Contenu du sommaire

Leonid Heller, Zamiatin : prophet or witness? Us and the realities of his time. The article studies the very close ties between E. Zamiatin's novel and his time. Us is inserted in the current of modernistic literature presenting a critical vision of society transformed by machinisation and Taylorism. This current goes from H. G. Wells to K. Capek passing through German expressionnists. Zamiatin attacks in particular the Proletkul't movement which dominates the cultural life in the post-revolutionary Russia. Whilst the style of the novel allows to classify it among vanguard works, it can also be considered as polemics against the construc-tivist artistic Utopias which developed in Russia towards 1920. On the other hand, the present article goes to show that many situations described in the novel are inspired directly by the political and social life within the structure of the Soviet state during the years 1918-1920.

Samuel С. Ramer, Democracy versus the rule of a civic elite: Aleksandr Ivanovič Novikov and the fate of self-government in Russia. Aleksandr Ivanovič Novikov's Zapiski zemskogo načal'nika has long been a valuable guide for scholars interested in rural Russia at the turn of the century. Almost nothing has been written about Novikov himself, even though his career and political ideas shed light on a number of general problems in Russia's political history, and this article attempts to fill that gap. Novikov came from a prominent Slavophile family. His experience as a zemskij načal'nik transformed him from a paternalistic landlord into a prolific advocate of universal education and the rule of law. At the beginning of this century he identified himself more and more closely with the emerging liberal movement in Russia. As mayor of Baku from 1902 to 1904 he attempted to improve city administration by hiring members of the zemstvo's" third element" to staff city positions. He failed as a mayor because of his indifference to local customs and national sensitivities, his disdain for any politics based on interests rather than ideals, and his contempt for the Baku duma, whose members regarded patronage and business as legitimate parts of political life. This article examines his growing impatience with democracy as manifested in Russia's institutions of local self-government and his wish for rule by an enlightened civic elite such as the "third element."

William Fierman, Uzbek feelings of ethnicity. A study of attitudes expressed in recent Uzbek literature. Recent works of fiction, literary criticism and articles on other cultural matters by Soviet Uzbek authors offer an almost untapped source of information about feelings of ethnicity. Evidence in the literature surveyed for this study indicates that Uzbeks are exhibiting renewed pride in their own land, history, customs, language, literature, music and art. During the Stalin period a dominant message to Uzbek readers was that to be modern was to be Russian; today, in contrast, Uzbek readers are also frequently reminded that they are heirs to a tradition (in no way inferior to the European one) which is relevant to the modern world. Uzbeks who have turned their backs on their own culture are portrayed as fools and opportunists. Although no Uzbek authors deny that a multinational Soviet culture is being created, some are particularly insistent that their own contribution to it not be underestimated; moreover, they maintain that Soviet culture's Asian elements are as "international" as the European ones are.

Michael Confino, Russian anarchists, internationalism and the Manifesto of the Sixteen. (Unpublished correspondence of Peter Kropotkin and Marie Goldsmith, January- M arch, 1916). This unpublished correspondence (which comprises five letters of P. Kropotkin and one of M. Goldsmith) allows us to observe the ideological debate among the anarchists of "defensist" trend at the time of the elaboration and publication of the famous Manifesto of the Sixteen, which constituted the theoretical and political platform of this tendency. The main points at issue were the meaning of the notion of internationalism within the context of the World War; the nature of this war and whether it was necessary to strive for an immediate peace within the conditions existing at the beginning of 1916. The exchange of the thereto unpublished letters between P. Kropotkin (who wrote and signed the Manifesto) and M. Goldsmith (who did not sign it) contributes to define the position of these two prominent Russian anarchists and reveals the tensions and ruptures that occurred between Russian anarchist emigre groups since the beginning of the war.

Mihnea Berïndei, Gilles Veinstein, Fiscal regulations and tax-system in the province of Bender-Aqkerman, 1570. The present article, which is the starting point of studies on the Ottoman possessions situated between the Lower-Danube and the Lower-Dniepr in the 16th century, gives the French translation and the facsimile of the original Ottoman text of a series of regulations (qânânnâme) pertaining to this region. They are extracted from an Istanbul Archives register of 1570 (TT 483) and concern the cities of Aqkerman (Cetateã-Alba, Belgorod Dnestrovskii), Ğankerman (Özü, Očakov), Kili (Chilia, Kilia) and Bender (Tighina). The article is continued by a study taking into consideration the contents of regulations, completed from other sources in order to give a more complete picture of the tax-system of the province of Bender-Aqkerman, its similarities with the general Ottoman fiscality and its specific particulars.

Hans Braker, Buddhism in the Soviet Union. The object of this article is first of all to analyse certain aspects of the development of the Thibetan branch of Buddhism (Lamaism), such as it appears in the Soviet Union. Starting from this analysis, the article endeavours to describe the attempts of this religious community after 1917 to adjust itself to the Soviet system by proceeding to a certain modernisation of the religious content of its doctrine. It would seem that the religious survival of Buddhism can be ensured in this way only. Such a line of action could not prevent the Moscow policy, which during the years 1928-1940 endeavoured to suppress all religious beliefs, from finally annihilating the whole Buddhist community. However, the recent discussions on Buddhism in the Soviet press tend to demonstrate that it constitutes at present, even more intensely than in the past, the essential basis of the life of Mongols, Buriats, Kalmuks and Tuvins. In this respect, Buddhism does not differ from other religions in the Soviet Union, where the number of Buddhists is at present in the neighbourhood of 600 000.