Russian Truths: Knowledge and Authenticity in the Age of Reforms (1860s–1917).

FAIN: FEL-281345-22

Ekaterina Pravilova
Princeton University (Princeton, NJ 08540-5228)

Research and writing leading to a book on the scientific standards of knowledge, authenticity, and truth in late-nineteenth century Russia.

This is the study of the politics of truth in late imperial Russia that analyzes the methods of establishing authenticity in several areas of practice and academic research: jurisprudence, history, credit, religion, and art. It offers an unconventional history of Russian society and demonstrates how the reforms of the 1860s that resulted in the removal of many state-imposed restrictions on the processes of decision making generated a demand for the new regimes and rules of truth-seeking. It shows how lawyers, historians, bankers, archaeologists and religious administrators responded to the challenges of uncertainty and elaborated the principles of assessing evidence and making decisions. This study is a work of intellectual history that focuses more on practices than academic debates and is mostly based on archival materials. It offers a substantial correction to narratives of objectivity centered on Western science.

Associated Products

True Feelings. Truth and Memory in Fin-de-Siècle Russia (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: True Feelings. Truth and Memory in Fin-de-Siècle Russia
Author: Ekaterina Pravilova
Abstract: In this talk, I analyzed connections and discrepancies between two notions of truth: moral (or emotional) truth and cognitive (or factual) truth. I use the examples of Russian jury courts and theaters to show how the ideas of truth and memory bridged different areas of practice of expertise. What could Russia’s famous theater director Konstantin Stanislavsky borrow from jurisprudence and legal theory? How did Russian lawyers and forensic psychologists use theater to achieve “objectivity”? What was the role of memory in conceptualizing legal truth and the authenticity of acting?
Date: 04/25/2023
Primary URL: http://https://www.wiko-berlin.de/en/events/calendar-of-events/2023-04-25-true-feelings-truth-and-memory-in-fin-de-siecle-russia
Primary URL Description: https://www.wiko-berlin.de/en/events/calendar-of-events/2023-04-25-true-feelings-truth-and-memory-in-fin-de-siecle-russia

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