Why should we know Russian culture?

Some people say that Russia is a wild, distant country. That Russia cannot match the European cultural standard. The intellectual elite will laugh at you if you say it. If you don’t know the russian culture you don’t know the world culture. You don’t know the modern thoughts and thoughts which excited great minds in the past.

To prove my opinion I will show you “The 10 Greatest Books of All Time”.

As you can see, 4 books from this list were written by Russians. This sets a high bar for the level of Russian culture. However, this is only part of the whole culture. Russia has a deep philosophical tradition, brilliant art, Russian ballet and the greatest composers.

Russian culture played a significant role in the 19th century. The end of this century was called the Silver Age of Russian culture. This could mean her intensified revival. This could be compared to the golden age of the Russian classics. A classic that showed the world that the Russian people are not going to remain on the sidelines of history. The flourishing of romanticism, the deep spread of existentialism, a tender attitude towards the human personality and a natural understanding of human psychology — all this cannot exist in a “wild, cold country”.

It should be noted that I divide Russian and Soviet culture. Pre-revolutionary Russia was a source of inspiration, the Soviet Union was a place where inspiration was destroyed. Never put an equal sign between them. I will write about this later.

Do you still think that Russia doesn’t have a great culture? A positive answer to this question can only mean that you are illiterate. You don’t know how to understand art, see the intent of the texts and just live an intellectual life.

For those who want to get to know Russian culture better, I ask you to stay close. I have a lot more interesting things to tell