Myth and History
29.99 €
In stock
Myth and History
29.99 €
In his new book, historian and philosopher Semyon Ekshtut examines the relationship between History and Myth from an unusual, often provocative angle. Peter I and Catherine I, Count Arakcheev and General Miloradovich, Pushkin and Vyazemsky, General Orlov and Chancellor Gorchakov, all of them, as well as supporting characters, appear on the pages of the book through facts and fictions of different times.
History is a rigid interrelation of historical alternative, glory and myth. A person can wake up famous the very next day after committing a heroic act, or can wait for years for universal recognition of their own merits, but never receive lifetime fame. This recognition or non-recognition by rumor of the merits and virtues of a person reveals the alternative nature of the historical process. History does not know of impeccable, flawless and universally recognized reputations. All reputations change (sometimes repeatedly) over a long period of history. And the process of periodic revision of historical reputations has neither beginning nor end. A stable historical reputation is a myth. In one case, a historical myth resembles a powerful explosion that occurs at the moment of a person’s crowning with glory. In another, the emergence and development of a myth are stretched out in time and space. A myth secures the right to glory, sanctions this right in posterity — and issues a “patent for immortality.”
The magazine versions of the essays included in the book were previously published on the pages of the magazines Rodina and Dialogue with Time.
History is a rigid interrelation of historical alternative, glory and myth. A person can wake up famous the very next day after committing a heroic act, or can wait for years for universal recognition of their own merits, but never receive lifetime fame. This recognition or non-recognition by rumor of the merits and virtues of a person reveals the alternative nature of the historical process. History does not know of impeccable, flawless and universally recognized reputations. All reputations change (sometimes repeatedly) over a long period of history. And the process of periodic revision of historical reputations has neither beginning nor end. A stable historical reputation is a myth. In one case, a historical myth resembles a powerful explosion that occurs at the moment of a person’s crowning with glory. In another, the emergence and development of a myth are stretched out in time and space. A myth secures the right to glory, sanctions this right in posterity — and issues a “patent for immortality.”
The magazine versions of the essays included in the book were previously published on the pages of the magazines Rodina and Dialogue with Time.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author