Re: [Marxism] Assessment of Solzhenitsyn in the Weekly Worker

["Paul Flewers" <rfls12802@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Re Jim F's comment. A fair point. However, there is not much available in
English of Solzhenitsyn's post-return material, and I can't read Russian. I
based that part of my article on his two books Rebuilding Russia and The
Russian Question at the End of the Twentieth Century, and on sundry reports
that I gleaned on the internet and in newspapers. These books appeared
before Putin took over, and, although they are reactionary in their harking
back to an idealised view of Tsarism, I suspect they actually give a
somewhat nuanced (to be polite) portrayal of his real views, but I couldn't
prove that.

As for Slavophile views becoming more popular in Russia, that wouldn't
surprise me, but are they, as in the case of Solzhenitsyn, a genuine
affection for the good ol' days of the Tsar that is based upon a pre-modern
viewpoint on his part, or are they an ideological cover for rebuilding
Russia, drawing on a mythical past to help bolster an up-to-date project of
national renewal? I very much doubt if Solzhenitsyn's bucolic idyll appeals
to many Russians today, a few romantics apart.

Why not write a short note to the Weekly Worker? It runs an extensive
letters page, and the e-mail is < weeklyworker@xxxxxxxxxxx >.

Paul F






________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: 
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40archives.econ.utah.edu