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This volume brings together two classic works on the culture of the Russian people which have been long out of print. Gorer's Great Russian Culture and Mead's Soviet Attitudes towards Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems of Soviet Character were among the first attempts by anthropologists to analyze Russian society.
They were influential both for several generations of anthropologists and in shaping American governmental attitudes toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. Additionally they offer fascinating insights into the early anthropological use of psychological data to analyze cultural patterns. Read as part of the history of the anthropology of complex contemporary societies, they are as fascinating for their more questionable conclusions as for their accurate characterizations of Russian life.
List of contents
Penetrating Views of Russian Culture
Introduction: Russian Culture in the 20th Century
Sergei Arutiunov
The People of Great Russia
INTRODUCTION and INTRODUCTION—1961
Geoffrey Gorer
RUSSIAN CAMERA OBSCURA
Ten Sketches of Russian Peasant Life (1916–1918)
John Rickman
Iron
Snow
Placenta Praevia
The Apology
The Threat
The Bridal Dress
Police
Peasant Officers
A Political Episode
Moujiks want Glasses
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF GREAT RUSSIANS Geoffrey Gorrer
Childhood Training
Character Developments
The Enemy and Hate
The Leader, Love, and Truth
Conclusions
APPENDICES Appendix I: Development of the Swaddling Hypotheses
Geoffrey Gorer Appendix II: A Note on the Swaddling Hypotheses
John Rickman Appendix III: Truth and Guilt
John Rickman Soviet Attitudes Toward Authority Margaret Mead
Questions Which This Study Seeks to Answer
Methods and Materials
Research Team of Studies in Soviet Culture and Their Areas of Research
Background of the Soviet System of Authority
Bolshevik Assumptions About Human Behavior as Abstracted from Theory and Practice
Bolshevik Willingness to Accept or to Fabricate Token Events
Soviet Ideals of Authority Relationships
Expectations from Different Leadership Levels
Characteristics of the Ideal Leader
Soviet Official Expectations Regarding Motivation
Motivation for Leadership
Expectations Concerning the Masses and Children
The Place of the Political Police in the Soviet Authority System
Possible Developments in the Soviet Union
APPENDIX APPENDIX A: Abstract of Research on Leadership in Soviet Agriculture and the Communist Party
APPENDIX B: Summary of Conclusions of Research on Soviet Child Training Ideals and Their Political Significance, by E. Calas
APPENDIX C: Summary of Conclusions of Research on Party and Non-Party Organizations in Soviet Industry, by L. H. Haimson
APPENDIX D: Source Materials Used by Other Members of the Research Group
APPENDIX E: Excerpt Concerning the Communist "Election of May, 1948, in Czechoslovakia" - Taken from Chapter XVI of Unpublished Manuscript "Czechs, Slovaks, and Communism," by David Rodnik
APPENDIX F: "To Aid the Agitator," from Pravda, May 27, 1948
APPENDIX G: "Your Strength" (Poem about Atomic Energy)
Index
About the author
Margaret Mead served as Curator of Ethnology at the American Museum of Natural History from 1925 to 1969. She began her career with a study of youth and adolescence in Samoan society, published as Coming of Age in Samoa (1928). She published prolifically, becoming a seminal figure in anthropology, and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1979.
Summary
This volume brings together two classic works on the culture of the Russian people which have been long out of print. Gorer's Great Russian Culture and Mead's Soviet Attitudes towards Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems of Soviet Character were among the first attempts by anthropologists to analyze Russian society.
They were influential both for several generations of anthropologists and in shaping American governmental attitudes toward the Soviet Union during the Cold War period. Additionally they offer fascinating insights into the early anthropological use of psychological data to analyze cultural patterns. Read as part of the history of the anthropology of complex contemporary societies, they are as fascinating for their more questionable conclusions as for their accurate characterizations of Russian life.
Additional text
“These texts expose… the impoverishing effect of recent emphases on critical virtuosity. The phenomenological status, processes, and practices involved (in our culture) in terms such as "character" are fascinating to study.” • Journal of Anthropological Research
“Regardless of the dated theoretical approach of these classics, their valuable factual material and the ability of the authors to inspire further reflection still make them worth reading.” • Ethnos
