Russias Regional Identities
Contemporary Russia is often viewed as a centralized regime based in Moscow, with dependent provinces, made subservient by Putins policies limiting regional autonomy. This book, however, demonstrates that beyond this largely political view, by looking at Russias regions in cultural and social terms, a quite different picture emerges of a Russia rich in variety, with different regional identities, cultures, traditions, and memories. The book explores how identities are formed and rethought in contemporary Russia and outlines the nature of particular regional identities from Siberia and the Urals to southern Russia, from the Russian heartland to the non-Russian republics.
Edith W. Clowes is Brown-Forman Professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, USA.
Gisela Erbslh is a freelance journalist and literary critic who has written extensively on Russian, Belorussian, and Northern Caucasian culture, history, and social life.
Ani Kokobobo is Assistant Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Kansas, USA.
Routledge Contemporary Russia and Eastern Europe
Series url: www.routledge.com/Routledge-Contemporary-Russia-and-Eastern-Europe-Series/book-series/SE0766
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79Ruptures and Continuities in Soviet/Russian Cinema
Styles, Characters and Genres before and after the Collapse of the USSR
Edited by Birgit Beumers and Eugnie Zvonkine
80Russias Regional Identities
The Power of the Provinces
Edited by Edith W. Clowes, Gisela Erbslh and Ani Kokobobo
Russias Regional Identities
The Power of the Provinces
Edited by Edith W. Clowes, Gisela Erbslh and Ani Kokobobo
First published 2018
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2018 selection and editorial matter, Edith W. Clowes, Gisela Erbslh and Ani Kokobobo; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Edith W. Clowes, Gisela Erbslh and Ani Kokobobo to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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Contents
EDITH W. CLOWES, GISELA ERBSLH, AND ANI KOKOBOBO
PART I
Framing Russias regions
SUSAN SMITH-PETER
ANNE LOUNSBERY
PART II
Rethinking European Russian identities
VICTORIA DONOVAN
JANE COSTLOW
LYUDMILA PARTS
PART III
Russian identities in the Urals
MARK LIPOVETSKY
BRADLEY GORSKI
PART IV
Russian identities in Siberia
ALLA ANISIMOVA AND OLGA ECHEVSKAYA
WILSON T. BELL
PART V
Regional identities outside the Orthodox zone
JOHN ROMERO
YULIA GRADSKOVA
ANI KOKOBOBO
CATHERINE EVTUHOV
Russias Regional Identities: The Power of the Provinces started several years ago with a broad question about creative life and compelling stories about Russian self-perception beyond Russias two biggest cities: what other places in contemporary Russia are developing and changing? Where are artists, business people, social, and environmental activists engaged in important projects? In 2014, a working group formed around the study of Russian self-expression, initiative, and identity beyond Russias two capitals, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In March 2015, Edith W. Clowes, Gisela Erbslh, and Ani Kokobobo held a conference at the University of Virginia called Centrifugal Forces: Reading Russias Regional Identities and Initiatives. The idea of centrifugal forces was a question, a challenge to the stereotypical view that everything innovative and powerful in Russia centers on Moscow and St. Petersburg, and the rest of the country is poor, stagnant, and fearful of change.
Two publications came from this working group: a 2016 special number of the journal REGION and the present book, Russias Regional Identities: The Power of the Provinces. We hope that the 17 case studies in these two publications will shed light on forces of self-expression and self-enactment in various remote areas, affording a richer and more complex view of contemporary Russia.
Many people and institutions came to our aid as we conceptualized, staged, and published our project. We thank all our funders and supporters who helped to make the conference and ensuing publications possible: the University of Virginia Office of the Vice-President for Research; the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences; the Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation; the Institute of Humanities and Global Cultures; the Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies; the Brown-Forman Fund; and the Departments of History, Politics, and Slavic Languages and Literatures. The University of Kansas Center for Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies helped to support and promote the conference.
