ABSTRACT
In the previous chapter I analysed outsiders’ constructions of the shestidesyatniki and concluded that they are portrayed as a fallen intelligentsia. In this chapter I turn to the accounts of insiders and explore how those labelled as shestidesyatniki respond to their opponents, as well as the alternative versions of both the shestidesyatniki and the intelligentsia story they accept. My analysis of insiders’ representations of the shestidesyatniki shows that their narrative identities are constructed against one repertoire, that fuelling the attacks made by the younger generation, and from within another – the framework of the intelligentsia myth, which is used to give their accounts historical value as well as contemporary worth.
