Revolution of 1917 as perceived by the artistic intelligentsia: a historical and philosophical analysis

The paper analyzes the revolution of 1917 and the civil war perceived by different groups of the artistic intelligentsia. The study of the problem is methodologically based, firstly, on recognizing the own subculture possessed by the artistic intelligentsia, and secondly, distinguishing between the concepts of “intelligentsia” and “intellectual”, which has become established in modern historiography. This gives grounds to assert that the perception of the world by the artistic intelligentsia was based not so much on knowledge and rationalism as on the soul — an ephemeral, extremely mobile and indefinite substance, and that this perception was predetermined not by a political position, but by a complex system of spiritual values. The analysis of the set of the motives of the behavior of individual groups of the artistic intelligentsia allows us to conclude that they do not correspond to the worldview and expectations of the bulk of the disadvantaged population.

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