Intelligentsia
From Freepedia
The intelligentsia (from Latin: intelligentia) is a social class of people engaged in complex mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture: intellectuals and social groups close to them (e.g. artists, school teachers). The term is a borrowing from Russian language, a transliteration of "интеллигенция". Initially the term was applied mostly in the context of Russia and Soviet Union and had a narrower meaning based on a self-definition of a certain category of intellectuals.
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History of the notion
The notion of an intellectual elite as a distinguished social stratum traces into deep history. Examples would be philosopher-kings and guardians of Plato's Republic and monks as custodians of history and culture.
The usage of the term "intelligentsia" is reported in Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century. For example, the word was casually used in the diaries of Vasily Zhukovsky dated by 1836. In Poland (which then was a part of the Russian Empire) the term was popularised in a sense close to the present one by Polish philosopher Karol Libelt and became widespread in Polish science after the publication of his O miłości ojczyzny (On Love of the Motherland) in 1844, in which he defines "inteligencja" to be those well educated who undertake to lead the people as scholars, teachers, clergy, engineers, who guide for the reason of their higher enlightenment. The term was also popularised by a Russian writer Pyotr Boborykin in 1860s, who self-proclaimed himself the "godfather" of the notion in 1904. From there it came into English and several other languages. In English this word is often applied to the "intelligentsia" in Central European and Eastern European countries in the 19th and 20th centuries. The distinction was based on the economic and cultural situation of intellectuals in these countries and is different from the one in Western Europe or North America.
The emergence of elite classes of intellectuals or well-educated people had been observed in other European countries (e.g., "intellectuels" in France or "Gebildete" in Germany). However there were important distinctions observed in the lands of the Russian Empire. These differences were caused by various historical processes, whose influence still is disputed by historians. Presence of long-lasting autocratic regimes or national suppression in this region, or low level of general education in these countries in the 19th century are among them. This situation motivated local intellectuals to elaborate a system of common values and a sense of mutual sympathy.
Additionally, the intelligentsia of Central and Eastern Europe, being divided mostly by national dependence, fostered a sense of responsibility for one's nation, up to the belief, that progress of a nation mostly depends on cultural level of intelligentsia of the nation. This self-confidence often led Eastern European intelligentsia to play a role of non-existing political opposition, and position of intelligentsia always had significant consequences to revolutions or national liberation movements in Central and Eastern Europe.
Presently, some authors point to an ongoing extinguishing of intelligentsia in Central and Eastern Europe or a changing of the intelligentsia into a class of intellectuals or simply a middle class. In this case also a new tendency, to make opposition between intelligentsia and intellectuals, is seen.
Intelligentsia in Poland
After the Partitions of Poland, Polish society was divided into nobles and peasants, while cities in general remained very weak. But the need for educated specialists created a new class of people: educated, hired professionals: clerks, medics, lawyers etc. They were recruited mainly from amongst former nobles, but also from other circles.
The Polish intelligentsia specifically was considered the backbone of the modern Polish nation. Members of the intelligentsia were well aware of their social status and of their duties, of which working for the country and patriotism were considered the most important. A considerable part of Polish intelligentsia was massacred either by Germans or Soviets during World War II.
Today, members of the Polish intelligentsia are not necessarily highly educated people, but people sharing common values: literate, patriotic, believing in their duties, etc. However the concept is eroding and the class is slowly disappearing.
Intelligentsia in Imperial Russia
Russian intelligentsia had a similar mixture of messianism and intellectual elitism.
Intelligentsia as seen by Russian Marxists
In the ideology of Bolsheviks, intelligentsia is not a real class; its status is described by the Russian word "prosloyka", which is normally translated as "stratum," but in this context bears a deteriorative nuance. In other words, inelligentsia does not have a "real" place in the structure of the society: it is a midlayer between "toilers" and "exploiters". Intelligentsia grows by means of "recruiting" from among the people of labor, but its produce, i.e., the produce of its intellectual labor is just a sort of goods ordered and paid by the exploiter class. Hence its independence is a mere ideological illusion, and in fact intelligentsia is by large a class of "lackeys" of bourgeoisie and landowners. While de facto being an exploited category, en masse it lacks the revolutionary drive. Ironically, this theory was put forth by the representatives of intelligentsia itself, notably Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky among many others. In particular, Lenin is famous of his caustic remark that "intelligentsia is not the 'brain of the nation', it is the 'shit of the nation'".
Intelligentsia in Soviet Union
Russian Revolution polarized the Russian intelligentsia, together with all other strata of the society. Some of them emigrated, some joined the White movement, some joined Bolsheviks (and some were Bolsheviks from the very beginning), some tried to oppose Bolsheviks within the political framework of Soviet Russia, some remained passive. Eventually Bolsheviks got rid of all opponents by arious means ranging from forced deportation to execution. The remained inteligentsia was supposed to serve "the cause of working class". While the importance of this class was not underestimated, it was treated with reservation.
In the late Soviet Union the term "intelligentsia" acquired a formal definition of mental and cultural workers. More specifically, there were categories of "scientific-technical intelligentsia" (научно-техническая интеллигенция) and "creative intelligentsia" (творческая интеллигенция). Teachers and lawyers were considered "intelligentsia" as well, but the corresponding adjectives to the word "intelligentsia" were used rarely. And of course, the ruling class was officially nameless: the terms nomenklatura and apparat were semi-formal: they were used in working documents, but not in the legal ones. One could see and hear slogans: "Long live Soviet scientific intelligentsia!", but "Long live Soviet nomenklatura!" would cost a person 5 years of gulag.
Terminology in modern Russian language
References
- Boborykin, P.D. Russian Intelligentsia In: Russian Thought, 1904, # 12 (In Russian; Боборыкин П.Д. Русская интеллигенция// Русская мысль. 1904. №12;)
- Zhukovsky V. A. From the Diaries of Years 1827-1840, In: Our Heritage, Moscow, #32, 1994. (In Russian; Жуковский В.А. Из дневников 1827-1840 гг. // Наше наследие. М., 1994. №32.)
