Urgent! ! ! Help ~ ~ masters! ! English books on the uniqueness and thoughts of Russian culture or nation.

A foreign journalist said: "Moscow is a paradise for journalists." In fact, Russia always has something to write about. Accidents often happen in Russia, Russians often do unexpected things, and Russia often shocks the world. If a nation is personified, Russia is definitely a nation with distinctive personality. It is a complicated task to study the personality characteristics of such a nation. What's more, Russia has an extremely vast territory, and its geographical, social and human environments are very different. Fishermen in Arkhangelsk are quite different from Cossacks in ural river, farmers in the suburbs of Moscow and hunters in Siberia in appearance and character. While finding out the similarities and differences of Russian nationality and thinking about the essence of Russian national character, it is generally acknowledged that Russian character is contradictory (dual): cruel and kind, humble and harmonious, wanton and rebellious and obedient, individualistic collectivism and strong personal consciousness, absolutism and anarchism. When we think of a certain quality of Russians, there will always be an opposite quality.

1, unreasonable. Paying more attention to sensibility than rationality is the most remarkable character feature of the Russian nation. Berdyaev wrote: Russia "may be fascinating or disappointing, and you can always expect accidents from it." Russians often give us the feeling of being bold, willful and spontaneous. Not to mention its ordinary people, that is, its leaders, all bowed down boldly. We can think of Yeltsin's alcoholism, Khrushchev's "boots", the Bay of Pigs incident, and Siberia's reckless corn planting behavior. A nation, like a person, is related to the world around it and its own experience. Klyuchevski, a great Russian historian, has confirmed that Russian irrationality is related to its natural environment. We know that the vast Russia is naturally the most wonderful and full of miracles, which is a good aspect. On the other hand, Russia's natural environment is the worst and unpredictable. The weather is unpredictable, and the soil is sometimes good or bad, which often makes the early Russian farmers' expectations, even the smallest and limited wishes, fail. In this way, after experiencing constant hopes and disappointments and getting used to this disappointment, Russians began to make the most hopeless and even unreasonable choices regardless of everything. Maybe it will be a surprise, and they will use their courage and willfulness to fight against the willfulness of nature. Luck comes from this. For the absolutely unpredictable weather, Russia can only be content with the status quo. There is a famous song in Russia: "There is no bad weather in nature, and wind, frost, rain and snow are all gifts from God." The concrete manifestations of irrationality can be seen everywhere in life. Related to this, Russians advocate romance: walking on the streets of Moscow, the most obvious feeling is that there are flower shops everywhere and few restaurants. Every festival, especially Women's Day on March 8th, is simply a beautiful flower. If you happen to go out that day, you can definitely enjoy a visual feast. The subway tunnel is full of men holding flowers, regardless of generation and age, rushing forward to present flowers to their wives, daughters, mothers and beloved women. Russians love fantasy and believe in miracles. Their literary and artistic works reflect this. The movie Red Sail tells people that inner dreams, even fantasies, will come true one day as long as they are beautiful. The popular movie "The Trick of Fate", which must be shown on New Year's Eve every year, fits the Russian psychology of believing in coincidence and yearning for magic. The rasputin phenomenon at the end of Russian Empire is intriguing. A ragged and vulgar Siberian farmer conquered the court of Nicholas II. This is related to the fact that Russians believe in miracles and believe that fools have special functions. In ancient Russia, people respected those believers who were ragged, disheveled and walked barefoot in the street, and regarded them as "saints and fools". They abandon all worldly splendor, like beggars, behave informally, speak inappropriately, and scoff at secular etiquette. Ancient Russians regarded this behavior as humility to the point of self-contempt. The farther away from the world and the closer to God, the kingdom of heaven belongs to them. Russian irrationality is sometimes manifested as irresponsibility or shirking responsibility. Russians are late and always say "traffic reasons" has become a habit. When the service organization is resting, the sign "Due to technical reasons" is always hung on the door. Another important manifestation of Russian irrationality is its moral priority principle: paying attention to conscience and ignoring rules and laws.

2.* * * Same sex. An important feature of Russian thinking is homosexuality. Its historical and cultural roots can be traced back to the common life of Slavs in village communities since ancient times (mutual assistance of labor combination and primitive justice and equality) and the aggregation of Orthodox Church (freedom and unity on the basis of love). * * * Same sex is manifested in Russian collectivism and egalitarianism, as well as anti-individualism and anti-bourgeois thoughts. Berdyaev said: "The soul of Russia is not the soul of capitalism, but the soul that never worships money. Only in this way can it gain infinite love. " Indeed, the characteristics of Russians who value spirit over material things are very lovely in real life. There is a saying in Russia: Russian soul-generous heart. The Russian people always don't like people who are careful, and smart Jews are common targets of ridicule in Russian jokes. Generally speaking, Russian society does not "laugh at poverty". On the contrary, it has traditional humanitarian sympathy for the poor and the insulted lower class-the vulnerable groups. The weakness of Russia's anti-capitalist characteristics is also obvious: it has at least affected the country's economic development until the modernization process.

3. extreme. Russians go to extremes in everything. Either one or the other, no transition, pay attention to purity. A stable, moderate and leisurely life has nothing to do with Russians. To some extent, this is also related to the harsh natural environment of the early Russian nation. Summer in Russia is beautiful and short. Russian ancestors knew that they must cherish the clear summer. Nature only gave them a little time suitable for farming, which forced them to work quickly and finish a lot of work in a short time. After the harvest, they have leisure in autumn and winter. As a result, Russians have developed the habit of extraordinary concentration in a short time, accustomed to hard work, and then endless idleness. The word "the golden mean" (золотаясередина) is derogatory in Russian. Against mediocrity, the famous avant-garde painting school declared against "citizen's gray", which is either black or white. "Even if Russia dies, it is better to live like an ordinary citizen and an extremely boring old Europe." Unlike Catholicism, the Orthodox Church has no transitional stages-purgatory, heaven or hell. Related to the rejection of mediocrity is the creativity of the Russian nation. They often use one word: natural forces, Russia's primitive nature, give its people endless vitality and creativity. The achievements of Russian literature and art have attracted worldwide attention. Russians are the most efficient when they are alone, and they are better when they are alone than in a crowd. Russians who are unconscious are more capable. Klyuchevski said: "They are such smart people. When they realize that they are smart, they become stupid."

4. Exclusivity. What is purely associated with extremes and aspirations is the xenophobia of the Russian nation. The Orthodox Church has nurtured the growth of the whole Russian nation and is deeply rooted in the world outlook of the Russian people. The most prominent idea of the Orthodox Church is that it is the only pure religion that represents the will of God. There is only one true church-Orthodox Church, and the others are foreign and hostile. This refers not only to Islam and Buddhism, but also to the other two branches of Christianity: Catholicism and Protestantism. Related to this, the division of the world also follows this barbaric principle: either own or foreign. Everyone who has been to Russia is deeply touched by the arrogance and blind xenophobia of Russians. Russians have an instinctive hostility towards foreigners, and they often blame foreigners for the setbacks in their daily lives. Their patriotism often means rejecting other countries. Their homosexuality and universalism are relative to the inside of the country, and the Messiah theory is also based on the Orthodox Church.

Some people say that Russia is a feminine nation (Lozanov: Russia has an eternal "village woman nature". Berdyaev: Russia is a gentle and feminine land, showing passive and feminine tenderness, giving people a mysterious warmth. ) We don't think femininity is full of hatred for foreign things. Chutchev told us: "Russia cannot be understood by reason, nor can it be measured by ordinary standards. There is something special in it. " If we experience the Russian nation with emotion, we think it is more like a big boy: irrational, energetic, creative, a wonderful combination of inferiority and pride, exaggerated self-love and alienation from the outside world, advocating purity, going to extremes and loving provocation. Deep down, the big boy longed for a firm and authoritative parent. Therefore, compared with Khrushchev and Gorbachev, Russians are more willing to accept Brezhnev and Putin with an iron fist.