a balanced work that will be ranked as indispensable to an understanding of Russia and Europe.
Right-Wing Intellectual History.......2000-06-09
Russia Under Western Eyes is actually a right-wing history of "European thought.". Malia is an Idealist, which is to say that like many professors he is convinced that the world turns on the opinions of professors. Specifically, he joins Peter Gay in what he calls "the party of humanity"--which actually means, "the party of grumpy old professors who are convinced the world falling apart when they stopped requiring ties in the Faculty Club."
Malia sees himself as a great healer, preparing Russia, like the dishonored daughter of a respectable family, for eventual readmission to Europe. Malia's hope for Russia is that, after fifty years of penance, Russia may at long last be allowed to "converge" with Central Europe, and after another 50 years, be fit to walk beside that most glorious corner of the globe, Western Europe. Russians themselves don't seem to have been consulted on the matter; in proper Victorian manner, Malia diagrams Russia's salvation without asking the mere natives for their opinion.
Most of us have had arguments like the one that occupies Malia: "Is Russia actually part of Europe?" But we've had them in the traditional context: in the dorms, after taking a first-year survey course titled something like "Modern Europe: Robespierre to Raskolnikov," or "Moliere to Madonna" or "...Nationalism, Rationalism and that Other One"--a course invariably taught by one embittered rightwing professor and twelve sullen underpaid TA's.
When you try to take this kind of argument seriously under any other circumstances (outside the dorms, past the age of 18), the question of Russia's inclusion in Europe tends to devolve into pointless arguments about the definition of "Europe." Either the term refers simply to that part of Eurasia west of the Urals--in which case we can settle the whole question with a simple road map--or "Europe" is forced to carry an insupportable load of normative baggage about "the essence of the European character." And such questions are better left unasked, because they lead either to massive bloody world wars or, even worse, to Dutch hippies bragging about how bravely they resist Fascism by pinstriping German tourists' BMWs when nobody's looking.
On those rare occasions when Malia actually discusses in detail the history of shifts in the perception of Russia by Europe, he makes some very interesting points, notably that Russia has often been most feared when it was least aggressive and powerful (as in the latter half of the nineteenth century), and most trusted when it was at its most expansionist (especially under Peter I and Catherine the Great).
But there's far too little detail on the history of Western images of Russia, and far too much of the old Daniel Mornet, Lester Crocker potted, tendentious intellectual histories, all focusing on Europe, not Russia. When you reach the end of this odd book, you wonder: Honestly, Professor-Emeritus Malia, what does Russia have to do with this faculty-club spat ? Russia, in your book, has been dragged, as so many times before, into a European war she could well have been spared.
Subtext contra socialism.......2000-04-18
Malia's book, following on similar work in Soviet Tragedy, aims at making history out of the so-called great thinkers that loved or hated Russia in tsarist and Soviet forms. As always, his main target is Karl Marx and the intellectuals who would impose similar ideas onto real life--the nasty results of which were made especially clear in the unqualified disaster of Oct 1917. 1917 plays the critical role of sabotaging one kind of European development in favor of a socialist path (which also can be seen as European). And unfortunately, the only non-Euro perception of Russia emerges from the dissidents who lay bare the bones of the Soviet skeleton. The book interestingly shows how Europeans over centuries wavered in their view of Russia, but the real target is socialism and the horrific spectacle that it finally manifested before 1991 (and which some have not yet recognized).
God Save Debasia!.......2000-03-18
Please consider adding the following review to the pubished reviews for this book. I include the review and the email permission to submit this review to Amazon.com
I submitted the review once before, in February or late January. Today, I received an email from the Amazon.com orders department that said the review as not in your database under my email address. I have included this email, as well.
THE REVIEW
GOD SAVE DEBASIA! By John Dolan ...
A review of Russia Under Western Eyes: From the Bronze Horseman to the Lenin Mausoleum By Martin Malia Belknap-Harvard University Press 1999
Russia Under Western Eyes has been praised by the most high mandarins of the Beigeocracy. Only one anonymous reader pipes up on Amazon.com with a quibble about the Emperor's taste in clothes, stammering that the book is "not [actually] about Russia." But then, frightened at his own presumption, the reader quickly adds, "That is not a criticism of the book..." Ah, but it is! And it raises an interesting question: if Malia's book isn't about Russia, what is it about?
Most of the book is actually devoted to a standardized, if slightly right-wing, history of European thought. --"European thought"...that very phrase summons up, in its callow hubris, the syllabi of first-year History courses at any American university. Malia actually believes in "European thought"--not simply that such a thing exists and can be defined
unambiguously, but that it makes history. He is an Idealist--which is to say that, like many professors, he is convinced that the world turns on the opinions of professors. Specifically, he joins Peter Gay in what he calls "the party of humanity"--which actually means, "the party of grumpy old professors who are convinced the world started going to Hell in a handbasket when they stopped requiring ties in the Faculty Club."
Malia sees himself as a great healer, preparing Russia--like the deflowered daughter of a respectable family of burghers--for eventual readmission to that peaceful and dynamic family, Europe. As the fallen woman wrapped in the "lurid" red shroud of Lenin, Russia must trail behind the good daughters of Mother Europe: kind, benificent nations like England, which after all has only exterminated a few few tens of millions from Ireland to Shanghai. Malia's hope for Russia is that, after some years of penance (50 years or so by Malia's calculations), the Russian whore may at long last be allowed to "converge" with Central Europe; and after another 50 years-a full century of Purgatory--Russia might, by Malia's estimate, be fit to walk beside that most glorious corner of the globe, Western Europe. Just think: Moscow, hand in hand with Antwerp! (Or Glasgow, or Nancy...)
Neither Malia nor his reviewers seem worried about how Russians might view this grossly patronizing discussion of Russia's future. As Queen Victoria
would say, one doesn't ask the whore-in-question whether she wishes to be rescued; one simply does one's duty. It doesn't seem to've crossed Malia's mind that the average Russian, contemplating the prospect that Moscow might someday be just like suburban London, might prefer to tell Europe to stick its Protestant Soup up its skinny techno ass, clean off his AK, and walk westward firing from the hip.
The ethical wobbles of the thesis are exceeded only by its intellectual flaccidity. Most of us have had arguments like the one which occupies Malia: "Is Russia actually part of Europe?" But we've had them in the proper circumstances: at age eighteen. On speed. In the dorms. To the music of some roommate-rock college radio station, after taking a first-year survey course titled something like "Modern Europe: Robespierre to Raskolnikov," or "Moliere to Madonna" or "...Nationalism, Rationalism and that Other One"--the sort of huge survey course inevitably taught by one embittered rightwing professor (a role Malia himself played at UC Berkeley) and twelve sullen underpaid TA's.
When you try to take this kind of argument seriously under any other circumstances (outside the dorms, before 3 am, w/o drugs, past the age of 18), the question of Russia's inclusion in Europe tends to devolve into pointless arguments about the definition of "Europe." Either the term refers simply to that part of Eurasia west of the Urals--in which case we
can settle the whole question with a simple road map--or "Europe" is forced to carry an insupportable load of normative baggage: tedious crap about "the essence of the European character." And such questions are better left unasked, because they lead either to massive bloody world wars or, even worse, to Dutch hippies bragging about how bravely they resist Fascism by pinstriping German tourists' BMWs when nobody's looking.
On those rare occasions when Malia actually discusses in detail the history of shifts in the perception of Russia by Europe, he makes some very interesting points, notably that Russia has often been most feared when it was least aggressive and powerful (as in the latter half of the nineteenth century), and most trusted when it was at its most expansionist (especially under Peter I and Catherine the Great).
But there's far too little detail on the history of Western images of Russia, and far too much of the old Daniel Mornet, Lester Crocker potted, tendentious intellectual histories, all focusing on Europe, not Russia. When you reach the end of this odd book, you wonder: Honestly, Professor-Emeritus Malia, what the Hell does Russia have to do with your faculty-club spat ? Russia, in your book, has been dragged, as so many times before, into a Eurpoean war she could well have been spared.
THE PERMISSION Subj:: : (John Dolan)
Please do.
-----Original Message...; To: ; Date: Sunday, January 30, 2000 6:38 PM Subject: A review of Russia Under Western Eyes: From the Bronze Horseman t
> >I check out Amazon.com and your excellent review is not provided under >"editorial reviews." > >If you say OK, I will submit the exile review, with the appropriate >attribution, as a reader review... >
----------------------- Headers -------------------------------- Mar 2000 19:25:21 -0800 (PST) Received: (fr
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Under Western Eyes
Manufacturer: New Directions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Conrad, Joseph
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ASIN: B000GVI8M0 |
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Under Western Eyes: India from Milton to Macaulay (Post-Contemporary Interventions)
Balachandra Rajan , and
Balachandra Rajan
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0822322986 |
Book Description
Spanning nearly two and a half centuries of English literature about India, Under Western Eyes traces the development of an imperial discourse that governed the English view of India well into the twentieth century. Narrating this history from its Reformation beginnings to its Victorian consolidation, Balachandra Rajan tracks this imperial presence through a wide range of literary and ideological sites. In so doing, he explores from a postcolonial vantage point collusions of gender, commerce, and empireâwhile revealing the tensions, self-deceptions, and conflicts at work within the English imperial design.
Rajan begins with the Portuguese poet Camões, whose poem celebrating Vasco da Gama’s passage to India becomes, according to its eighteenth-century English translator, the epic of those who would possess India. He closely examines Milton’s treatment of the Orient and Dryden’s Aureng-Zebe, the first English literary work on an Indian subject. Texts by Shelley, Southey, Mill, and Macaulay, among others, come under careful scrutiny, as does Hegel’s significant impact on English imperial discourse. Comparing the initial English representation of its actions in India (as a matter of commerce, not conquest) and its contemporaneous treatment of Ireland, Rajan exposes contradictions that shed new light on the English construction of a subaltern India.
Giving postcolonial thought a historical dimension, Under Western Eyes also places literary history in new perspective through postcolonial readings. It will interest scholars of cultural history, particularly British imperial history, and those engaged with postcolonial, literary, subaltern, South Asian, and cultural studies.
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Under Western Eyes a Novel
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Doubleday, Page & Company
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Conrad, Joseph
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ASIN: B000IRSTJO |
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Bajo La Mirada De Occidente / Under Western Eyes (Biblioteca De Autor / Author Library)
Joseph Conrad
Manufacturer: Alianza (Buenos Aires, AR)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Conrad, Joseph
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Conrad, Joseph
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ASIN: 8420660221 |
Average customer rating:
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Conrad, "Almayer's Folly" Through "Under Western Eyes"
Daniel R. Schwarz
Manufacturer: Cornell Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
20th Century
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Contemporary
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British
| Short Stories
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ASIN: 0801413117 |
Books:
- Wandering Home: A Long Walk Across America's Most Hopeful Landscape:Vermont's Champlain Valley and New York's Adirondacks (Crown Journeys)
- Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards: Gender and Sexual Anxieties of Iranian Modernity
- Writings of St. Paul (Norton Critical Edition)
- Wuthering Heights (Collected Works of Emily Bronte)
- 21: The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey (Aubrey/Maturin Series)
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics)
- American Short Story Masterpieces
- Apparel Manufacturing: Sewn Product Analysis (4th Edition)
- Archipelago : Islands of Indonesia
- Astral Voyages
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