Introduction

A lot has been written about the Russian character: notes, observations, essays and thick works; they wrote about him with tenderness and condemnation, with delight and contempt, condescendingly and evilly - they wrote in different ways and were written by different people. The phrase "Russian character", "Russian soul" is associated in our minds with something mysterious, elusive, mysterious and grandiose, and still continues to excite our feelings. Why is this problem still relevant to us? And is it good or bad that we treat her so emotionally and fervently?

The national character is the idea of ​​the people about themselves, it is certainly an important element of their national self-consciousness, their total ethnic self. And this idea has a truly fateful significance for its history. Indeed, in the same way as an individual, a people, in the process of its development, forming an idea of ​​itself, forms itself and, in this sense, its future. In addition, the peculiarities of the national character should be taken into account in international communications. For these reasons, the topic of the work seems relevant.

“Any social group,” writes the prominent Polish sociologist Jozef Halasinski, “is a matter of representation ... it depends on collective representations and without them it is impossible to even imagine it.” What is a nation? This is a large social group. Ideas about the character of a people are collective ideas that belong specifically to this group.

The purpose of the theoretical part of this work is to study the features of the Russian national character.

Achieving this goal required solving the following tasks:

Reveal the features of the classical Russian character;

Describe the features of the Soviet character;

Consider the modern Russian character;

Russian national character

Classic Russian character

The national character is predominantly a product of the survival of the people in certain natural and historical conditions. There are many natural zones in the world, and the diversity of national characters is both the result of the diversity of nature and the key to the survival of mankind as a whole.

Stereotypes of a national character have been formed over the centuries and polished to best fit the environment. The search for the best models of behavior within the people takes place on a competitive basis, although the tactical victory of one model over another does not always lead to long-term success for the entire nation. The desire to expand the habitat and the number of their own kind is an integral concomitant property of any behavior model. A universal criterion for the strategic success of a national character is the area occupied and the number of carriers of a given national character in comparison with the territory and number of neighboring peoples. Russian culture. Textbook for higher educational institutions. / ed. Ivanchenko N.S. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2001. - p. 150.

In accordance with this criterion, the Russian model of behavior, the Russian national character, historically, on the whole, was quite adequate to the natural and historical circumstances and, in the long term, turned out to be more advantageous than the behavioral models of neighboring peoples. A clear indicator of the success of the Russian model is the area of ​​​​settlement of Russians (about 20 million sq. Km), and their total number (about 170 million people - together with representatives of other peoples currently Russified - for example, Ukrainians and Belarusians in Russia).

If to express the national character of Russia in one word, then this is the North. Russians are a northern people. Restrained, but capable of strong emotions and actions. Savvy, capable of both intense hard work (harvesting, war), and prolonged contemplative laziness in winter. With a strong state instinct. Other important features are willingness to obey, sacrifice, self-forgetfulness. Also - individualism (which is not consistent with generally accepted clichés, but is actually confirmed by such Russian features as the tendency to enclose courtyards with a two-meter fence).

The Russian national character has evolved over the centuries under the influence of many factors. Some of them are obvious to everyone: the influence of Christianity and Byzantine culture, the growth of the Russian state and interaction with other ethnic groups, Russia's intermediate position between Europe and Asia. Ultimately, it all comes down to religion, history and geography. Less often they talk about heredity, about "genetic Russians", but this question is too slippery, since it is not even clear who should be considered as such. It has long been believed that modern Russians are called a mixture of Finno-Ugric peoples, Tatars and Slavs. Shapovalov V.F. Russia: from classic to modern. - M.: TD "GRAND", 2002. - p. 113.

Nevertheless, it seems obvious that every nation has many features that are unique to it and distinguish it from other ethnic groups. You can approach this issue from the point of view of modern sciences, for example, ethnology. But even there there is no consensus on what "ethnos" is. Moreover, it is not in the ordinary consciousness of our compatriots either. Therefore, it would be interesting to understand how we see ourselves, and why this particular point of view appealed to us.

Everything that Russia has achieved (territory, victories in wars, success in resolving the challenges of the time, technological achievements), Russia owes precisely to the Russian national character, which itself pushed out nuggets from its thickness, and on which, like on nutritious humus, the talents of representatives of other ethnic groups grew . Russia collapsed - and when a new Khachaturian is born on Armenian soil, it will not be easy for him to grow up to a truly great composer, and his audience will no longer be all-Union, but Armenian. The same applies to the Jews, who from ancient times lived in Central Asia, and in the mountains of the Caucasus, and in the countries of the Maghreb. But only in European countries with a certain culture and a specific national character could their talents be fully manifested. Outside of Germany, Heine's poetry would not have taken place, and outside of Russia, Levitan's painting would not have taken place.

The Russian national character was formed over centuries, if not millennia, in the conditions of northern Eurasia. In today's Russia and next to it, there are a few peoples whose typical representatives, it would seem, are clearly superior to the modern average Russian in activity, willpower, cohesion, commitment to family values. Nevertheless, it was the Russians, and not the Caucasians, Jews, Poles or Turks who created the state from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, and from the Arctic Ocean to the Caucasus Mountains. This paradox can be given two explanations - either the national character is not just the arithmetic sum of the individual characters of all representatives of a given people, or in past times, each individual individual had a completely different will, character, motivation from modern ones.

We stubbornly consider ourselves generous people and indifferent to earthly goods. This, of course, does not mean that we are not interested in money, it just does not come first, there is no due respect for it, which, for example, the Americans have. For them, as Max Weber explained, this comes from the Protestant ethic - you can’t be dysfunctional, successes and failures indicate what destiny God has determined for you in life and after death. Everything should work out for a believer, because God is with him and the prosperity of business is the best proof of this. But the profits also cannot be squandered, you need to invest in business again, work and live modestly. You need to take care not only about a constant income for yourself and your family, but also about the prosperity of the religious community as a whole. Because the rich man is the shepherd of the community.

With us, it's the other way around. If a person gets rich, it is clearly not from excessive righteousness. Yes, and wealth is understood as acquired by chance, and even more often fraud, and therefore the one who lives luxuriously and spends a lot is considered rich. That is, it is primarily a consumer of goods, and not a producer. A good person cannot be rich, because you cannot earn much by honest work, and if this happens, they will be taken away anyway, so there is no point in being zealous in labor. In addition to all these quite worldly arguments, we have one more powerful justification in the form of Orthodoxy, which has always preached poverty as a life guide. Righteousness and poverty are almost synonymous for a Russian person. And the extreme form of poverty - begging - is one of the models of Christian behavior that frees from property, humbles pride, accustoms to asceticism, thereby bringing the beggar closer to the monk. Begging was all the more interpreted as a form of a righteous life, if the beggars became consciously, having distributed their property according to religious beliefs. Barskaya N.A. Plots and images of the Russian national character. - M.: "Enlightenment", 2000. - p. 69.

The poor have always been treated in Rus' with tolerance, with sympathy and participation. To drive away a beggar was considered a sin, to give alms - a good and charitable deed. This was partly because no one could be guaranteed that he would not be in the same position. "From prison, but do not renounce the bag." But this is not the only reason. Stories were very common, how, under the guise of a beggar, the Lord God himself walks among people.

Until the 18th century, ancient Russian princes and tsars arranged special tables in their chambers for beggars during weddings, major holidays and on memorial days, which amazed foreigners.

Even more respectful attitude was towards the holy fools. They were not simply considered "insane". In their words and behavior, they always tried to see prophecies, or at least what the rest did not dare to say. It is possible that such an attitude towards the poor and holy fools came to us from the traditions of Greek Christianity. As you know, in Greece, long before the Christians, there were philosophical schools that preached a similar lifestyle (cynics).

Another feature constantly attributed to Russians is natural laziness. Although it seems to me that it would be wiser to talk about the habit of "not sticking out", about the lack of initiative and desire to achieve more. There are many reasons for this. One of them is a difficult relationship with the state, from which some kind of dirty trick is traditionally expected, such as the withdrawal of surpluses from the peasants during the civil war. The conclusion is simple: no matter how much you work, you still sit on the beans.

Another reason is the communal organization of the life of the Russian peasantry. Stolypin tried to break this way of life, but the result was rather negative, and those who were still able to separate from the world and put their economy on their feet were later destroyed by the Bolsheviks. The community turned out to be the most enduring form of social organization, although not the most productive. Everyone knows such features of the collective-farm management system as lack of initiative, leveling, careless attitude to the results of one's own labor. And a favorite: "Everything around is folk, everything around is mine."

Individualism in all forms was eradicated in every possible way in Soviet times. There were even taxes that prevented planting fruit trees on your own plot - everything should be common. The self-employed person has always been the object of attacks from the community, and there are still cases of arson of farms.

Everyone knows that in Rus' they always stole everything, and they took bribes and cheated. And far from always and not by everyone it was condemned, condemned, but more often only by the injured party. The rest considered it a manifestation of business ingenuity, like "If you don't cheat, you won't sell." In general, the self-consciousness of any nation is characterized by a double standard. Fraud is considered a good deed if it benefits "ours" and harms "them". For example, Tsar Ivan III cheated often and frankly, but was considered wise and kind, because he did it for the Russian land and his own treasury.

The bribery of officials even now smacks of memories of those long-forgotten times when there were "feedings" - the official was paid not by the state, but by those whose lands he manages. Everything was clear and fair: the official works for those who feed him, and they work for him. Who feeds better, he gets more. But as soon as the state intervened, the whole logic of this process collapsed. They began to pay from the treasury.

Of course, it is difficult to get around such a well-known trait of a Russian person as drunkenness. Vodka has become almost synonymous with Russia. But interestingly, the first place in soldering the Russian people has always belonged to the state. It was it that owned a monopoly on drinking establishments and the sale of alcohol, and this business was extremely profitable. But still, before the Soviet era, they drank little. Mostly on holidays, but when they went to the fair. In the villages, drunkenness was considered a disgrace, and was a distinctive feature of only the lowest social stratum.

Another distinguishing feature of ours is confidence in our own peacefulness. Everyone around us is attacked, offended, oppressed and takes advantage of our kindness. True, the question remains somewhat unclear: how did the state, which had a very small territory in the 10th century, managed to occupy the 16th part of the land without being a warlike people. Another thing is that by annexing any territory, we did not cut the local population to the root, but simply endowed it with equal rights with the Russian peasantry, which was, in general, tantamount to slavery.

Much has been said about the obedience and patience of the Russian people, especially the peasants. Some associate this with the invasion of the Mongols, who broke the freedom-loving spirit of the Russian people so much that we still feel the echoes of the yoke. Then Ivan the Terrible finished the job with his senseless and merciless oprichnina. Not the last role was played by the vast expanses of Russian land, which always allowed, in extreme cases, to escape to the outskirts to the Cossacks, and from there, as you know, "there is no extradition." So it turned out that instead of fighting for their rights, the people simply ran away from the center, rightly deciding that it was easier to fight with neighbors than with their own state.

The choice of God by the Russian people is a long-standing topic, especially after we remained virtually the only Orthodox power that is neither under the yoke of Muslims nor under the leadership of Catholics. Moscow, as you know, is "the third Rome, and there will never be a fourth."

Russian Russia will die out - and what will come to replace it will no longer be Russia. Although the territory and infrastructure for some time will remain the same, Russian. But this new Russia will not last long. Northern Eurasia was mastered and quite well equipped by the carriers of precisely the Russian national character, and without them this part of the world will be desolated and the status of the Canadian north above the 55th parallel. Therefore, one of the central tasks of Russia is the preservation, revival and improvement of the Russian national character.

We are Russians...
What a delight!
A.V. Suvorov

Reflections on the character of the Russian people lead us to the conclusion that the character of the people and the character of the individual do not have a direct correlation. The people are a conciliar, symphonic personality, therefore it is hardly possible to find in every Russian person all the features and properties of the Russian national character. In general, in the Russian character one can see the qualities of Peter the Great, Prince Myshkin, Oblomov and Khlestakov, i.e. both positive and negative properties. There are no peoples on earth that have only positive or only negative character traits. In reality, there is a known ratio of both. Only in the assessment of some peoples by others does a false idea arise, giving rise to stereotypes and myths, that another (not ours) people has mainly negative character traits. And, on the contrary, there is a desire to attribute all sorts of positive characteristics in a superlative degree to their own people.

In the character of the Russian people, such properties as patience, national fortitude, catholicity, generosity, immensity (breadth of the soul), and talent are often noted. BUT. Lossky in his book "The Character of the Russian People" begins the study with such a feature of the Russian character as religiosity. “The main, deepest feature of the character of the Russian people is its religiosity, and the search for absolute good associated with it .., which is feasible only in the Kingdom of God,” he writes. “Perfect goodness without any admixture of evil and imperfections exists in the Kingdom of God because it consists of individuals who fully realize in their behavior the two commandments of Jesus Christ: to love God more than yourself, and your neighbor as yourself.Members of the Kingdom of God are completely free from selfishness and therefore they create only absolute values ​​- moral goodness, beauty, knowledge of the truth, goods indivisible and indestructible, serving the whole world" [ 1 ].

Lossky puts emphasis on the word "search" for absolute good, thus he does not absolutize the properties of the Russian people, but seeks to designate their spiritual aspirations. Therefore, in the history of Russia, thanks to the influence of the great holy ascetics, not the mighty, not rich, but "Holy Rus'" became the ideal of the people. Lossky cites an insightful remark by I.V. Kireevsky, which, in comparison with the businesslike, almost theatrical behavior of Europeans, surprises the humility, calmness, restraint, dignity and inner harmony of people who grew up in the traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church. Even many generations of Russian atheists, instead of Christian religiosity, showed formal religiosity, a fanatical desire to realize on earth a kind of kingdom of God without God, on the basis of scientific knowledge and universal equality. “Considering Christian religiosity and the search for absolute good associated with it as the main property of the Russian people,” Lossky wrote, “I will try in the following chapters to explain some other properties of the Russian people in connection with this essential feature of their character” [ 2 ].

Such derivative features of the Russian character Lossky calls the ability to higher forms of experience, feeling and will (powerful willpower, passion, maximalism), love of freedom, kindness, talent, messianism and missionism. At the same time, he also names negative features associated with the lack of an average area of ​​culture - fanaticism, extremism, which manifested itself in the Old Believers, nihilism and hooliganism. It should be noted that Lossky, analyzing the features of the Russian national character, has in mind the thousand-year experience of the existence of the Russian people and in fact does not give estimates related to the trends inherent in the Russian character in the 20th century. For us, in the works of Lossky, the basic feature of the national character is important, the dominant that determines all other properties and sets the vector for analyzing the problem posed.

Modern researchers of this topic take into account tendencies in the development of the Russian national character of the 20th century to a greater extent, without denying the tradition that has shaped these properties throughout the thousand-year history of Russia and the Russian people. So, V.K. Trofimov in the book "The Soul of the Russian People" writes: "Familiarity with the national-bodily and spiritual determinants of the psychological properties of the Russian people makes it possible to single out the fundamental internal qualities of the national psychology. These fundamental qualities that make up the essence of the national psychology and national character of the Russian people can be designated as the essential forces of the Russian souls" [ 3 ].

He refers to the essential forces the paradoxical manifestations of the soul (the inconsistency of the Russian soul), the contemplation of the heart (the primacy of feeling and contemplation over the mind and reason), the immensity of the vital impulse (the breadth of the Russian soul), the religious striving for the absolute, national stamina, "We are psychology" and love for freedom. "The essential forces inherent in the deepest foundations of the Russian soul are extremely contradictory in terms of the possible consequences of their practical implementation. They can become a source of creation in the economy, politics and culture. In the hands of the wise national elite, the emerging features of national psychology for centuries have served prosperity, strengthening power and Russia's authority in the world" [ 4 ].

F.M. Dostoevsky, long before Berdyaev and Lossky, showed how the character of the Russian people combines the base and the sublime, the holy and the sinful, the "ideal of the Madonna" and the "ideal of Sodom", and the battlefield of these principles is the human heart. In Dmitry Karamazov's monologue, the extremes, the boundless breadth of the Russian soul are expressed with exceptional force: the ideal of Sodom in his soul does not deny the ideal of the Madonna, and his heart burns from him and truly, truly burns, as in his youthful immaculate years. No, a man is wide, too wide, I would narrow it down "[ 5 ].

The consciousness of one's sinfulness gives the Russian people the ideal of spiritual ascent. Describing Russian literature, Dostoevsky emphasizes that all the age-old and beautiful images in the works of Pushkin, Goncharov and Turgenev are borrowed from the Russian people. They took from him innocence, purity, meekness, intelligence and gentleness, in contrast to everything broken, false, superficial and slavishly borrowed. And this contact with the people gave them extraordinary strength.

Dostoevsky identifies another fundamental need of the Russian people - the need for constant and insatiable suffering, everywhere and in everything. He is infected from the beginning with this thirst for suffering; a stream of suffering runs through its entire history, not only from external misfortunes and disasters, but bubbles up from the very heart of the people. The Russian people, even in happiness, certainly have a part of suffering, otherwise happiness for them is incomplete. Never, even in the most solemn moments of his history, does he have a proud and triumphant look, and only a look touched to the point of suffering; he sighs and lifts up his glory to the mercy of the Lord. This idea of ​​Dostoevsky found a precise expression in his formula: "He who does not understand Orthodoxy will never understand Russia."

Indeed, our shortcomings are an extension of our virtues. The polarities of the Russian national character can be represented as a whole series of antinomies expressing positive and negative properties.

1. the breadth of the soul - the absence of form;
2. generosity - wastefulness;
3. love of freedom - weak discipline (anarchism);
4. prowess - revelry;
5. patriotism - national egoism.

These parallels can be multiplied many times over. I.A. Bunin cites a significant parable in Cursed Days. The peasant says: the people are like a tree, you can make both an icon and a club out of it, depending on who processes this tree - Sergius of Radonezh or Emelka Pugachev [ 6 ].

Many Russian poets tried to express the total immensity of the Russian national character, but A.K. Tolstoy:

If you love, so without reason,
If you threaten, it's not a joke,
If you scold, so rashly,
If you chop, it's so sloppy!

If you argue, it's so bold
Kohl to punish, so for the cause,
If you forgive, so with all your heart,
If there is a feast, then a feast is a mountain!

I.A. Ilyin focuses attention on the fact that for the Russian man immensity is a living, concrete reality, his object, his starting point, his task. "Such is the Russian soul: passion and power have been given to it; form, character, and transformation are its historical tasks in life." Among Western analysts of the Russian national character, the German thinker W. Schubart managed to express these features to a greater extent. Of greatest interest in opposing two diametrically opposed types of attitude - Western (Promethean) and Russian (Joannic) - is a series of positions proposed by Schubart for comparison, which are saturated with diverse concrete material. Let's play one of them. The culture of the middle and the culture of the end. Western culture is the culture of the middle. Socially it rests on the middle class, psychologically on the state of mind of the middle class, of equilibrium. Her virtues are self-control, good breeding, efficiency, discipline. "The European is a decent and diligent, skilled worker, an impeccably functioning cog in a large machine. Outside his profession, he is hardly taken into account. He prefers the path of the golden mean, and this is usually the path to gold." Materialism and philistinism are the goal and result of Western culture.

The Russian moves within the framework of the outlying culture. Hence - the breadth and immensity of the Russian soul, the feeling of freedom up to anarchism and nihilism; feelings of guilt and sinfulness; apocalyptic attitude and, finally, sacrifice as the central idea of ​​Russian religious morality. “Foreigners who first came to Russia,” Schubart wrote, “could not get rid of the impression that they found themselves in a sacred place, set foot on holy land ... The expression “Holy Rus'” is not an empty phrase. A traveler in Europe is immediately carried away by the noisy rhythm its active forces; a high melody of labor reaches his ear, but this - with all its greatness and power - is a song about the earth "[ 7 ].

Nevertheless, a simple enumeration of certain qualities of the Russian national character would be very incomplete or haphazardly redundant. Therefore, in further analysis, one should take a different path: to determine sufficient grounds (criteria) according to which it is possible to sum up the features of the Russian character. In modern scientific literature, there has long been a discussion about what is the defining principle in the study of national identity: "blood and soil", or "language and culture". And, although most researchers pay attention to language and culture, nevertheless, the national genotype and natural and climatic conditions are directly related to the formation of the qualities and properties of the national character.

In my opinion, the following basic factors should be attributed as the initial formative foundations of the Russian national character:

1. Nature and climate;
2. Ethnic origins;
3. The historical existence of the people and the geopolitical position of Russia;
4. Social factors (monarchy, community, polyethnicity);
5. Russian language and Russian culture;
6. Orthodoxy.

Such an order is not at all random. The analysis of factors should be carried out from external, material, physical and climatic factors, and finish with spiritual, deep, defining the dominant of the national character. It is the religiosity of the Russian people (N.O. Lossky), rooted in Orthodox Christianity, that is considered by most researchers of this issue as the deep foundation of the Russian character. Consequently, the order of significance of these factors is built in an ascending line.

Threats and challenges to the existence of national identity and the Russian character undoubtedly exist. As a rule, they have an objective and subjective content and multiply their negative impact during periods of unrest, revolutions, social fractures and crisis situations. The first objective trend leading to a threat to the existence of Russian national identity is associated with the collapse of the USSR (historical Russia) at the end of the 20th century, it was she who called into question the very existence of the Russian people, and, consequently, their national identity. The second objective trend is connected with the "reform" of the economy, which, in fact, was a complete collapse of the economy of the entire country, the destruction of the military-industrial complex, a huge number of research institutes that provided priority areas for the country's development for several decades. As a result, the economy of post-Soviet Russia has acquired an ugly, one-sided character - it is entirely based on the extraction and export of hydrocarbons (oil and gas), as well as on the export of other types of raw materials - ferrous and non-ferrous metals, wood, etc.

The third objective trend is the depopulation of the Russian people, associated with a low birth rate, a large number of abortions, low life expectancy, high mortality from traffic accidents, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide and other accidents. Over the past 15 years, the population of Russia has been declining by 700-800 thousand people annually. The depopulation of the Russian people is a consequence of the above objective trends and leads to a sharp increase in migration flows, often not controlled in any way, from the Caucasus, Central Asia and China. Already today, 12.5% ​​of students in Moscow schools are Azerbaijanis. If the migration policy is not strictly controlled, then in the future this process will lead to the replacement of the Russian people by migrants, to the displacement and extinction of Russian national identity. Depopulation is largely a consequence of the crisis processes of the 1990s. XX century.

Subjective tendencies leading to threats to the existence of Russian national self-consciousness can be summarized as a loss of identity. However, this provision requires deciphering and detailing. The loss of identity is associated with the intrusion into the world of Russian national self-consciousness by external influences alien to a Russian person, aimed at transforming national self-consciousness and Russian character according to the Western model: in the field of education - accession to the Bologna Charter; in the field of culture - the replacement of traditional samples of Russian culture with pop culture, pseudo-culture; in the field of religion - the introduction of various sectarian movements associated with Protestantism, with occult and other anti-Christian sects; in the field of art - the invasion of various avant-garde trends, emasculating the content of art; in the field of philosophy - the frontal offensive of postmodernism, which denies the originality and specificity of national thinking and tradition.

How diverse are the ways of denying national self-consciousness that we daily see in various media programs. The most dangerous among them is Russophobia - denial and contempt for Russian culture, for national identity and for the Russian people themselves. It can be assumed that if the Russian national identity is replaced by the Western mentality that has been introduced in our country for a decade and a half, then the Russian people will turn into a "population", into ethnographic material, and the Russian language and Russian culture, in the future, may share the fate of dead languages ​​( ancient Greek and Latin). The denationalization of culture, the suppression of national consciousness, its transformation into a comic-clip consciousness, the distortion of the history of Russia, the desecration of our Victory, the lulling of defense consciousness are becoming an everyday phenomenon.

The country's unfavorable economic situation, the permanent political crisis at the end of the 20th century, and the criminogenic situation led to a "brain drain" - the mass emigration of scientists to other, more prosperous countries. The scientists who left abroad filled the research centers and universities of the USA, Canada, Germany and other Western countries. According to the estimates of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about 200,000 scientists left the country in 15 years, including 130,000 candidates of sciences and about 20,000 doctors of sciences. In essence, this is a catastrophe, the almost complete loss of the country's intellectual property. Talented graduates of the best universities in Russia tend to go to rich business corporations or go abroad. This led to the loss of the middle, by age, link of RAS scientists. Today, the average age of doctors of sciences in the Russian Academy of Sciences is 61 years. There is a "brain drain", steady aging and the impossibility of replenishing scientific personnel, the disappearance of a number of leading scientific schools, degradation of research topics [ 8 ].

How to resist, what can be opposed to these negative trends, leading to the erosion of Russian national identity?

Firstly, a balanced program (ideology) is needed for a long-term historical perspective, which should correspond to the national interests of Russia, take into account the limits of national security in the development of Russian culture, school and university education, science, and the protection of moral, religious, ethnic values ​​of the people. At the same time, such an ideological program should outline the prospects for the development of the economy, agriculture, the military-industrial complex and other areas of production that could ensure the independence of our country at the proper level. The so-called "national projects" developed and implemented by the administration of President D.A. Medvedev, are very fragmented and do not have the character of a universal national program. As I.A. Ilyin, Russia does not need class hatred and party struggle, tearing apart its single body, it needs a responsible idea for the long term. Moreover, the idea is not destructive, but positive, state. This is the idea of ​​cultivating a national spiritual character in the Russian people. "This idea should be state-historical, state-national, state-patriotic, state-religious. This idea should come from the very fabric of the Russian soul and Russian history, from their spiritual smoothness. This idea should speak about the main thing in Russian destinies - and past and future; it should shine on entire generations of Russian people, making sense of their lives, infusing them with vigor" [ 9 ]. Today, there is already experience in developing such promising programs [ 10 ].

Secondly, it is necessary to educate the Russian national elite, whose aspirations would correspond to the national interests of Russia and the Russian people. The non-ethnic and heterodox elite will always push the country either to the next revolution (in fact, to the redistribution of power and property), or, in the words of F.M. Dostoevsky, will once in several decades "let a spasm", i.e. handle the next crisis. As the experience of the tragic 90s for Russia shows. XX century, such an elite - "Chicago boys" - was directed and controlled by external forces hostile to Russia, contrary to the national interests of the country.

Thirdly, it is necessary to educate new generations of Russian people in the spirit of love for the Motherland, in the spirit of patriotism, and this requires a fundamental restructuring of the entire system of education and upbringing. Only in this case it is possible to overcome the negative consequences of modern national nihilism and Russophobia. "Pepsi Generation", brought up under the motto - "Take everything from life!" is a social product of the destructive processes of the 1990s.

Fourthly, it is necessary to fight the negative features of the Russian national character - anarchism and extremism, disorganization and "hope for a chance", lack of formality and hooliganism, apathy and the loss of the habit of systematic work, which was largely the result of the crisis phenomena of the last one and a half years. decades. This struggle must be waged not on "outbursts of the revolutionary spirit," but through the development of stubborn self-discipline, uninterrupted self-control, patience and endurance, spiritual sobriety and obedience. S.N. Bulgakov spoke about Christian asceticism, which is continuous self-control, struggle with the lower sinful sides of one's "I", asceticism of the spirit. Only on this path can the negative tendencies of the Russian national character be neutralized to some extent, which in an era of historical turmoil lead to the destruction of the essential forces of the people, when the "underground of the human soul" comes to the fore. When a people is on the verge (and even beyond) of physical existence, it is difficult to demand high moral behavior from it. This requires measures of a social, political, economic nature, but, above all, of a spiritual nature. Only in this case is there hope for a prosperous, positive result in the development of Russia, the Russian people and their national identity.

If the Russian people have sufficient national and social immunity, they will return to their own national identity again. Historical experience gives us enough grounds for an optimistic scenario. Russia and the Russian people overcame the most difficult situations, found a worthy answer to the challenge of history. Such an analysis of the Russian national character by Dostoevsky, who revealed the deepest contradictions, gives hope that the abyss of falling in which the Russian people find themselves today will sober them up, and they will overcome the stage of yet another self-destruction, having gone through repentance and suffering.

Here the question involuntarily arises: how did the Russian people, having along with negative and positive qualities, be tempted at the beginning of the 20th century. the ideas of the revolutionary reorganization of Russia and atheism, which resulted in regicide, the destruction of temples, the renunciation of the faith of their ancestors and the impoverishment of the people's soul. We find the answer to this question in Dostoevsky. For a Russian person, in his opinion, oblivion of every measure in everything is characteristic. Whether love, wine, revelry, pride, envy - here a different Russian person gives himself almost selflessly, is ready to break everything, renounce everything, from family, custom, God. “This is the need to go over the edge, the need for a fading sensation, having reached the abyss, to hang halfway into it, to look into the very abyss and - in special cases, but very often - throw yourself into it like a dazed man upside down.

This is the need for denial in a person, sometimes the most non-denying and reverent, the denial of everything, the most important shrine of his heart, his most complete ideal, all the people's shrine in all its fullness, before which he now only revered and which suddenly seemed to become unbearable to him somehow. burden, - this is how Dostoevsky characterizes the features of self-denial and self-destruction inherent in the Russian folk character. - But on the other hand, with the same strength, the same swiftness, with the same thirst for self-preservation and repentance, the Russian person, like the whole people, saves himself, and usually, when he reaches the last line, that is, when there is nowhere else to go. But what is especially characteristic is that the reverse push, the push of self-restoration and self-salvation, is always more serious than the previous impulse - the impulse of self-denial and self-destruction. That is, it always happens on the account of, as it were, petty cowardice; while the Russian man goes into his restoration with the greatest and most serious effort, and looks at the negative former movement with contempt for himself. 11 ].

In conclusion, let us once again turn to the enumeration of the main features of the Russian national character. The natural and climatic conditions of Russia formed in the character of the Russian people such traits as patience, endurance, breadth of nature, hard work. Hence the passionarity and the "native" character of the people. Polyethnicity and polyconfessionality of Russia brought up brotherhood, patience (tolerance) to other languages ​​and cultures, disinterestedness, absence of violence in the Russian people. The historical existence of the Russian people and the geopolitical position of Russia forged in its character such properties as national fortitude, love of freedom, sacrifice, patriotism. The social conditions of the existence of the Russian people - the monarchy, the community - contributed to the formation of monarchical legal consciousness, catholicity, collectivism, and mutual assistance. Orthodoxy, as the main dominant of the Russian national self-consciousness, has formed in the Russian people religiosity, the desire for absolute goodness, love for one's neighbor (brotherhood), humility, meekness, consciousness of one's sinfulness and imperfection, sacrifice (willingness to give one's life for one's friends), catholicity and patriotism. These qualities were formed in accordance with the gospel ideals of goodness, truth, mercy and compassion. This must be seen as a religious source of Russian fortitude and patience, endurance and strength of sacrifice of the Russian people.

Every Russian person should clearly know the negative properties of his national character. The breadth, immensity of the Russian soul is often associated with maximalism - either all or nothing. Weak discipline leads to revelry and anarchism; from here lies a dangerous path to extremism, rebellion, hooliganism, and terrorism. The immensity of the soul becomes the source of a daring test of values ​​- atheism, the rejection of tradition, national nihilism. The absence of ethnic solidarity in everyday life, the weakness of the "tribal instinct", disunity in the face of "strangers" makes the Russian person defenseless in relation to migrants, who are characterized by solidarity, arrogance, and cruelty. Therefore, migrants in Russia today feel more like masters than Russians. The lack of self-discipline often leads to the inability to work systematically and achieve the goal. The shortcomings mentioned above increase many times during periods of unrest, revolutions and other crisis social phenomena. Credulity, a tendency to temptation, makes the Russian people a toy in the hands of political adventurers and impostors of all stripes, leads to the loss of the immune forces of sovereignty, turns it into a mob, into an electorate, into a crowd led by a herd consciousness. This is the root of all social unrest and catastrophes.

However, the negative qualities are not the fundamental, dominant features of the Russian character, but rather, they are the reverse side of the positive qualities, their perversion. A clear vision of the weak features of the national character will allow every Russian person to fight them, to eradicate or neutralize their influence in himself.

Today, the topic related to the study of the Russian national character is extremely relevant. In the conditions of a permanent social crisis of the late 20th - early 21st centuries, when the Russian people are humiliated, slandered, have largely lost their vital strength, they need to confirm their merits, including at the level of studying the Russian national character. Only on this path can the connection of times be made by referring to tradition, to the deeds of our great ancestors - heroes, leaders, prophets, scientists and thinkers, to our national shrines, values ​​and symbols. Turning to the national tradition is like touching a healing source from which everyone can draw faith, hope, love, a strong-willed beginning and an example for serving the Motherland - Holy Rus'.
Kopalov Vitaly Ilyich, Professor of the Department of Philosophy of the IPPK at the Ural State University. A.M. Gorky, Doctor of Philosophy

Notes:

1 - Lossky N.O. Character of the Russian people. Sowing. 1957. Book. 1. C.5.
2 - Ibid. P.21.
3 - Trofimov V.K. Soul of the Russian people: Natural-historical conditioning and essential forces. - Yekaterinburg, 1998. P. 90.
4 - Ibid. pp.134-135.
5 - Dostoevsky F.M. Brothers Karamazov // Dostoevsky F.M. Full coll. op. In 30 tons. T. XIV. - L., 1976. P. 100.
6 - Bunin I.A. Cursed days. - M., 1991. P.54.
7 - Schubart V. Europe and the soul of the East. - M., 1997. P.78.
8 - Fourteen knives in the body of Russia // Tomorrow. - 2007. - No. 18 (702).
9 - Ilyin I.A. Creative idea of ​​our future // Ilyin I.A. Sobr. op. in. 10 vol. T. 7. - M., 1998. S. 457-458.
10 - See: Russian doctrine ("Sergius project"). Under the general editorship. A.B. Kobyakova and V.V. Averyanov. - M., 2005. - 363 p.
11 - Dostoevsky F.M. Writer's diary. Featured Pages. - M., 1989. S.60-61.

In the domestic philosophical and cultural tradition, in all known typologies, it is customary to consider Russia separately. At the same time, they proceed from the recognition of its exclusivity, the impossibility of reducing it to either the Western or the Eastern type, and from here they conclude that it has a special path of development and a special mission in the history and culture of mankind. Mostly Russian philosophers wrote about this, starting with, Slavophiles,. The theme of the "Russian idea" was very important for and. The result of these reflections on the fate of Russia was summed up in philosophical and historical concepts of Eurasianism.

Prerequisites for the formation of the Russian national character

Usually, Eurasians proceed from the middle position of Russia between Europe and Asia, which they consider to be the reason for the combination of signs of Eastern and Western civilizations in Russian culture. A similar idea was once expressed by V.O. Klyuchevsky. In The Course of Russian History, he argued that the character of the Russian people was shaped by the location of Rus' on the border of the forest and the steppe - elements that are opposite in all respects. This bifurcation between the forest and the steppe was overcome by the love of the Russian people for the river, which was both a breadwinner and a road, and an educator of a sense of order and public spirit among the people. The spirit of entrepreneurship, the habit of joint action were brought up on the river, scattered parts of the population drew closer, people learned to feel themselves part of society.

The opposite effect was exerted by the boundless Russian plain, distinguished by desolateness and monotony. The man on the plain was seized with a sense of imperturbable peace, loneliness and gloomy reflection. According to many researchers, this is the reason for such properties of Russian spirituality as spiritual softness and modesty, semantic uncertainty and timidity, imperturbable calmness and painful despondency, lack of clear thought and a predisposition to spiritual sleep, asceticism of wilderness living and pointlessness of creativity.

An indirect reflection of the Russian landscape was the household life of a Russian person. Even Klyuchevsky noticed that the Russian peasant settlements, with their primitiveness, the lack of the simplest amenities of life, give the impression of temporary, random camps of nomads. This is due both to the long period of nomadic life in antiquity, and to the numerous fires that destroyed Russian villages and cities. The result was unrooted Russian people, manifested in indifference to home improvement, everyday amenities. It also led to a careless and careless attitude towards nature and its riches.

Developing the ideas of Klyuchevsky, Berdyaev wrote that the landscape of the Russian soul corresponds to the landscape of the Russian land. Therefore, with all the complexities of the relationship of a Russian person with Russian nature, its cult was so important that it found a very peculiar reflection in the ethnonym (self-name) of the Russian ethnos. Representatives of various countries and peoples are called nouns in Russian - French, German, Georgian, Mongol, etc., and only Russians call themselves an adjective. This can be interpreted as the embodiment of one's belonging to something higher and more valuable than people (people). This is the highest for a Russian person - Rus', the Russian land, and each person is a part of this whole. Rus' (land) is primary, people are secondary.

Of great importance for the formation of the Russian mentality and culture was played in its eastern (Byzantine) version. The result of the baptism of Rus' was not only its entry into the then civilized world, the growth of international prestige, the strengthening of diplomatic, trade, political and cultural ties with other Christian countries, not only the creation of the artistic culture of Kievan Rus. From that moment, the geopolitical position of Russia between the West and the East, its enemies and allies, its orientation to the East, were determined, in connection with which the further expansion of the Russian state took place in an easterly direction.

However, this choice had a downside: the adoption of Byzantine Christianity contributed to the alienation of Russia from Western Europe. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 fixed in the Russian mind the idea of ​​its own specialness, the idea of ​​the Russian people as a God-bearer, the only bearer of the true Orthodox faith, which predetermined the historical path of Russia. This is largely due to the ideal of Orthodoxy, which combines unity and freedom, embodied in the conciliar unity of people. At the same time, each person is a person, but not self-sufficient, but manifesting itself only in a conciliar unity, the interests of which are higher than the interests of an individual person.

Such a combination of opposites gave rise to instability and could explode into conflict at any moment. In particular, the basis of all Russian culture is a series of unresolvable contradictions: collectivity and authoritarianism, universal consent and despotic arbitrariness, self-government of peasant communities and rigid centralization of power associated with the Asian mode of production.

The inconsistency of Russian culture was also generated by a specific for Russia mobilization type of development when material and human resources are used through their overconcentration and overexertion, in conditions of a shortage of the necessary resources (financial, intellectual, temporary, foreign policy, etc.), often with the immaturity of internal development factors. As a result, the idea of ​​the priority of political factors of development over all others and there was a contradiction between the tasks of the state and the possibilities of the population according to their decision, when the security and development of the state was ensured by any means, at the expense of the interests and goals of individuals through non-economic, forceful coercion, as a result of which the state became authoritarian, even totalitarian, the repressive apparatus was unreasonably strengthened as an instrument of coercion and violence. This largely explains the dislike of the Russian people for and at the same time the awareness of the need to protect him and, accordingly, the endless patience of the people and their almost uncomplaining submission to power.

Another consequence of the mobilization type of development in Russia was the primacy of the social, communal principle, which is expressed in the tradition of subordinating personal interest to the tasks of society. Slavery was dictated not by the whim of the rulers, but by a new national task - the creation of an empire on a meager economic basis.

All these features have formed such features of Russian culture, as the absence of a strong core, led to its ambiguity, binary, duality, a constant desire to combine the incompatible - European and Asian, pagan and Christian, nomadic and sedentary, freedom and despotism. Therefore, the main form of the dynamics of Russian culture has become inversion - a change in the type of pendulum swing - from one pole of cultural significance to another.

Due to the constant desire to keep up with their neighbors, to jump above their heads, old and new elements coexisted in Russian culture all the time, the future came when there were no conditions for it yet, and the past was in no hurry to leave, clinging to traditions and customs. At the same time, the new often appeared as a result of a jump, an explosion. This feature of historical development explains the catastrophic type of development in Russia, which consists in the constant violent destruction of the old in order to give way to the new, and then find out that this new is not at all as good as it seemed.

At the same time, the dichotomy, binarity of Russian culture has become the reason for its exceptional flexibility, the ability to adapt to the extremely difficult conditions of survival during periods of national catastrophes and socio-historical upheavals, comparable in scale to natural disasters and geological catastrophes.

The main features of the Russian national character

All these moments formed a specific Russian national character, which cannot be unambiguously assessed.

Among positive qualities usually called kindness and its manifestation in relation to people - benevolence, cordiality, sincerity, responsiveness, cordiality, mercy, generosity, compassion and empathy. Simplicity, openness, honesty, tolerance are also noted. But this list does not include pride and self-confidence - qualities that reflect a person's attitude towards himself, which testifies to the attitude towards “others”, characteristic of Russians, about their collectivism.

Russian attitude to work very idiosyncratic. A Russian person is hardworking, hardworking and hardy, but much more often lazy, negligent, careless and irresponsible, he is characterized by spitting and slovenliness. The industriousness of Russians is manifested in the honest and responsible performance of their labor duties, but does not imply initiative, independence, or the desire to stand out from the team. Sloppiness and carelessness are associated with the vast expanses of the Russian land, the inexhaustibility of its wealth, which will be enough not only for us, but also for our descendants. And since we have a lot of everything, then nothing is a pity.

"Faith in a good king" - a mental feature of Russians, reflecting the long-standing attitude of a Russian person who did not want to deal with officials or landlords, but preferred to write petitions to the tsar (general secretary, president), sincerely believing that evil officials are deceiving the good tsar, but one has only to tell him the truth, how weight will be good. The excitement around the presidential elections that have taken place over the past 20 years proves that there is still a belief that if you choose a good president, then Russia will immediately become a prosperous state.

Fascination with political myths - another characteristic feature of the Russian people, inextricably linked with the Russian idea, the idea of ​​a special mission for Russia and the Russian people in history. The belief that the Russian people were destined to show the whole world the right path (regardless of what this path should be - true Orthodoxy, the communist or the Eurasian idea), was combined with the desire to make any sacrifices (up to their own death) in the name of achieving the set goal. In search of an idea, people easily rushed to extremes: they went to the people, made a world revolution, built communism, socialism "with a human face", restored previously destroyed temples. Myths may change, but the morbid fascination with them remains. Therefore, credulity is called among the typical national qualities.

Calculation for "maybe" - very Russian trait. It permeates the national character, the life of a Russian person, manifests itself in politics, economics. "Perhaps" is expressed in the fact that inaction, passivity and lack of will (also named among the characteristics of the Russian character) are replaced by reckless behavior. And it will come to this at the very last moment: "Until the thunder breaks out, the peasant will not cross himself."

The reverse side of the Russian "maybe" is the breadth of the Russian soul. As noted by F.M. Dostoevsky, “the Russian soul is bruised by the breadth”, but behind its breadth, generated by the vast expanses of our country, there are hidden both daring, youthfulness, merchant scope, and the absence of a deep rational miscalculation of the everyday or political situation.

Values ​​of Russian culture

The most important role in the history of our country and in the formation of Russian culture was played by the Russian peasant community, and the values ​​of Russian culture are to a large extent the values ​​of the Russian community.

Itself community, world as the basis and prerequisite for the existence of any individual is the oldest and most important value. For the sake of "peace" he must sacrifice everything, including his life. This is explained by the fact that Russia lived a significant part of its history in the conditions of a besieged military camp, when only the subordination of the interests of the individual to the interests of the community allowed the Russian people to survive as an independent ethnic group.

Team interests in Russian culture it is always above the interests of the individual, which is why personal plans, goals and interests are so easily suppressed. But in response, a Russian person counts on the support of the "peace" when he has to face everyday hardships (a kind of mutual responsibility). As a result, a Russian person without displeasure puts aside his personal affairs for the sake of some common cause from which he will not benefit, and this is his attraction. A Russian person is firmly convinced that one must first arrange the affairs of the social whole, more important than his own, and then this whole will begin to act in his favor at his own discretion. The Russian people are a collectivist that can only exist together with society. He suits him, worries about him, for which he, in turn, surrounds him with warmth, attention and support. To become a Russian person must become a conciliar personality.

Justice- another value of Russian culture, important for life in a team. Initially, it was understood as the social equality of people and was based on the economic equality (of men) in relation to the land. This value is instrumental, but in the Russian community it has become a goal. Members of the community had the right to their share of the land and all its wealth, which was owned by the "world", equal with everyone else. Such justice was the Truth for which the Russian people lived and aspired. In the famous dispute between truth-truth and truth-justice, it was justice that prevailed. For a Russian person, it is not so important how it was or is in reality; much more important than what should be. Nominal positions of eternal truths (for Russia, these truths were truth-justice) were evaluated by the thoughts and actions of people. Only they are important, otherwise no result, no benefit can justify them. If nothing comes of what was planned, it’s not scary, because the goal was good.

Lack of individual freedom It was determined by the fact that in the Russian community with its equal allotments, periodically carried out redistribution of the land, it was simply impossible for individualism to manifest itself in striped stripes. A person was not the owner of the land, did not have the right to sell it, was not free even in the timing of sowing, reaping, in the choice of what can be cultivated on the land. In such a situation, it was unrealistic to show individual skill. which was not valued at all in Rus'. It is no coincidence that Lefty was ready to be accepted in England, but he died in complete poverty in Russia.

The habit of emergency mass activity(strada) brought up the same lack of individual freedom. Here, hard work and a festive mood were strangely combined. Perhaps the festive atmosphere was a kind of compensatory means, which made it easier to transfer a heavy load and give up excellent freedom in economic activity.

Wealth could not become a value in a situation of domination of the idea of ​​equality and justice. It is no coincidence that the proverb is so well known in Russia: “You cannot make stone chambers with righteous labor.” The desire to increase wealth was considered a sin. So, in the Russian northern village, merchants were respected, who artificially slowed down the trade turnover.

Labor itself was also not a value in Rus' (unlike, for example, in Protestant countries). Of course, labor is not rejected, its usefulness is recognized everywhere, but it is not considered a means that automatically ensures the fulfillment of a person’s earthly calling and the correct disposition of his soul. Therefore, in the system of Russian values, labor occupies a subordinate place: "Work is not a wolf, it will not run away into the forest."

Life, not focused on work, gave the Russian man the freedom of the spirit (partly illusory). It has always stimulated creativity in man. It could not be expressed in constant, painstaking work aimed at accumulating wealth, but easily transformed into eccentricity or work to the surprise of others (the invention of wings, a wooden bicycle, a perpetual motion machine, etc.), i.e. actions were taken that did not make sense for the economy. On the contrary, the economy often turned out to be subordinate to this undertaking.

The respect of the community could not be earned simply by becoming rich. But only a feat, a sacrifice in the name of "peace" could bring glory.

Patience and suffering in the name of "peace"(but not personal heroism) is another value of Russian culture, in other words, the goal of the accomplished feat could not be personal, it must always be outside the person. The Russian proverb is widely known: "God endured, and he commanded us." It is no coincidence that the first canonized Russian saints were princes Boris and Gleb; they were martyred, but did not resist their brother, Prince Svyatopolk, who wanted to kill them. Death for the Motherland, death "for his friends" brought immortal glory to the hero. It is no coincidence that in tsarist Russia the words “Not to us, not to us, but to Your name” were minted on awards (medals).

Patience and suffering- the most important fundamental values ​​for a Russian person, along with consistent abstinence, self-restraint, constant self-sacrifice in favor of another. Without it, there is no personality, no status, no respect of others. Hence comes the eternal desire for Russian people to suffer - this is the desire for self-actualization, the conquest of inner freedom, necessary to do good in the world, to win the freedom of the spirit. In general, the world exists and moves only through sacrifices, patience, self-restraint. This is the reason for the long-suffering characteristic of the Russian people. He can endure a lot (especially material difficulties), if he knows why it is necessary.

The values ​​of Russian culture constantly indicate its striving for some higher, transcendental meaning. For a Russian person, there is nothing more exciting than the search for this meaning. For the sake of this, you can leave your home, family, become a hermit or holy fool (both of them were highly revered in Rus').

On the Day of Russian Culture as a whole, the Russian idea becomes such a meaning, the implementation of which the Russian person subordinates his entire way of life. Therefore, researchers talk about the features of religious fundamentalism inherent in the consciousness of a Russian person. The idea could change (Moscow is the third Rome, the imperial idea, communist, Eurasian, etc.), but its place in the structure of values ​​remained unchanged. The crisis that Russia is experiencing today is largely due to the fact that the idea that united the Russian people has disappeared, it has become unclear in the name of what we should suffer and humiliate ourselves. The key to Russia's exit from the crisis is the acquisition of a new fundamental idea.

The listed values ​​are contradictory. Therefore, a Russian could at the same time be a brave man on the battlefield and a coward in civilian life, could be personally devoted to the sovereign and at the same time rob the royal treasury (like Prince Menshikov in the era of Peter the Great), leave his house and go to war in order to free the Balkan Slavs. High patriotism and mercy were manifested as sacrifice or beneficence (but it could well become a disservice). Obviously, this allowed all researchers to talk about the “mysterious Russian soul”, the breadth of the Russian character, that “ Russia cannot be understood with the mind».

The national character is the "spirit" of the people, its deepest manifestations that unite the people of a separate nation. It arises historically, as a result of certain stages that a separate mass of people goes through, and the influences that it has experienced.

The main reasons for the formation of a national character, or mentality, are the geographical position of the country, historical circumstances, social conditions, culture, and the peculiarities of the psychology of this people. According to scientists, G. Skovoroda, T. Shevchenko and M. Gogol were the brightest representatives of the national worldview. It is in their work that we will find the deepest understanding of it.

Ukraine is located on extremely fertile land, so each Ukrainian family could fully provide for itself and settle separately. Human destiny depended on the earth, so the connection with the earth was strengthened as a guarantee of happiness. The Ukrainian perceived the earth as a holy mother, as it was sanctified by the blood of ancestors and defenders. For the nations of farmers, the land was the breadwinner, and to beat it without the need was considered as terrible a sin as to beat a mother. Eating a lump of earth was considered the most sacred oath - a form of communion with the greatest treasure. Rejoicing at work on the ground, the Ukrainian sought closeness to nature more than communication with people. Large expanses of his land brought up in him the worship of life, the sun, the earth. Having nature as the main way of knowing God, man identified it with the Creator. Such a God united heaven and earth, and so, the Universe with the people and the individual.

The Ukrainian is an individualist; most of all he valued the freedom of the individual, and above all the freedom of himself. Therefore, he did not found cities and, in general, valued equality and democracy to the extreme: spontaneity (elections in the Zaporozhian Sich) and anarchy, even narrow selfishness. Obviously, the family and, more broadly, the clan is the main social unit of the Ukrainian. The rulers changed every day, today's power comes at the throat of yesterday's adherents, and the Ukrainian readily divided the whole world into “us” and “them”. In politics, nothing equally depends on me, but in the economy I do everything myself. Interestingly, the ideal of the farmers was not the father-hunter and warrior, but the mother-shore, so it was the mother who was the center of many families.

The Ukrainian individualist also established relationships with the environment personally; this is noted by the Cossack brotherhood. I am responsible for myself, my family, but no more. A Ukrainian perceived the world not with his mind, but with his heart. Feeling, intuition for him is more important than evidence. He does not think, but experiences life, that is why there is so much lyricism, tenderness, sadness in Ukrainian songs. Striving for their own happiness, Ukrainians create wonderful examples of love lyrics. On the example of folklore, we see that, unlike most states, love was almost the main factor in choosing a life partner.

What conclusion shall we draw from examining our national character? First, the special character of Ukrainians is a reality. It differs from the characters of all neighboring peoples. Secondly, our character is neither better nor worse than others. It just exists and has its drawbacks and advantages. Knowing it, researching it, respecting it and working to strengthen its strengths and overcome shortcomings is a deed worthy of a modern Ukrainian.