The first half of the 19th century marked Russia with a "feudal backwardness" for much of the Western Europe. It was considered more a component of Asia than a representative of European thinking. During the beginning of the century, indeed, peasants ("serfs") lead their miserable lives and were treated as the property of their feudal masters and could be easily bought and sold. However, they had a few more rights than slaves and gained their …showed first 75 words of 1908 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1908 total…intellectual history of Europe developed at a remarkable pace. References *Barta, Peter & Larmour, David. Russian Literature and the Classics (Studies in Russian and European Literature Routledge): Bristol Classical Press (February 1996) *Moser, Charles. The Cambridge History of Russian Literature: Cambridge University Press; Revised edition (April 30, 1992) *M. Slonim, The Epic of Russian Literature: Princeton University Press V(1950, repr. 1964). *Jerras, ed., Handbook of Russian Literature: Oxford Paperbacks(1985) *G. Struve, Russian Literature in "The Golden Age" : Dover Publications