In search of the true Russia : the provinces in contemporary nationalist discourse / Lyudmila Parts.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Parts, Lyudmila, author.

Contributor:

John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mass media and nationalism.

Nationalism and literature.

Russia (Federation).

Russian literature--20th century--History and criticism.

Russian literature.

Russian literature--21st century--History and criticism.

National characteristics, Russian, in literature.

National characteristics, Russian, in motion pictures.

Nationalism and literature--Russia (Federation).

Mass media and nationalism--Russia (Federation).

Genre:

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

xiii, 200 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Madison, Wisconsin : The University of Wisconsin Press, [2018]

Summary:

This book examines the provincial theme in post-Soviet literature, film, and journalism as a cultural representation of Russian nationalism. Its focus is on "the provinces" of cultural myth: the imagined domain of authentic Russianness, and collective contemplation of the recurring questions concerning Russia's past and future, what it means to be "Russian," and where "true" Russians reside. Cultural production today locates true Russianness outside the newly prosperous, multiethnic, and westernized Moscow. In mass culture, the traditional privileging of the center, over the backward provinces, yields to a view of the provinces as the repository of national tradition and moral strength. Conversely, high literature and art-house cinema provide an alternative, harshly critical image of the provinces. Differing perspectives notwithstanding, both are negotiating a particular concept of Russianness, in which the provinces play a central role and, ultimately, function to both redirect nationalist discourse away from the deeply unsatisfying model of Russia versus the West, and put forth a hermetic national identity, based on the opposition of "us versus us," rather than "us versus them."

Contents:

Introduction: imagining the provinces

Journalism: "we look for wealth in the provinces and find it there!"

Literature: in the provincial state of mind

Film and TV: "my country - my Moscow!"

Conclusion: on cultural authenticity.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-185) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the John G. Hartman Memorial Library Fund.

ISBN:

9780299317607

0299317609

OCLC:

1005742113