Intelligentsia
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- For other uses, see Intelligentsia (disambiguation).
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, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them (e.g., artists and school teachers). The term has been borrowed from the Russian language, a transliteration of "интеллигенция", or Polish language "inteligencja". Those two were earlier borrowed from the French word "intelligence". Initially the term was applied mostly in the context of Poland, Russia and later Soviet Union, and had a narrower meaning based on a self-definition of a certain category of intellectuals.
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[edit] History of the notion
The notion of an intellectual elite as a distinguished social stratum can be traced far back in history. Examples are the philosopher kings and guardians of Plato's Republic and monks in medieval Europe, who are now seen as custodians of history and culture.
Use of the term "intelligentsia" is first reported to have occurred in the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century. For example, the word was casually used in the diaries of Vasily Zhukovsky, dated to 1836. In Poland, or more precisely in Greater Poland (which then was a part of Prussia) 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 Fatherland) in 1844, in which he defines "inteligencja" to be those well-educated members of the population who undertake to lead the people as scholars, teachers, clergy, engineers, and who guide for the reason of their higher enlightenment. The term was also popularised by a Russian writer, Pyotr Boborykin, in the 1860s, who 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 that 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 and "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. The presence of long-lasting autocratic regimes or national suppression in this region, or a low level of general education in these countries in the 19th century, are among these. 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 own nation, including the belief that progress of a nation mostly depends on the cultural level of the intelligentsia of the nation. This self-confidence often led the Eastern European intelligentsia to fill the role of a non-existent political opposition, and the position taken by the intelligentsia always had significant consequences to revolutions or national liberation movements in Central and Eastern Europe.
[edit] Intelligentsia in Poland
After the Partitions of Poland, Polish society remained divided into nobles—the surprisingly numerous class known as szlachta—and peasants. The political and cultural influence of the cities was small in relation to Western Europe, though this influence was growing. The need for educated specialists created a new class of educated people: hired professionals, such as clerks, physicians, and lawyers. They were recruited mainly from among former nobles, but increasingly from the urbanized classes.
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 the Polish intelligentsia was massacred either by the Germans or Soviets during World War II.
Today, the notion of the Polish intelligentsia has eroded, since, following widespread higher education, the "intelligentsia" has ceased to be an isolated social class. The values associated with intelligentsia, the values of an educated life, are strong in Polish society, though they are far less associated with a nationalistic movement today than in previous centuries.
[edit] Intelligentsia in Imperial Russia
Russian intelligentsia had a similar mixture of messianism and intellectual elitism.
[edit] 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, intelligentsia 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', but the shit of the nation'[1].
[edit] Intelligentsia in the Soviet Union
The 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 Bolshevist Russia, some remained passive. Eventually Bolsheviks got rid of all opponents by various means ranging from forced deportation to execution. The remaining intelligentsia 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.
[edit] References
- ^ "Интеллектуальные силы рабочих и крестьян растут и крепнут в борьбе за свержение буржуазии и ее пособников, интеллигентиков, лакеев капитала, мнящих себя мозгом нации. На деле это не мозг, а говно" From Lenin's letter to Maksim Gorky, September 15, 1919)
- 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.)
- The record dated by February 2, 1836 says: "Через три часа после этого общего бедствия ... осветился великолепный Энгельгардтов дом, и к нему потянулись кареты, все наполненные лучшим петербургским дворянством, тем, которые у нас представляют всю русскую европейскую интеллигенцию" ("After three hours after this common disaster... the magnificent Engelhardt's house was lit up and coaches started coming, filled with the best Petersburg dvoryanstvo, the ones who represent here the best European intelligentsia.") The casual, i.e., non-philosophical and non-literary context, suggests that the word was in common circulation.
- Li Yi. 2005. The Structure and Evolution of Chinese Social Stratification. University Press of America. ISBN 0761833315
