A master is a landowner, the owner of the estate, on whose territory peasants and courtyards work. Serfdom in Russia was abolished more than 150 years ago. But the word "master" has not gone out of use. You can still hear it today, and not only in historical films.
Master
"Barin" is a word that is quite common in Russian literature of the 19th century. The characters in the books use it as an address. Often in the third person. For example: "The master deigned to rest." A synonym for this word is "master". However, the master is not only the legal owner of land. So the courtyards also called the son of the landowner, even if he was no more than three years old. Barin is a representative of the upper class. Let's recall some events from Russian history, this will allow us to understand the origin of the term.
Boyarin
The word "master" comes from the name of the highest feudal class in Russia. Boyar is a nobleman. The etymology of this word is a debatable topic. Some researchers believe that the word "boyar" came toRussian speech from the Turkic language. Others speak of its common Slavic origin. Regarding the history of the emergence of the boyars, there are also several versions that we will not present here. Let's just say that at some point this word was transformed into the term "master".
First landlords
In the 16th century, the tsar gave land to the service people, that is, the nobles. Sometimes for a lifetime, sometimes for life. The landowners differed from the estate owners in that the latter received land as an inheritance. These two concepts merged into one during the reign of Peter the Great. The nobility flourished in the central regions, but was almost not observed in Siberia. There were both large and small landlords. The latter included nobles who owned several dozen souls. But even the one who had only two serfs was a master. That is how the yards addressed him.
Examples from the literature
The serfs spoke about their master with respect, reverence, subservience. It is worth recalling one of Pushkin's works - the story "Dubrovsky". Even after the main character became impoverished and lost his estate, he remained a gentleman for his people. However, Pushkin's work is not so much about a landowner as about a noble robber.
The protagonist of the poem "Dead Souls" is a dubious person. Later it turns out that Chichikov is none other than an ordinary swindler, a swindler. He is not rich. But for his only servant, Petrushka, Chichikov is a gentleman. The footman cleans his master's suit, cleanshis room. Parsley is lazy and slow. But he unquestioningly obeys Chichikov, because it is customary to be afraid of the master.
Abolition of serfdom
After 1862, for landowners, the size of landed property became an indicator of well-being. However, despite the support of the government, the landed estates of the nobility steadily decreased. Very often the landowners gave their land on lease. By the end of the 19th century, the number of representatives of this class was significantly reduced.
After 1917, there were no landowners left in Russia. It is probably to the ardent revolutionaries that the word whose meaning we are considering owes a negative connotation. Barin - who is this for them? This is the one who does not work, but exploits others.
Meaning with a negative connotation
In Soviet Russia, the words "master", "master" became almost abusive. So they called those who for centuries did not work, but owned lands and estates. The Bolsheviks hastily plundered and burned the estates, while the owners themselves were shot or exiled to Siberia. But hostility to the landowners remained. And today the word "master" is used in everyday speech, often with a negative connotation, when it comes to a person who prefers to shift his duties to others.
Rich Man
A master is also called a person who does not like to deny himself anything. Not all Russian landowners were rich. A barin is a nobleman, perhaps impoverished, or one who owned only twenty souls, that is, serfs. Byaccording to the concepts of the 19th century, such a landowner was almost on the verge of poverty. Yet the word "master" is associated with we alth, power.
Phraseologisms
"Master-master" is an expression used when a person makes the wrong decision, but there is no point in arguing with him. Perhaps it is difficult to find a book by a Russian writer of the 18th or 19th century, in which the words "master", "lady" would not occur. Landlord culture has left its mark on phraseology.
"The master will judge us" - how can these words be understood? The landowners exploited the labor of the serfs for a very long time, but it is impossible to say that the latter did not like it. Rather, they did not know what freedom was, and therefore did not particularly strive for it. Serfs are accustomed to rely on the will of the master. However, there was also a rebellion, senseless and merciless. But what does the phraseological unit "the master will judge us" mean? It is used when people are in no hurry to make a decision, relying on a more authoritative person. At all times there were those who did not strive for freedom.
Another idiom - "not a great gentleman". It is used much less frequently than the one above. Appropriate when it comes to an insignificant person, one in which you can especially not stand on ceremony.
In the cinema
In any picture based on the work of a Russian writer of the 19th century, you can hear the word, the meaning of which is discussed above. In 2006, a film based on the original plot was released - the film"Barin". The first frames show our time. But one day a miracle happens: the main character falls into the past, namely the first half of the 19th century. He is surrounded by strangers who call him nothing more than a gentleman.
In 2017, the series "The Bloody Lady" began to air. This is a film about the events that took place in the early years of the reign of Catherine the Great. The main character is Daria S altykova, a landowner accused of torturing more than 30 serfs, for which she was called the "bloody lady" by the scriptwriters.
