Ladybug’s Reviews > Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia > Status Update

The enlightenment ideal of a universal culture was abandoned for the national way. “Let us Russians be Russians, not copies of the French.” Karamzin renounced “humanity” for “nationality”. Before the French Revolution, he held the view that “the main thing is to be not Slavs, but Men. What is good for Men, can’t be bad for the Russians. By 1802 he was calling his fellow writers to embrace Russian