Proceedings of the 1st International Scientific Practical Conference "The Individual and Society in the Modern Geopolitical Environment" (ISMGE 2019)

“Any justice here is corrupt...” foreigners’ notes about corruption in Russia in the XVI-XVII centuries

Authors
Nikolay Yu. Nikolaev, Sergei P. Ramazanov, Yuriy I. Mironov, Dmitry V. Garbuzov, Daria S. Yurchenko
Corresponding Author
Nikolay Yu. Nikolaev
Available Online July 2019.
DOI
10.2991/ismge-19.2019.99How to use a DOI?
Keywords
foreigners’ writings, corruption, “posul”, imagology, Law Code, Council code, Prikazy, waywode, nedelschik, dyak, pod’iachie.
Abstract

The article analyzes the foreigners’ assessments of official abuse in Muscovite state in the XVI-XVII centuries. The main authors who wrote about Russian corruption are identified, the specific features of foreigners' notes are revealed, the stages in a foreign narrative are highlighted. The first stage (the beginning ‒ the first half of the XVI century) is characterized by a small number of foreigners’ writings, as well as a slight interest in corruption. At the second stage (the second half of the XVI century - the beginning of the XVII century), there is a noticeable increase in the descriptions of Russia by foreigners, and we can find travelers, diplomats, merchants, and even adventurers among the authors. The publication of some notes was preceded by many years of experience in living in Russia, which affected the nature and depth of apperception of the corruption realities. For the third stage (from the 20s ‒ 30s to the end of the XVII century), we note not only an increase in the number of foreign authors, but also an expansion of the geographical boundaries of the descriptions of the “mysterious” Muscovy. Some of foreigners’ notes acquire “academic monumentality”, which is connected with their belonging to the scientific community (A. Olearius). All in all, according to the authors, all these writings were characterized by Orientalism, which was the cause of the moralizing and arrogant nature of the narrative.

Copyright
© 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Download article (PDF)

Volume Title
Proceedings of the 1st International Scientific Practical Conference "The Individual and Society in the Modern Geopolitical Environment" (ISMGE 2019)
Series
Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research
Publication Date
July 2019
ISBN
978-94-6252-756-0
ISSN
2352-5398
DOI
10.2991/ismge-19.2019.99How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - CONF
AU  - Nikolay Yu. Nikolaev
AU  - Sergei P. Ramazanov
AU  - Yuriy I. Mironov
AU  - Dmitry V. Garbuzov
AU  - Daria S. Yurchenko
PY  - 2019/07
DA  - 2019/07
TI  - “Any justice here is corrupt...” foreigners’ notes about corruption in Russia in the XVI-XVII centuries
BT  - Proceedings of the 1st International Scientific Practical Conference "The Individual and Society in the Modern Geopolitical Environment" (ISMGE 2019)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 522
EP  - 527
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/ismge-19.2019.99
DO  - 10.2991/ismge-19.2019.99
ID  - Nikolaev2019/07
ER  -