Title The odd man Karakozov : Imperial Russia, modernity, and the birth of terrorism / Claudia Verhoeven

Published Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2009

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Description 1 online resource (x, 231 pages) : illustrations Contents From the files of the Karakozov case : the virtual birth of terrorism -- The real Rakhmetov : the image of the revolutionary after Karakozov -- "A life for the Tsar" : tsaricide in the age of mechanical reproduction -- Raskolnikov, Karakozov, and the etiology of a "new word" -- Armiak; or, "So many things in an overcoat!" -- "Factual propaganda," an autopsy; or, The morbid origins of April 4, 1866 -- The head of the tsaricide -- Conclusion : the point of April 4, 1866 Summary On April 4, 1866, just as Alexander II stepped out of Saint Petersburg's Summer Garden and onto the boulevard, a young man named Dmitry Karakozov pulled out a pistol and shot at the tsar. He missed, but his "unheard-of act" changed the course of Russian history-and gave birth to the revolutionary political violence known as terrorism. Based on clues pulled out of the pockets of Karakozov's peasant disguise, investigators concluded that there had been a conspiracy so extensive as to have sprawled across the entirety of the Russian empire and the European continent. Karakozov was said to have been a member of "The Organization," a socialist network at the center of which sat a secret cell of suicide-assassins: "Hell." It is still unclear how much of this "conspiracy" theory was actually true, but of the thirty-six defendants who stood accused during what was Russia's first modern political trial, all but a few were exiled to Siberia, and Karakozov himself was publicly hanged on September 3, 1866. Because Karakozov was decidedly strange, sick, and suicidal, his failed act of political violence has long been relegated to a footnote of Russian history. In The Odd Man Karakozov, however, Claudia Verhoeven argues that it is precisely this neglected, exceptional case that sheds a new light on the origins of terrorism. The book not only demonstrates how the idea of terrorism first emerged from the reception of Karakozov's attack, but also, importantly, what was really at stake in this novel form of political violence, namely, the birth of a new, modern political subject. Along the way, in characterizing Karakozov's as an essentially modernist crime, Verhoeven traces how his act profoundly impacted Russian culture, including such touchstones as Repin's art and Dostoevsky's literature. By looking at the history that produced Karakozov and, in turn, the history that Karakozov produced, Verhoeven shows terrorism as a phenomenon inextricably linked to the foundations of the modern world: capitalism, enlightened law and scientific reason, ideology, technology, new media, and above all, people's participation in politics and in the making of history Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Print version record Subject Karakozov, Dmitrīĭ Vladimīrovich, 1840-1866. Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, 1818-1881 -- Assassination attempt, 1866 SUBJECT Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, 1818-1881 -- Assassination attempt, 1866 Karakozov, Dmitrīĭ Vladimīrovich, 1840-1866 Alexander II, Emperor of Russia, 1818-1881 fast Karakozov, Dmitrīĭ Vladimīrovich, 1840-1866 fast Subject Terrorism -- Russia -- History -- 19th century Political violence -- Russia -- History -- 19th century Terrorism -- Russia (Federation) -- History -- 19th century HISTORY -- Europe -- Russia & the Former Soviet Union. HISTORY -- Europe -- Eastern. HISTORY -- Europe -- Former Soviet Republics. Attempted assassination Political violence Terrorism SUBJECT Russia -- History -- Alexander II, 1855-1881. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85125800 Subject Russia Genre/Form History Form Electronic book ISBN 9780801460289 080146028X 9780801463716 0801463718

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