Peasant Icons

Frierson's study examines the revealing images of the peasant created by Russian writers, scholars, journalists, and government officials in the twenty years following emancipation. She illustrates how the question, "Who is the Russian peasant?" became deeply embedded in the larger questions of "What is Russia?" and "What will Russia be?" in the programs of liberal reformers and conservatives alike. Along the way she introduces readers to the stereotypes created by intellectuals (including such writers as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky) in order to comprehend peasant life, from the likeable narod, the simple man of the simple folk, to the exploitative kulak, the village strongman.