What is the difference between the British and the Russians
Could an ordinary house window be an expression of national mentality? As it turned out, why not? About how Russians differ from Anglo-Saxons, many articles and even books have been written, but a very interesting nuance is usually overlooked - “ours” are distinguished from the English by ... windows. The Russian window is an “eye”, the eye of a dwelling, with the help of which its inhabitants can look “into the world”. Hence the famous "window to Europe." Russia cut it through in order to gain advanced experience from European countries in science, technology, and government.
In English, a “window” is more akin to the respiratory system. Meanwhile, in the New Age, when Puritanism, a radical trend in Protestantism, was widespread in England, the English window also became an eye, not only for the inhabitants of the home who want to look at the world, but for a society striving to control to the smallest detail any subtleties of the life of the English inhabitant .
The phrase “Puritan views” still symbolizes asceticism and the fanatical “integrity” of those who share such views. Puritans sought to bring the entire private life of people under the control of a religious community. For this they needed windows. Until recently, there were bans on window curtains in the Calvinist Netherlands and even in Lutheran Sweden. It was believed that a respectable Christian has nothing to hide from prying eyes. Any Puritan could calmly go to the window and see what his neighbors on the street were doing. It wasn't considered shameful, on the contrary? strongly approved by society. By the way, in Switzerland during the “dictatorship” of the founder of Calvinism, Jean Calvin, dissenters were waiting for no less cruel reprisals than in Spain or Italy, where the Catholic Inquisition was rampant.
In Russia, we see a completely different cultural tradition. Although privacy is called one of the main values of Western culture, in reality in Russia it has always been much more developed than in England itself. Therefore, in Russian culture there are so many proverbs and sayings about uninvited guests.
It is considered indecent to look through the windows of others in Russia, this is explained to Russian people in early childhood. For a Russian person, a house is his private sphere, an inner world into which only his master can enter. The “order” in the traditional Russian house was not watched by neighbors through the window, but by the icons from the walls. The Russian man himself was shy of icons, the level of self-regulation and self-discipline in him was always higher than that of a Western person.
The modern values of the West, the lifestyle of the heirs of the Puritans, only repeat the vector that was set centuries ago. An open society, transparency of public life, juvenile justice, unceremoniously invading the private lives of families - these are classic manifestations of the “all-seeing eye" of Western society, the system of total supervision that has developed over the centuries for centuries. It is good that the Russian windows served a different purpose.
In English, a “window” is more akin to the respiratory system. Meanwhile, in the New Age, when Puritanism, a radical trend in Protestantism, was widespread in England, the English window also became an eye, not only for the inhabitants of the home who want to look at the world, but for a society striving to control to the smallest detail any subtleties of the life of the English inhabitant .
The phrase “Puritan views” still symbolizes asceticism and the fanatical “integrity” of those who share such views. Puritans sought to bring the entire private life of people under the control of a religious community. For this they needed windows. Until recently, there were bans on window curtains in the Calvinist Netherlands and even in Lutheran Sweden. It was believed that a respectable Christian has nothing to hide from prying eyes. Any Puritan could calmly go to the window and see what his neighbors on the street were doing. It wasn't considered shameful, on the contrary? strongly approved by society. By the way, in Switzerland during the “dictatorship” of the founder of Calvinism, Jean Calvin, dissenters were waiting for no less cruel reprisals than in Spain or Italy, where the Catholic Inquisition was rampant.
In Russia, we see a completely different cultural tradition. Although privacy is called one of the main values of Western culture, in reality in Russia it has always been much more developed than in England itself. Therefore, in Russian culture there are so many proverbs and sayings about uninvited guests.
It is considered indecent to look through the windows of others in Russia, this is explained to Russian people in early childhood. For a Russian person, a house is his private sphere, an inner world into which only his master can enter. The “order” in the traditional Russian house was not watched by neighbors through the window, but by the icons from the walls. The Russian man himself was shy of icons, the level of self-regulation and self-discipline in him was always higher than that of a Western person.
The modern values of the West, the lifestyle of the heirs of the Puritans, only repeat the vector that was set centuries ago. An open society, transparency of public life, juvenile justice, unceremoniously invading the private lives of families - these are classic manifestations of the “all-seeing eye" of Western society, the system of total supervision that has developed over the centuries for centuries. It is good that the Russian windows served a different purpose.
Information