>[!abstract] >*Что делать?* ("what is to be done") is a Russian idiom which, depending on the tone, can mean "what should we do" (in a practical and genuine way) as well as "what to do" (in a rhetoric and fatalistic way, similar to "it is what it is"). > >The former found cultural usage among the 19th century intelligentsia as the title of books by: >- Nikolai Chernyshevsky (1863), >- Leo Tolstoy (1883), although with a different title meaning the same thing, and >- Vladimir Lenin (1902), although in the context of a call for revolutionary voluntarism (i.e., the opposite of fatalism). > >There is however a recognizable tendency in Russian literature, religion, and social psychology toward endurance, acceptance of suffering, historical inevitability, and a suspicion about individual control over history. Russian Christian Orthodoxy does emphasize humility, suffering, and spiritual endurance, in contrast with Protestant cultures that emphasize individual agency and worldly improvement. This theme is central to the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky. ## Continuation The idiom is often paired with *Кто виноват?* ("who is to blame?") in Russian intellectual and political culture, which is the title of a 1846 novel by Alexander Herzen (who also introduced the concept of the [[superfluous man]]). Russians will often invoke both idioms together humorously or ironically when discussing any difficult situation. >[!related] >- **North** (upstream): — >- **West** (similar): — >- **East** (different): — >- **South** (downstream): —