The Dichotomy of the Mentality of the Russian People and the Intelligentsia of the XIX century

The problem of relationship between the Russian intelligentsia and the people in the XIX century was addressed, and their dichotomous character was noted.The notion of "the people" was defined and its structural and social composition was determined.The relationship between the intelligentsia and the people was described as conflictual.Views of the representatives of the noble intelligentsia, belonging to different social classes, on the causes of its conflict with the people were analyzed based on primary sources.The feeling of guilt for their dependency existence was marked as a common factor of mental motivation for the intelligentsia to contribute to the destiny of the people.The intelligentsia's assessments of various qualities of the people's character were diverse and depended on its genesis and socio-political status.The matters of faith of the people, the nature of their education, and their attitude towards the peasant community remained the most controversial ones.Active part of the noble intelligentsia in the destiny of the people involved gratuitous distribution of land, relief of duties, and provision of various benefits, which could not resolve the general social conflict situation due to the local nature of this activity.Silver Age creative intellectuals had diametrically opposed vision of the people.Someone's belief in the devout religiosity of the people was not consistent with the conviction of others in the sober mind, saving from superstitious delusions.Views on the role of the community in the life of the peasantry ranged from complete idealization to the need for its destruction.The intellectuals recognized ignorance of the people as the cause of all troubles, but had no general idea of the methods of its enlightenment.The intelligentsia noted combined contradictory qualities in the people, and attributed existence of the negative temperamental attributes to the living conditions of the people, poverty and ignorance.Long-suffering and submissiveness, inherent in the people, left open their subconscious desire for freedom in the eyes of the intelligentsia, which had to be implemented in real life.Duality of mentality, mutual misunderstanding and rejection of the Russian people and the intelligentsia worsened the split of the society and contributed to accumulation of the mass limit of the revolutionary outbreak.