From Regenerated Man to Homo Sovieticus: Yevgeny Zamyatin’s Novel We as a Revelator of the Implementation of Rousseau’s Political Philosophy during the Bolshevik Revolution

Abstract

In 1771–1772, Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote his Considerations on the Government of Poland, in which he put forward his recommendations to amend the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s political system. Later, in 1791, his advice was not implemented in what was to become the “May 3rd Constitution.” However, French revolutionaries used the Considerations, as well as other Rousseau’s works, and features of his philosophy in the regime they established. Subsequently, these Rousseau-inspired policies were adopted by the Bolsheviks. Our article aims at showing how the novel We by Russian author Zamyatin, which perfectly depicted the salient features of the Bolshevik regime, also highlights a literary reflection on the consequences of implementing Rousseau’s political ideas in the Soviet state.