A Sensitive Author and a Strict Historian in the Essay by N. M. Karamzin “On the Moscow Rebellion in the Reign of Alexei Mikhailovich”

Abstract

The article undertakes a study of Karamzin’s historical essays published in the “Vestnik Evropy” (1802–1803) and representing various modifications of the image of a historian (“smart historian,” “timid historian,” “impartial historian,” “frivolous historian,” ёёёёёёё“strict historian” and etc.). Referring to the essay “On the Moscow Rebellion in the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich” allows the author of the article to assert that on the eve of writing his historical work, Karamzin creates an image of an alien flattery and relying only on reliable evidence of the Russian Patriot Historian, whose word sounds like an incorruptible voice of truth not only in factological sense, but also in the state-patriotic one. According to the researcher’s observations, the analyzed essay is dominated by the point of view of a “strict historian,” who evaluates the activities of the ruler from the standpoint of national interests (“state morality”), which does not coincide with the perception of events by a sensitive author and marks an important milestone in Karamzin’s ideological evolution.