ABSTRACT
Russia is immense, not only in its surprising variety of humanity and cultures, but also in the variety of levels--levels in all the souls of its inhabitants, from the highest spirituality to what people term having "vapor in place of a soul." To write the history of Russian culture or even of literature, architecture, philosophy, painting or music is extraordinarily difficult. The search for truth was the main content of Russian literature, beginning in the tenth century. There is one more feature of Russian culture which is irrevocably tied to its peculiarity as a personality or an individuality. In the works of Russian culture there is a very great proportion of lyricism, and of an author's distinctive relationship to the subject or object of creativity. Russian historical development was characterized simultaneously by conservatism and by rapid changes of social moods and views. Russian culture, thanks to its combination of legacies, is full of internal freedom.
