DOCSLIB.ORG

Newsletter No 16 2012

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Newsletter No 16 2012 KestonKeston NewsletterNewsletter No. 16, 2012 Patriarch Kirill of Moscow & All Russia Whither Russia? by Sergei Filatov In the autumn of 2011 the mood in by them both a few years before. Such Russia changed sharply. Political pas- open and cynical acknowledgement sivity combined with the high ratings that those in power did not depend on of Prime Minister Putin, President the choice of the electorate, and that Medvedev and the United Russia party power could be handed from one to the of the past ten years, were replaced by other like a glass when there are not protests, loss of confidence in the gov- enough to go round at a party, shocked ernment and in Putin and Medvedev personally. This sudden fall in popu- Also in this issue: larity was triggered by Medvedev’s Stalin Cult . p.12 announcement on 24 September 2011 Religious Seminar . p.16 that he would not be running for Presi- Pussy Riot . p.24 dent in favour of Putin, and Putin’s statement that this decision was taken Baptists in Kazakhstan . p.27 Protest and the ROC . p.32 Keston Newsletter No 16, 2012 Fieldtrip to Kalmykia . p.36 Home News . p.44 many people far more than anyone Patriarch Kirill was then silent until 17 expected. The dissatisfaction which December when after the liturgy at the had been growing about the situation Cathedral of Christ the Saviour he in Russia suddenly broke out in protest said: demonstrations. ‘We know to what a bloodbath and The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), mess were the lives of our forefa- the largest non-governmental organisa- thers reduced in the 20 th century tion, was suddenly faced with having when, in the struggle for little hu- to formulate its position (like all other man truths, father rose up against bodies in the unfolding drama). This son and son against father; when was necessitated too by the enormous love and friendship were destroyed; interest shown by the media and other when there were rivers of blood, and social institutions in what the ROC people, driven crazy by blood, tried would say. For the first time since his with all their might, whatever the election as Patriarch, Kirill had to cost, to affirm their small, human, choose between different political and to be honest, their insignificant platforms in the midst of an emerging truth! Thousands of human lives political crisis. Until then the ROC’s were ruined, and a great country leadership had avoided the subject of collapsed... How important it is that the elections and had not supported we, the inheritors of a great Russia, any particular party. On the day of the who have experienced the terrible parliamentary elections, 4 December trials of the 20 th century, should 2011, Patriarch Kirill spoke at the end today show we have learned the of the liturgy in the Donskoi Monas- lessons of the past and will not re- tery: peat the mistakes which our fathers committed on the eve of 1917.’ ‘Today, election day, is in a sense the start of a journey because our coun- Thus did the Patriarch try to make the try is faced with a great deal to do. protesters stop and come to their Upon what we do or fail to do senses. At the same time he hangs the very existence of Russia... ‘demonstrated objectivity’ by calling Russia can be a great multinational upon the government to listen to public state or she can cease to exist. To- opinion: day our people are faced with a choice, and, God willing, may it be ‘May God enlighten all who hold the start of a journey which leads to different points of view about the glory, to God’s glory reflected in the political situation in our country and lives and faith of our people, to the about the elections, and may He glory of our Motherland.... May our help them enter into a genuine dia- divisions, our political passions, our logue with society so that our na- political views and convictions tional life is not destroyed... But in never destroy the unity in society order to overcome misunderstand- upon which depends the wellbeing ing, re-establish trust, unite society of each of us, of us as a people, and and enable it to move forward into of our country.’ the future, the government must Keston Newsletter No 16, 2012 2 relate to people with greater trust, to provoke social unrest in Russia, contribute to this dialogue and try to to stage disturbances; these are peo- overcome disagreements and misun- ple who hate our country and want derstandings.’ to undermine its stability, wellbeing and peace... The deeds of our coun- This was followed by the address of try’s enemies draw out dark subter- the Patriarch’s spiritual father, Skhi- ranean forces; they promote chaos archimandrite Ilii (Nosdrin) – regarded which is more dangerous than was as a starets in Russia – on 23 Decem- the so-called Orange Revolution in ber which attracted much attention and Ukraine. The events and speeches was broadcast by the Moscow Patriar- in Moscow and St Petersburg, which chate and the media. Skhi- we have seen and heard in recent archimandrite Ilii read out a text in days, fit well into this scenario. Those outbursts which were heard on Bolotnaya Square, often paid for, according to eye witnesses, by the organisers of these events, are an expression of passion and ha- tred in our Moth- erland, a country which has em- barked on a peaceful path.’ Moscow demonstrations With every succeeding statement by authoritative representatives of the front of the camera which basically Moscow Patriarchate (MP), the banned any Orthodox believer from church’s attitude to the protesters be- attending the next day’s meeting on came harsher, while its attitude to Prospekt Academician Sakharov in those in power was undeniably loyal. Moscow. The day before, the Ortho- This process culminated in a meeting dox radio station Radonezh had broad- on 8 February in the Danilov Monas- cast Skhi-archimandrite Ilii addressing tery, organised by Patriarch Kirill, Orthodox Christians about the current between the leaders of religious or- political situation. Ilii condemned the ganisations and Vladimir Putin, the protesters in no uncertain terms: Presidential candidate. Putin promised to increase significantly government ‘What is the essence of the current funding for restoring church buildings, situation and of the many conversa- to allow Orthodox clergy to teach in tions in our country? It is no less schools, to promote theological than the action of people who want courses in higher educational institu- Keston Newsletter No 16, 2012 3 tions, and to give financial support to Terrible. So what is the intellectual the church’s social and educational basis for such an extraordinary idea? projects. In reply the Patriarch ex- pressed his complete support for Putin. The ROC’s socio-political principles are set out in a series of official docu- Most commentators have seen mere ments and in certain speeches of the servility in the behaviour of the MP Patriarch, but first and foremost in The and direct promotion of the authorities’ Foundations of the ROC’s Social Doc- interests. But there is another interpre- trine , published and adopted as the tation. The Patriarch holds to a princi- church’s official position by the Holy pled position which is in fact very Synod in 2000. Kirill, then Metropoli- different from that of the authorities. tan of Smolensk and Vyazemsky and His political views have remained head of the MP’s foreign relations unnoticed not only because they are department, played a central role in its couched in diplomatic language, but preparation. This document affirms also because they are so eccentric and the ideal political structure for Ortho- therefore not taken seriously by jour- doxy to be the absolute monarchy of nalists and analysts. These eccentric Byzantium with its principle of sym- views were presented by the Patriarch phony between church and state, and in a sermon on 16 July 2011 com- furthermore that this ideal political memorating Philip, Metropolitan of structure was embodied in Russia’s Moscow and All Russia, exiled by monarchy: Ivan the Terrible [he was canonised in 1652 when his relics were brought to ‘The heritage of Russian monarchs Moscow from the Solovetsky Monas- was different from that of the By- tery, and a confession read out in zantines. For this and other histori- which the ruling Tsar repented on be- cal reasons, the relationship be- half of Ivan the Terrible. Ed ]: tween church and state in ancient Russia was more harmonious.’ 2 ‘The deeds of Ivan the Terrible can- not be compared with what is hap- A democratic state adhering to the rule pening in the modern world, with all of law is seen simply as the result of its human suffering and injustices, secularisation which has to be ac- with its starvation and disease, with cepted: wars fought for no clear reason, with the destruction of so many peace- ‘The form and methods of govern- loving and innocent people.’ 1 ment are to a great extent condi- tioned by the spiritual and moral From these words it follows that our state of society. With this under- period which we are living through is standing, the church accepts the more cruel, more immoral than that of appropriate choice of the people, or Ivan the Terrible. Very few people at least does not oppose it.’ 3 today would agree with the Patriarch! Even Putin would not consider that The ROC’s leadership from time to under his regime life for Russians is time lets it be known that it does not worse than during the reign of Ivan the consider democracy to be the right Keston Newsletter No 16, 2012 4 path for Russia – they just ‘do not Russia had developed its own forms of oppose it’.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Art and Power in Putin's Russia
    RUSSIA Art and Power in Putin’s Russia BY SASHA PEVAK The separation between art and power in Russia’s recent history has never been clear-cut. Soon after the fall of the USSR, contemporary art, namely actionism in the 90s, openly criticized society and entered the political sphere. This trend continued after Vladimir Putin’s election in 2000. Russian identity politics in the 2000s were based on four pillars: state nationalism with the Putin’s “power vertical”, the vision of Russia as a nation-state, Orthodox religion, and the myth of the Unique Russian Path, reinforced by the notion of “sovereign democracy” and the idea of the omnipresence of a fifth column inside the country 1. The will to consolidate society around these values provoked, according to political scientist Lena Jonson, tensions between the State and culture, especially as far as religious issues were concerned. These issues were the cause of the trials against the exhibitions “Attention! Religion” (2003) and “Forbidden Art – 2006” (2007), shown in Moscow at the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Public Centre. The latter staged temporary events and activities based on the defence of Human Rights. For part of the national opinion, the Centre symbolized democracy in Russia, whereas for others it represented an antipatriotic element, all the more so because it was financed by foreign foundations. In 2014, the Department of Justice catalogued it as a “foreign agent,” on the pretext that it carried out political actions with American subsidies 2. In 2003, the exhibition “Caution, Religion!”, organized by Aroutioun Zouloumian, was vandalized by religious activists several days after the opening 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Russian Museums Visit More Than 80 Million Visitors, 1/3 of Who Are Visitors Under 18
    Moscow 4 There are more than 3000 museums (and about 72 000 museum workers) in Russian Moscow region 92 Federation, not including school and company museums. Every year Russian museums visit more than 80 million visitors, 1/3 of who are visitors under 18 There are about 650 individual and institutional members in ICOM Russia. During two last St. Petersburg 117 years ICOM Russia membership was rapidly increasing more than 20% (or about 100 new members) a year Northwestern region 160 You will find the information aboutICOM Russia members in this book. All members (individual and institutional) are divided in two big groups – Museums which are institutional members of ICOM or are represented by individual members and Organizations. All the museums in this book are distributed by regional principle. Organizations are structured in profile groups Central region 192 Volga river region 224 Many thanks to all the museums who offered their help and assistance in the making of this collection South of Russia 258 Special thanks to Urals 270 Museum creation and consulting Culture heritage security in Russia with 3M(tm)Novec(tm)1230 Siberia and Far East 284 © ICOM Russia, 2012 Organizations 322 © K. Novokhatko, A. Gnedovsky, N. Kazantseva, O. Guzewska – compiling, translation, editing, 2012 [email protected] www.icom.org.ru © Leo Tolstoy museum-estate “Yasnaya Polyana”, design, 2012 Moscow MOSCOW A. N. SCRiAbiN MEMORiAl Capital of Russia. Major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation center of Russia and the continent MUSEUM Highlights: First reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Moscow was already a pretty big town.
    [Show full text]
  • Detki V Kletke: the Childlike Aesthetic in Soviet Children's Literature and Unofficial Poetry
    Detki v kletke: The Childlike Aesthetic in Soviet Children's Literature and Unofficial Poetry The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Morse, Ainsley. 2016. Detki v kletke: The Childlike Aesthetic in Soviet Children's Literature and Unofficial Poetry. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33493521 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Detki v kletke: The Childlike Aesthetic in Soviet Children’s Literature and Unofficial Poetry A dissertation presented by Ainsley Elizabeth Morse to The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Slavic Languages and Literatures Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts April 2016 © 2016 – Ainsley Elizabeth Morse. All rights reserved. Dissertation Advisor: Professor Stephanie Sandler Ainsley Elizabeth Morse Detki v kletke: The Childlike Aesthetic in Soviet Children’s Literature and Unofficial Poetry Abstract Since its inception in 1918, Soviet children’s literature was acclaimed as innovative and exciting, often in contrast to other official Soviet literary production. Indeed, avant-garde artists worked in this genre for the entire Soviet period, although they had fallen out of official favor by the 1930s. This dissertation explores the relationship between the childlike aesthetic as expressed in Soviet children’s literature, the early Russian avant-garde and later post-war unofficial poetry.
    [Show full text]
  • The Aesthetic Code of Russian Postmodernism
    Russian Culture Center for Democratic Culture 2012 The Aesthetic Code of Russian Postmodernism Mark Lipovetsky Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/russian_culture Part of the Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, and the Slavic Languages and Societies Commons Repository Citation Lipovetsky, M. (2012). The Aesthetic Code of Russian Postmodernism. In Dmitri N. Shalin, 1-36. Available at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/russian_culture/19 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Article in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This Article has been accepted for inclusion in Russian Culture by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Aesthetic Code of Russian Postmodernism [1] Mark Lipovetsky Introduction Postmodernist discourse has become central to literary criticism in the 1990s. Unlike many other literary discourses, it was never formally announced, yet beginning in the late 1980s (with Mikhail Epstein’s articles) it took over almost all literary publications and effectively led to a new polarization of literary
    [Show full text]
  • KRISTIN REED Kristin-Reed.Com
    KRISTIN REED kristin-reed.com Virginia Commonwealth University Phone: 804.617.5388 1015 Floyd Ave, Room 5184 E-mail: [email protected] P.O. Box 842015 Richmond, VA 23284-2015 Education 2009 Ph.D. Comparative Literature, Indiana University Dissertation: "The Rhetoric of Grief: Seamus Heaney, Joseph Brodsky, Yves Bonnefoy, and the Modern Elegy." Dissertation Advisor: Prof. David Hertz Minor fields: Russian Literature and Slavic Linguistics, Art History 2000 B.A. English Literature, James Madison University Minor Field: Russian Literature Professional Positions 2014-present - Curriculum and Textbook Coordinator, Department of Focused Inquiry, Virginia Commonwealth University. 2009-present - Assistant Professor, Department of Focused Inquiry, Virginia Commonwealth University. Awards 2012 Virginia Commonwealth University Center for Teaching Excellence Grant 2008-09 Louise B. McNutt Dissertation Year Fellowship 2006, 08, 09 Foreign Language Area Studies Fellowship (Russian) 2007 Award of Distinction on Doctoral Examinations 2005 Award for Distinguished Teaching, Dept. of Comp. Lit., Indiana University 2004 Gilbert V. Tutungi Award for Masters of Arts Research Project Interests Arts communities and independent publication Literatures in Russian and English Interdisciplinary curriculum design Conflict and Narrative Higher education and community engagement Incarceration and reentry Publications "A Palette of Portents: Rural Portraiture in Seamus Heaney and Pieter Brueghel." ANQ 25.4 (2012): 233-239. Print. "Versographies, by Dmitri Prigov" [translation and introduction]. Qui Parle 20.2 (2012): 183-197. “Language and Memory in Nabokov’s ‘Revolution’.” in Literature in Exile of East and Central Europe. Agnieszka Gutthy, ed. New York: Peter Lang, 2009. Conferences [**denotes service as panel organizer.] Workshop co-facilitator, “Developing Community-Based Solutions Outside of the Criminal Justice System.” International Conference on Conflict Resolution Education.
    [Show full text]
  • 09-Mr Journal Sots Art Anglais
    Sots Art Political Art in Russia from 1972 to today Curator: Andrei Erofeev Sots Art: Political Art in Russia is the first major exhibition in France of this Russian art movement. While Russia was a hive of artistic activity in the early decades of the twentieth century (avant-gardism, cubofuturism, rayonism, suprematism, constructivism), under the Stalinist regime creation became a political tool. Artistic diversity was crushed and replaced by a single form of creation as propaganda. Under Stalin's dictatorship (he was supreme leader of the USSR from 1927 to 1953), Socialist Realism was declared the official and only acceptable style. Artists wishing to deviate from its ideological messages and aesthetics were forced underground. Immediately following Stalin's death, contemporary Russian art was reborn, echoing western modernisms until 1962 when Khrushchev ended this "thaw." Two mutually-exclusive cultures coexisted through the 1970s, one official and one nonconformist. This was the context in which Sots Art, the first avant-garde movement in Russian art since the 1920s, emerged. Sots Art demonstrates a new way of thinking, a "third way" which, taking Pop Art as its model, breaks down barriers and oppositions. For the first time ever, the previously antagonistic trends of the official and the avant-garde were combined. Originally shown at the 2007 Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, Sots Art: Political Art in Russia is organised by Tretyakov Gallery and curated by the gallery's chief curator of contemporary art, Andrei Erofeev. It brings together over 200 Sots works, from the early works of Vitaly Komar and Alexandre Melamid who initiated the movement in 1972, to the movement's continued expression by contemporary artists in Putin's Russia.
    [Show full text]
  • Kirill Medvedev It's No Good
    Kirill Medvedev It’s No Good edited and introduced by Keith Gessen translated from the Russian by Keith Gessen with Mark Krotov, Cory Merril, and Bela Shayevich, with additional translation editing by Isabel Lane n+1 / ugly duckling prese, 2012 eastern european poets series #30 Introduction 11 [poems] from 3% (2005-2006) 215 [poems] from It’s No Good (2000) 23 [action] Why I Started a Livejournal Blog (2006) 235 [poems] from Incursion (2002) 57 [poems] How’s Tis for a Poem? (2006) 237 [poem] Europe (2002) 85 [action] Brecht Is Not Your Aunt (2007) 241 TABLE OF CONTENTS [action] Communiqué (2003) 103 [action] Ostankino Protest (2007) 245 [poems] Pornocracy (2003) 107 [essay] Literature Will Be Tested (2007) 249 [essay] My Fascism (2003-2004) 117 [obituary] Dmitri Prigov (2007) 271 [action] Manifesto on Copyright (2004) 149 [poem] In Praise of Evolution (2007) 275 [poems] Love, Freedom, Honesty, Solidarity, Democracy, 151 [action] Totalitarianism (2005) An Invitation (2007) 277 [action] [obituary] On the Publication of the Book Kirill Medvedev: Texts 165 Stanislav Markelov (2009) 279 Published Without the Permission of the Author (2005) [poems] [poem] Attack on City Hall (2011-2012) 281 End of the Ceasefre (End of the Objectivist School?) 171 (2005) Glossary of Names 295 [essay] Dmitry Kuzmin: An Essay-Memoir (2006) 183 I frst learned of Kirill Medvedev in Fall 2006, when someone handed me a copy of the literary magazine Kriticheskaya Massa (“Critical Mass”; now defunct), featuring a symposium about the CTION release of Medvedev’s book by the Novoe Literaturnoe Obozrenie DU (NLO) publishing house. Te book’s release required a symposium O R because Medvedev had renounced all copyright to his works, and NLO had nonetheless gone ahead and published the book without NT I asking his permission.
    [Show full text]
  • Sovyet Dönemi Rus Edebiyatı
    SOVYET DÖNEMİ RUS EDEBİYATI (1953-1991) Dr. Yasemn GÜRSOY Sovyet Dönemi Rus Edebiyatı (1953-1991) Yasemin Gürsoy Copyright © 2018 by iksad publishing house All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non commercial uses permitted by copyright law. Institution of Economic Development And Social Researches Publications® (The Licence Number of Publicator: 2014/31220) TURKEY TR: +90 342 606 06 75 USA: +1 631 685 0 853 E posta: [email protected] www.iksad.net www.iksad.org www.iksadkongre.org It is responsibility of the author to abide by the publishing ethics rules. Iksad Publications - 2018© ISBN: 978-605-7923-27-1 Cover Design: İbrahim Kaya November / 2018 Size = 148x210 cm İÇİNDEKİLER ÖNSÖZ _________________________________________ 1 GİRİŞ __________________________________________ 3 SOVYETLERDE GENEL DURUM _ 9 Sovyet Dönemi Rusya Tarihi _____________________ 9 Sovyet Dönemi Rus Edebiyatı ___________________ 42 SOVYET DÖNEMİ RUS EDEBİYATINDA SAVAŞ NESRİ _ 121 Konstantin Dmitriyeviç Vorobyov _______________ 141 Viktor Petroviç Astafyev _______________________ 156 Vasil Vladimiroviç Bıkov ______________________ 171 Boris Lvoviç Vasilyev _________________________ 187 SOVYET DÖNEMİ RUS EDEBİYATINDA KÖY NESRİ _ 201 Fyodor Aleksandroviç Abramov
    [Show full text]
  • Russia –​ Art Resistance and the Conservative-​Authoritarian Zeitgeist
    i Russia – Art Resistance and the Conservative- Authoritarian Zeitgeist This book explores how artistic strategies of resistance have survived under the conservative- authoritarian regime which has been in place in Russia since 2012. It discusses the conditions under which artists work as aesthetics change and the state attempts to define what constitutes good taste. It examines the approaches artists are adopting to resist state oppression and to question the present system and attitudes to art. The book addresses a wide range of issues related to these themes, considers the work of individual artists and includes some discussion of contemporary theatre as well as the visual arts. Lena Jonson is Associate Professor and a Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs. Andrei Erofeev is a widely published art historian, curator, and former head of the contemporary art section of the Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia. ii Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series Series url: www.routledge.com/ Routledge- Contemporary- Russia- and- Eastern- Europe- Series/ book- series/ SE0766 71 EU- Russia Relations, 1999– 2015 From Courtship to Confrontation Anna- Sophie Maass 72 Migrant Workers in Russia Global Challenges of the Shadow Economy in Societal Transformation Edited by Anna- Liisa Heusala and Kaarina Aitamurto 73 Gender Inequality in the Eastern European Labour Market Twenty- five Years of Transition since the Fall of Communism Edited by Giovanni Razzu 74 Reforming the Russian Industrial Workplace
    [Show full text]
  • Art and Repression Actionism and Socially Engaged Practices in Contempo- Rary Russia
    Art and repression Actionism and socially engaged practices in contempo- rary Russia Maria Mikhaylova BACHELOR’S THESIS April 2020 Degree Programme in Media and Arts Option of Fine Art ABSTRACT Tampereen ammattikorkeakoulu Tampere University of Applied Sciences Degree Programme in Media and Arts Option of Fine Art Maria Mikhaylova Art and Repression: Actionism and socially engaged practices in contemporary Russia Bachelor's tHesis 70 pages, appendices 19 pages April 2020 THis study presents a research on How societal challenges and political regime Have influenced Russian Actionism since tHe time of its inception in 1990s and How politics affect tHe freedom of speech in art. THe objective is to determine How the agenda of Russian Actionism changed tHrougHout tHe years and How does it respond to tHe emerging issues of today. It was of interest to determine tHe impact of repression on radicality of art and wHat are tHe singularities of making art against tHe backdrop of a conservative political turn and tHe lack of civil liberties. THe research metHods used for tHis tHesis are professional literature review, con- tent analysis and etHnograpHic metHod. THree semi-structured interviews were conducted witH tHe art professionals, wHo are at some extent working witH social practice art. THe study also includes tHe views of tHe respondents on tHe present state and a possible future of Actionism and art activism in Russia, tHougHts about current political situations and social trends and How tHey affect tHe work of an artist. Full text of tHe interviews can be read in tHe appendices. THe findings indicate tHat despite a relatively small time gap between tHe emer- gence of each new Wave of Russian Actionism, tHere is a significant difference in agenda and tactics of tHe artists.
    [Show full text]
  • Viktor Pelevin and Vladimir Sorokin
    THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO MYTHOPOETICS OF POST-SOVIET LITERARY FICTION: VIKTOR PELEVIN AND VLADIMIR SOROKIN A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVISION OF THE HUMANITIES IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF SLAVIC LANGUAGES AND LITERATURES BY THEODORE ORSON TROTMAN CHICAGO, ILLINOIS DECEMBER 2017 Table of Contents List of Figures iii Abstract iv Introduction 1 Chapter 1: Myth as History: Mythopoetics in Pelevin’s Chapaev and the Void 43 Chapter 2: From Conceptualism to Postmodernism: Vladimir Sorokin’s The Queue 72 Chapter 3: The Mythic and the Utopian: Visions of the Future in Viktor Pelevin’s S.N.U.F.F. 105 Chapter 4: The Resurgence of Literary Dystopia: Vladimir Sorokin’s Day of the Oprichnik as the Ironic Dystopia 128 Conclusion 154 Bibliography 165 ii List of Figures Figure 1: Putin and Zaldostanov at the Sevastopol Bike Show 151 iii Abstract I sought to answer four broadly-construed, fundamental questions when writing this dissertation: 1) What is the role of literary fiction in contemporary Russian culture, and what is its relationship with other elements of culture, e.g., mass culture, popular culture, and myth? 2) How is Russian postmodernist literary fiction related to its preceding movements, e.g., Sots-Art, Socialist Realism, and modernism? 3) What is the role of the genre of utopia in the literary culture of the post-Soviet era, and how is such utopianism related to Soviet myth, mass culture, and Socialist Realism? 4) What can the sub-genre of dystopia tell us about the future of Russian literary fiction, and how can we reconcile the current manifestations of dystopian fiction with both extant models of utopian literary fiction and contemporary Russian culture? I answer these questions through engagement with works of writers of particular significance to both post- Soviet, Russian culture and also to the literary culture that it breeds.
    [Show full text]
  • Art and Protest in Putin's Russia
    Art and Protest in Putin’s Russia The Pussy Riot protest and the subsequent heavy-handed treatment of the protes- tors grabbed headlines, but this was not an isolated instance of art being noticeably critical of the regime. As this book, based on extensive original research, shows, there has been gradually emerging over recent decades a signifi cant counter- culture in the art world which satirises and ridicules the regime and the values it represents, at the same time putting forward, through art, alternative values. The book traces the development of art and protest in recent decades, discusses how art of this kind engages in political and social protest, and provides many illustrations as examples of art as protest. The book concludes by discussing how important art has been in facilitating new social values and in prompting political protests. Lena Jonson is Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Russia Research Program at the Swedish Institute of International Affairs, Stockholm. Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe Series 1 Liberal Nationalism in Central 8 The Development of Capitalism Europe in Russia Stefan Auer Simon Clarke 2 Civil-Military Relations in 9 Russian Television Today Russia and Eastern Europe Primetime drama and comedy David J. Betz David MacFadyen 3 The Extreme Nationalist Threat 10 The Rebuilding of Greater in Russia Russia The growing influence of Putin’s foreign policy towards the Western Rightist ideas CIS countries Thomas Parland Bertil Nygren 4 Economic Development in 11 A Russian Factory Enters
    [Show full text]