Introduction Liliya Berezhnaya and Christian Schmitt Thus the Last Words of the Dying Taras Bulba, the Fictional Cossack Hero Of

Introduction

Liliya Berezhnaya and Christian Schmitt

“Farewell, comrades!” he shouted to them. “Remember me, and come back next spring to feast and carouse! So you thought, you’d caught us, you damn Poles? Do you think there is a single thing in this world that will frighten a Cossack? Just wait, the time will come when you will understand the mean- ing of the Russian Orthodox faith! Word has already spread through every nation: A Russian Czar will spring forth from the Russian earth, and there will be no power in this world that shall not yield to him!”1 Thus the last words of the dying Taras Bulba, the fictional Cossack hero of Nikolai Gogol’s historical short story of the same name. Bulba’s words have been repeated in cinema too, most recently in a film by Russian director Vladimir Bortko (Taras Bulba, 2009), which caused a strong and agitated media echo, especially in Russia.2 Bortko’s film inscribed a patri- otic message into its scenes that even exceeded Gogol’s revised version of the story (1842).3 The film sets a nationalist course right away by open- ing with another sappy Bulba-speech that links “comradeship” with the “Russian soul.” Like in Gogol, the border between “us” and “them” is also maintained with help of references to religion—a religion that the Poles, standing in for a rational and corrupt West, do not share. The last scene of the movie adds even more religious overtones; while the Cossacks are rid- ing to attack, they proclaim the slogan, “For Faith! For Russia!” The film’s images have already added to this by depicting Bulba’s death in patterns that are well-known in Hollywood too, most notably the iconography of martyrs burned at the stake for their faith. The result is obvious: Bortko’s hero serves as a figure of identification for contemporary Russia that makes (partly fictional) historical events accessible for present desires and politi- cal agendas. In the mythical “golden age” summoned up by the movie, the

1 Gogol, Taras Bulba, 140. 2 See Ian Appleby’s and Stephen Norris’ reviews in Kinokultura. 3 Gogol’s revised edition from 1842 (the one quoted here) has been characterized as the “transformation of a Ukrainian tale into a Russian novel.” This would include the transfer of the Cossack as a “Ukrainian symbol into a Russian image.” Yoon, “Transformation of a Ukrainian Cossack,” 430; 440. 2 liliya berezhnaya and christian schmitt link between religion and nationality is still intact. By linking nationality to concepts like “soul,” “soil,” and (Orthodox) “faith,” Russianness takes shape as an entity with historical, geographical and natural roots that is— and, thus the message, should be—inseparable from religion. Films like Taras Bulba—as well as many other recent films from Eastern Europe—raise a question that deserves our analytical scrutiny and seems to call for the joint forces of historians, literary and film critics: How are nation and religion interrelated in today’s Eastern Europe and how is this interrelation “imagined” in cinema? After the historical turn of 1989, this question seems to be of particular importance for new communities that have emerged in a space that was until then held together by Commu- nist ideology. In many Eastern European countries there has been plenty of evidence for a return to nationalism, while the predicted return of religion(s) was even envisaged on a larger scale, as a global phenomenon. But how are both connected? And what role does the cinema play in con- necting nation and religion as categories of communal coherence? We suggest that in the wake of the historical turn of 1989, an “iconic turn” has taken place in Eastern Europe—in the form of a renewed cinematic com- mitment to make sense of the world in religious and/or national terms. In other words, cinema is one of the social sites where nation and religion meet, where the relation of nation and religion is negotiated. This volume is devoted to these negotiations, even though its scope is necessarily limited. We can neither cover the whole geographical range nor address all possible themes. In geographical regard, the scope of Iconic Turns is limited to selected countries that were governed by pro-Soviet regimes before 1989. In regard to the themes, it is our aim to sketch a preliminary outline of some key aspects that will inspire further research. According to this goal, the volume is structured in three parts. Each part contains four case studies that explore the interaction of nation, religion, and cinema with the help of concrete examples. Nevertheless, we felt that some introductory remarks are necessary since the issue in question is so complex. These remarks will also provide the necessary theoretical frame- work for our book’s structure. There are four issues that need some clari- fication: (1) the geographical and historical scope of our volume; (2) how to conceive of the interplay of nation and religion in theoretical terms; (3) cinema’s role in relating nation and religion; (4) and films’ contribution to shaping historical memory.