[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Musziks

[Richard Benert]

My father also used to refer to "dem muzhiks" with a kind of sneer in his 
voice that implied their inferiority.  The condescension was only in the 
mind of the muzhiks' German neighbors.  The term itself was commonly used by 
educated Russians to refer to Russian peasants throughout the nineteenth 
century, both before and after the freeing of the serfs.  It was used even 
by writers who admired the peasant way of life.  For instance, A. N. 
Engelgardt, a landowner who got along well with the peasants surrounding his 
estate, told the Populists (a group of would-be reformers who also admired 
the peasants and hoped to improve their lot as well as to learn from them 
the virtues of the communal village way of  life), "For practical study, the 
best book is the muzhik.  Study with him, look at what he does, how he does 
it, try to learn what the muzhik knows. .... for  he knows an awful lot." 
No one thought more highly of the peasants than Dostoyevsky, and he also 
referred to them as muzhiks.  Cathy Frierson,  author of "Peasant Icons: 
Representations of Rural People in 19th-century Russia," says that the term 
was used only for Russian peasants.  Western peasants were referred to as 
"paysan."

Where does this idea that a muzhik is a "communist Lout" come from?

Dick

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "MIKE MCHENRY" <maurmike1 at verizon.net>
To: "'Carol Jones'" <thejoneses at shaw.ca>; 
<ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Musziks


> It occurred to me that the word could easily be spelled MUSHIK SZ=SH in
> pronunciation. When you Google this word it is a "Russian peasant, living
> under the conditions of serfdom"
>
> MIKE
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ger-poland-volhynia-bounces at eclipse.sggee.org
> [mailto:ger-poland-volhynia-bounces at eclipse.sggee.org] On Behalf Of Carol
> Jones
> Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 12:44 PM
> To: ger-poland-volhynia at eclipse.sggee.org
> Subject: [Ger-Poland-Volhynia] Musziks
>
> I'm going to go with Helmut's interpretation of Musziks:  Communist
> "Louts".
> Thanks everyone for your helpful responses.
>
> Carol researching "Which Wurch/Werch/Wuerch/Wirch/Wuirch is which"
>
>
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