Etymology of "intelligentsiya"

[Dennis Joffe]

To Michael Katz:



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


As far as we can judge from the term's own (diachronic) history (including Martin Malia's penetrating study),
the being of "intelligent" in Russian way of understanding, relies mainly on Berdiaev 's fundamental meditative understanding.

Berdiaev had warned not to identify the "Russian intelligent" with "Western inellectual".

Russian intelligent must, therefore, be:

1) Opposed in his orientation to the Governmental Establishment
2) Must be not a "physical labour worker" and be well educated especially in the ways of "public" personal modes of behaviour..


As for today - modern definitions of it - the "Russian intelligent" must be well aware of certain codes of "dignified" cultural behavior.
Today "collective conscience" of "intelligent" as a term is more a matter of "proper behaviour", than of political or social orientation.



I hope that helps somehow,



Dennis Joffe
Haifa University.



















----- Original Message ----- 
From: Katz, Michael <mkatz at MIDDLEBURY.EDU>
To: <SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 5:05 PM
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Etymology of "intelligentsiya"


> There is also a wonderful discussion of the term in Leopold Labedz, "The
> Structure of the Soviet Intelligentsia" in the journal Daedalus, Summer,
> 1960, Pp. 503-4 that ends with the following definition:
> 
> "Let us say that an intelligent is one... who thinks and talks and writes of
> change.... An intelligent is an intelligent."
> 
> Michael Katz
> Middlebury College
> 
> > ----------
> > From:         Kevin-Konstantin Starikov
> > Reply To:     Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> > Sent:         Thursday, June 19, 2003 10:20 AM
> > To:   SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> > Subject:      Re: [SEELANGS] Etymology of "intelligentsiya"
> >
> > Dear Rolf Fieguth,
> >
> > Richard Pipes has a detailed history of the word and of its different
> > meanings in
> > the course of Russian history. (see chapt 10 "Intelligentsia" in Russia
> > Under
> > The Old Regime.
> >
> > Konstantin Starikov
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Slavic & East European Languages and Literature list
> > [mailto:SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of FIEGUTH Rolf
> > Sent: Thursday, June 19, 2003 8:58 AM
> > To: SEELANGS at LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU
> > Subject: [SEELANGS] Etymology of "intelligentsiya"
> >
> >
> > Dear SEELangers,
> >
> > who knows competently about the word history of the Russian term
> > "intelligentsiya" - by what semantic shifts and under which foreign
> > language
> > influences the word (orignally stemming from Latin intelligentia) acquired
> > its actual meaning?
> > Thanks in advance
> >
> > Rolf Fieguth
> >
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> 
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