„west“ And „east“ In Ethnic Romanticism Of ?udovít Štúr
Abstract
The paper gives an analytical description of the ideology of Slavonic spirit as an essence of culture. The principles of this ideology, from which a pretension on historical mission has been derived, was articulated by Russian Slavophils. In his writing Slavism and the world of future ?udovít Štúr outlines this ideology to Central-European Slavs as well as to justify the need of adopting pan-Russian Slavism. His vocabulary and style are marked by political romanticism, while his conceptual map embodies dichotomies such as West/East, we/the others, religion/secularism. He finds the West to be in the state of political and moral decline, while the East is seen by him as the ground of a new civilization. The background of this way of thinking is his conservative utopism