International online conference "Slavism as a Problem in the Texts of Slavic and Russian Intellectuals of the 17th-20th Centuries"

On September 25-26, 2020, the International Laboratory for the Study of Russian and European Intellectual Dialogue of the NRU HSE will hold an international conference

The International conference of IL for the Study of Russian and European Intellectual Dialogue – "Russian intellectuals-exiles in 1919-1945: Prague, Sofia, Belgrade", – which was held in May 2020, concluded with the formulation of the problem, which will now be in the center of attention as a semantic and essential topic in the modern dialogue of European cultures. The tense situation in the remaking of the European world, which involves Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and the still explosive Slavic Balkans, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria through the great temptation to become the territory of the "free Slavs" and part of the European Union without Russia, again requires reflection. 
The problem that became the topic of this conference has been raised many times in history: its origin can be found in the statements of the Czech reformer Jan Hus; the Croatian Yuri Krizhanich also had the idea of pan-Slavism. When he went to Muscovy to bring the Russian Kingdom to the throne of the Pope, he believed that Moscow should lead the unity of all Slavic lands. Over the course of three centuries, the problem of Slavs had its own twists and turns and required new efforts to understand them, defining the political context.
Culture begins with the birth of mythology, and Slavic mythology, as in other cultures, formed the basis of great literature. And here the internal relationship is obvious. It is known that Hoffman relied on Polish mythology, as well as Mickiewicz, and Gogol. Zhukovsky and Pushkin literally bathed in the mythological stories of the Slavs. And finally, the most powerful intellectual movement of the nineteenth century in Eastern Europe – Slavophilism – had its roots in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Serbia. There was a self-affirmation of Slavic Europe. Today, Western researchers see its creation as a result of Western efforts. Recall the book by the American Larry Wolff "Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment" (1994), which proclaims the need to civilize the semi-wild population of these territories. The Slavs' own initiative is not taken into account. Awareness of this initiative is one of the goals of this conference.

Chief Research Fellow,
Laboratory Head – 
Vladimir K. Kantor

Program (in Russian)