Soviet and Post-Soviet Identities

Cambridge University Press, 4/26/2012
EAN 9781107011175, ISBN10: 1107011175

Hardcover, 386 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
Language: English

Since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, questions of identity have dominated the culture not only of Russia, but of all the countries of the former Soviet bloc. This timely collection examines the ways in which cultural activities such as fiction, TV, cinema, architecture and exhibitions have addressed these questions and also describes other cultural flashpoints, from attitudes to language to the use of passports. It discusses definitions of political and cultural nationalism, as well as the myths, institutions and practices that moulded and expressed national identity. From post-Soviet recollections of food shortages to the attempts by officials to control popular religion, it analyses a variety of unexpected and compelling topics to offer fresh insights about this key area of world culture. Illustrated with numerous photographs, it presents the results of recent research in an accessible and lively way.

Introduction Mark Bassin and Catriona Kelly
Part I. The Status of National Identity
1. The contradictions of identity
being Soviet and National in the USSR and after Ronald Grigor Suny
2. Tales told by Nationalists Nancy Condee
Part II. Institutions of National Identity
3. National identity through visions of the past
contemporary Russian cinema Birgit Beumers
4. Archaising culture
the Museum of Ethnography Dmitry Baranov
5. Rituals of identity
the Soviet passport Albert Baiburin
Part III. Myths of National Identity
6. 'If the war comes tomorrow'
patriotic education in Soviet and post-Soviet primary school Vitaly Bezrogov
7. Conquering space
the cult of Yuri Gagarin Andrew Jenks
8. Nation-construction in post-Soviet Central Asia Sergei Abashin
Part IV. Spaces of National Identity
9. Soviet and post-Soviet Moscow
literary reality or nightmare? Dina Khapaeva
10. From the USSR to the Orient
national and ethnic symbols in the city text of Elista Elza-Bair Guchinova
11. The place(s) of Islam in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia Victoria Arnold
Part V. Languages of National Identity
12. Language culture and identity in post-Soviet Russia
the economies of mat Michael Gorham
13. Policies and practices of language education in post-Soviet Central Asia
between ethnic identity and civic consciousness Olivier Ferrando
14. Surviving in the time of deficit
the narrative construction of a 'Soviet identity' Anna Kushkova
Part VI. Creeds of National Identity
15. Competing orthodoxies
identity and religious belief in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia Catriona Kelly
16. 'Popular orthodoxy' and identity in twentieth-century Russia
ideology, consumption and competition Alexander Panchenko
17. Religious affiliation and the politics of post-Soviet identity
the case of Belarus Galina Miazhevich
Index.