Obrazovanshchina (russian: образованщина, 'educationdom', 'educaties', 'smatterers') is a Russian ironical,

derogatory A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

term for a category of people with superficial education who lack the higher

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...

of an educated person. The term was introduced by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in his 1974 essay "Obrazovanshchina" (translated as "The Smatterers") as a criticism of the transformation of the Russian intelligentsia, which, in his opinion had lost high ethical values.ОБРАЗОВАНЩИНА
''Obrazovanshchina'' essay at Solzhenitsin's official website (retrieved February 15, 2014) The essay and the term caused criticism from liberal intelligentsia, such as Solzhenitsyn's long-time opponent

Grigory Pomerants Grigory Solomonovich Pomerants (also: Grigorii or Grigori, russian: Григо́рий Соломо́нович Помера́нц, 13 March 1918, Vilnius – 16 February 2013, Moscow) was a Russian philosopher and cultural theorist. He is the au ...

and , as well as being among the reasons of the bitter contention between Solzhenitsyn and the Russian "third wave" of emigration (of

dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20th ...

s). Wykształciuchy is a similar term used in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, a country that shares the concept of 'intelligentsia' with Russia. Solzhenitsyn defines ''obrazovanshchina'' as the category of people who refer to themselves as "intelligentsia" solely on the basis of having a higher than middle education. Solzhenitsyn explains the selection of the term by reference to

Vladimir Dahl Vladimir Ivanovich Dal ( rus, Влади́мир Ива́нович Даль, p=vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɨˈvanəvʲɪdʑ ˈdalʲ; November 22, 1801 – October 4, 1872) was a noted Russian-language lexicographer, polyglot, Turkologist, and founding ...

's dictionary, which distinguished the terms russian: образовать, label=none ('to educate') and russian: просвещать, label=none ('to enlighten'), the former concept having a superficial character, "external gloss." A similar criticism of Russian intelligentsia came from Nikolai Berdyaev, who coined the ironic word ''intelligentshchina'' for the part of intelligentia locked in their own world, isolated from the rest of the Russian society.Н. А. Бердяев. Философская истина и интеллигентская правда. Статья опубликована в книге: "Вехи. Сборник статей о русской интеллигенции", Москва, 1909 год, http://www.yabloko.ru/Themes/History/berd-2.html

References

{{Russia-stub Social groups Society of Russia Social class in Poland Russian words and phrases Pejorative terms for people Works by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn Quotations from literature 1974 neologisms

See also

References