UDC

930(47)(092)

Authors

Aleksandr S. Madzharov
Irkutsk State University;
ul. K. Marksa 1, Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation;
e-mail: massa49@yandex.ru

Abstract

This article studies Vasily Klyuchevsky’s methodology of historical research, particularly that part of it which was not formulated by him but remained implicit in his historical works, making their strong point. Sergey Solovyov, who had embraced the entire history of Russia and developed the science “in breadth”, left Klyuchevsky almost no choice but to go “deep”. Klyuchevsky was searching for a consistent historical pattern but could not find it within the positivist paradigm. This paper identifies Klyuchevsky’s ideas about the historical method, including those that were not described in his Methodology, as well as its strong and weak points, revealing the causes and essence of the crisis of historical study in the 1920s. Having looked into the subjective, artistic foundations of Klyuchevsky’s method, the author of this paper was able to define more exactly the specifics of Klyuchevsky’s school and his place in Russian historiography. His interdisciplinary historical method can be fully understood if we create a dynamic system of his methodological comments, observations and conclusions (including those on Alexander Pushkin’s creative laboratory), scattered over his numerous articles, about the way in which one can penetrate into the spiritual fabric of events and phenomena as well as into the life of people of the past. Such a study reveals a new Klyuchevsky, who, following Nikolay Danilevsky, reflects on the existence of different cultures and the need to “get the feel” of others’ soul as well as talks about moral receptivity and empathy as a method of historical knowledge. The latter is of importance for revising university courses on historiography and methodology of Russian history.

Keywords

V.O. Klyuchevsky, Russian historiography, historical research, historical method, historical regularity, A.S. Pushkin

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