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

Event video

Transcript: TEXT

About this Item

Title

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

Summary

  • 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.

Names

  • Library of Congress
  • John W. Kluge Center (Library of Congress), sponsoring body

Created / Published

  • Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 2010-08-05.

Headings

  • -  Government, World Affairs

Notes

  • -  Classification: History (General) and History of Europe.
  • -  Andrew Gentes.
  • -  Recorded on 2010-08-05.
  • -  Researchers.
  • -  Teachers.

Medium

  • 1 online resource

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021688508

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body John W. Kluge Center. George Kennan and the Russian Nihilists: A Sojourn into the Dialectics of Friendship. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -08-05, 2010. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688508/.

APA citation style:

Library Of Congress & John W. Kluge Center, S. B. (2010) George Kennan and the Russian Nihilists: A Sojourn into the Dialectics of Friendship. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -08-05. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021688508/.

MLA citation style:

Library Of Congress, and Sponsoring Body John W. Kluge Center. George Kennan and the Russian Nihilists: A Sojourn into the Dialectics of Friendship. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, -08-05, 2010. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021688508/>.