Talk2010

George Kennan and the Russian Nihilists: A Sojourn into the Dialectics of Friendship

John W. Kluge Center (library Of Congress)

At the Library of Congress

Clips are not offered for this film: the Library of Congress states its rights in its own words, not as a public licence, which leaves reuse unclear.

About

In 1885 George Kennan travelled to Russia as a reporter for "The Century" to investigate and write about the so-called Nihilists. Hundreds of political dissidents had been exiled to Siberia since the mid-1870s, and in 1881 Russia's most violent revolutionaries attracted international attention with the assassination of Alexander II. "The Century" hoped to capitalize upon a prurient interest in "bomb-throwing fanatics." However, what Kennan met instead in Siberia were dozens of earnest and rational young men and women who told of a cruel and despotic regime and proved to be cultured individuals sharing Americans' love of freedom and democracy. This talk draws upon philosophical inquiries into the nature of friendship to explore several of Kennan's relationships with revolutionaries during a pivotal time in both American and Russian history. It shows the extent to which the private and the political spheres overlap, and suggests that because friendship is historically conditioned and therefore not what it once was, so too has politics changed.

Archive
Library of Congress, in Library of Congress: talks and concerts
Licence or status
Rights statement at the Library of Congress, as the Library of Congress states it.
Credit
Library of Congress
Language
English
Country
United States
Who can watch
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