Debates around animal rights in 19th-century Russia?

[William Nickell]

Dear Amanda,

Your student may be interested in reading Tolstoy's Kholstomer (Strider), which he wrote in 1863, just after the emancipation, though it was not published until later (1886).

Bill Nickell


On Apr 20, 2011, at 10:15 AM, Amanda Ewington wrote:

> A student of mine had an interesting question about debates on animal rights 
> in 19th-century Russia.
> 
> Does anyone out there have any information about this?
> 
> Here's the question: 
> 
> "I had a brief contextual question about Russian culture and history. As we 
> have seen throughout War and Peace, there have been continual links between 
> humanity and some perceived connection with animal physiognomy. In the 
> opening lines of part four, Tolstoy makes this connection more explicit as he 
> describes: "When a man sees a dying animal, horror comes over him: that 
> which he himself is, his essence, is obviously being annihilated before his 
> eyes--is ceasing to be. But when the dying one is a person, and a beloved 
> person, then, besides a horror at the annihilation of life, there is a feeling of 
> severance and a spiritual wound which, like a physical wound, sometimes kills 
> and sometimes heals, but always hurts and fears any external, irritating 
> touch." (1075). While Tolstoy does seem to draw a distinction between harm 
> to an animal and to a human, he makes a connection explicit and blurs the 
> boundaries between the empathy for man and empathy for animals. In 
> England, leading up to the abolition of Slavery in 1833, there were concerted 
> efforts on the part of animal-rights activists to analogize the emancipation of 
> slaves with the necessity for protections against animal cruelty. Is there any 
> sort of similar movement or debate in Russia surrounding the end of serfdom 
> and a correlation with Tolstoy's seeming call for animal-rights?"
> 
> Thank you!
> 
> Amanda Ewington
> (Davidson College)
> 
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