Over the past 10-12 years, the concept of the Russian world has firmly entered our everyday life. We hear about the Russian world on TV and radio broadcasts, we read in newspapers and the Web. Some even think about it and write philosophical works. But, if we ask the first few people on the street who come across what, in fact, this means, we are unlikely to get a clear and unambiguous answer. So isn't it time to look for him?
IDEA AND REALITY
When we talk about the Russian world (just like that, with a capital letter), we do not mean the absence of war, but a certain human community in the first place. Community in the sense of the word, about which the saying “in peace and death is red”. There is no community (society, community) - there is no peace. But please do not confuse the Russian world with Russia. The first is much broader, since people who associate themselves with it can live at least on another continent, albeit on Mars at all (in the distant future, of course). Some even consider the Russian world to be just an idea of one degree or another of abstraction, which is designed to unite people who consider themselves Russians into the aforementioned community. It seems to others that the concept of the Russian world has the most direct relation to the notorious imperial ambitions of thosewho still yearns for the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. There is some truth in such concepts. However, the reality, as it seems to us, is that the Russian world really exists. Physically. Although not completely delineated by state borders. For one simple reason - almost a third of a billion people on Earth consider themselves to be involved in it. And all of these are living, real, having flesh and blood, thinking people, and not abstract ideas at all. By the way, and in all fairness, we note that the Russian world is not unique in this sense. Besides it, there are the English, Spanish, Chinese, French and Portuguese worlds. Also, let's not forget that the Russian world (like all others) has its own fundamental, original space, a territory in which it manifests itself most comprehensively, meaningfully and vividly. And this territory, of course,Russia.
LANGUAGE, SPIRIT AND CHARACTER, SHIPS
So, what distinguishes the Russian world from other similar worlds? First of all, it is, of course, the language spoken by people who consider themselves to be it. So much has been written about the wealth and importance of the Russian language that there is no reason to repeat hackneyed truths. With its help, we not only communicate, study, have fun, read and write. We think in Russian. This is a source for strengthening old and receiving and realizing new meanings, the alpha and omega of our civilization, the Russian world. Next is spirit. An elusive substance that you just can't describe. "There is a Russian spirit … there it smells of Russia!" - Alexander Sergeevich once exclaimed in fullness of feelings at the beginning of his great poem "Ruslan and Lyudmila". Re-read, who have forgotten, you will not regret. In general, art, as such, and poetry in particular are capable and even called upon to convey thatWhat we are talking about. And sometimes they do it. If we try to characterize the Russian spirit literally in two words, then these words will probably be “justice and perseverance”. All other characteristics, such as nobility, courage, kindness and at the same time baseness, openness, laziness and slovenliness, and others come from these two. For the sake of justice, a Russian person will not regret his own life or someone else's. And in the persistence of achieving the goal, whether it be a victory over the enemy, the conquest of space or the building of a new society, it will reach the final limit and even step over it. Character. This is almost the same as the spirit, only more mundane, more real, see. Reflected in specific actions. Lie with your chest on a machine gun, saving comrades, or for years to lie on the stove (sofa) in useless dreams - this is he, the character. And, finally, cabbage soup. In other words, food, food. We love trying someone else's cuisine and willingly adopt what we especially liked, but you must agree that it is impossible to imagine the Russian world without sauerkraut, pickled cabbage or kvass (let's keep quiet about vodka).
n Promotional video:
OUR DEAD WILL NOT LEAVE US IN TROUBLE
What else is very important, it seems to us. The Russian world is somewhat similar to the Church of Christ, which, according to one of the theological definitions, is the assembly of all Christians - both living and dead, united by faith and love of Christ and to Christ, the hierarchy and the Holy Sacraments. Let's emphasize the living and the dead. The Russian world cannot boast of such a definition, but the memory of those who once made it up, who lived at least a thousand, at least a hundred or less years ago, plays an important role in its existence and self-awareness. Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko and Ilya Muromets (real and epic), Evpatiy Kolovrat, Dmitry Donskoy, Sergiy Radonezhsky, Alexander Nevsky, Peter I, Catherine the Great, Mikhailo Lomonosov, Alexander Pushkin, Leo Tolstoy, Fedor Dostoevsky, Alexander Matrosov, Georgy Zhukov,Yuri Gagarin and Sergei Korolev - all these people in the usual sense of the modern Russian person are not just the glory of the Russian world - they are almost no different from you and me, because they shared the same values that we do. And here we come to the second part of the comparison of the Russian world with the Church. Both he and she are connected and strengthened by faith and love. Only the Church - Christ's, and the Russian world - love for the Motherland, Russia. And, accordingly, faith in it. Thus, it turns out that the Russian world has existed for more than a thousand years without any special changes (we are not considering territory, social and political structure) and, we will hope, will continue to exist in the coming centuries. The same, in general, applies to the rest of the worlds - Chinese, English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.
RUSSIAN. WHAT'S ELSE?
There is a historical tale that well illustrates the idea that we will try to express now. The famous French traveler, aristocrat and writer Astolphe de Custine, who visited Russia in 1839 and then wrote a book about it, once attended a court ball. Emperor Nicholas I approached him and asked:
- Marquis, do you think there are many Russians in this hall?
“Everyone except me and the foreign ambassadors, your majesty! - answered the marquis.
“You're wrong,” said Nikolai. - Here is my close friend - a Pole, here is a German. There are two generals - they are Georgians. This courtier is a Tatar, then a Finn, and there is a baptized Jew.
- Then where are the Russians? Custine asked.
- But all together they are Russians.
Yes, language. Yes, spirit and character. Yes, cabbage soup and kvass. And even the territory. But it is not "blood", not nationality, as such, that is the cornerstone of the Russian world. Whatever our home-grown adherents of the national idea may think about this. Too many peoples and "bloods" initially participated in the birth, creation and development of the Russian world to prove the opposite. And, again, we note that this applies to all the worlds we have already mentioned. Except, perhaps, the Chinese one. But he is much older than the rest, and a special account for him. Nevertheless, the world we are talking about is called Russian. For one simple reason. He is ours. We live here. And the memory of us will also remain here.
Akim Bukhtatov