Featured
Reconstructing Moscow
While men dressed as NKVD officers re-enacted moments from early Soviet history on one side of the screen, OMON troops beat and dragged protestors into police buses on another.
Mikhail Lermontov Part I: The Original Hipster
If Russian literature is a history of Pushkin imitators, then Lermontov came first, and he’s still the best. Many have tried imitate Pushkin’s style, but few went as far to...
Digital Slavists, Unite?
Marijeta Bozovic is an Assistant Professor of Russian & Eurasian Studies at Colgate University. Dear colleagues and comrades, This blog-post grows from a group discussion that began over Facebook, and...
Open Letter on the Termination of Russian Studies Faculty at Ohio University
Like you, we are wholeheartedly invested in the survival and recovery of higher education in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That recovery depends on the will of universities...
Time Out of Joint (Unstuck in Time)
The manipulation of Russian historical precedent for present-day political gain is rather clear-cut
Igor Pilshchikov discusses the legacy of Russian Formalism
On March 31, 2015, the NYU Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia welcomed Igor Pilshchikov, lead researcher at the Institute for World Culture at Lomonosov Moscow State University...
Raquel Greene explores construction of race in 1920s Soviet children's literature
The Soviets condemned American slavery and European colonialism as part of their civilizing mission, but their negative assessments of race and specifically Africanness was still informed by the West.
The Eye of Sauron over Moscow, or, Revenge of the Orcs
Nothing says “Evil Empire” like the Eye of Sauron.
Cold Snap (Part I): Russian Film after Leviathan
This essay provides context for roughly thirty-five current and upcoming Russian films, loosely clustered around four topics: directors; debuts; economic health; and dominant industry trends.
Or(c)ientalism (Russia's Alien Nations)
If the appeal to literary fantasy might seem to cheapen ideological discourse, then this is a job well done.
Bitter Taste: How Gorky Saved Pushkin’s Honor by Closing His Café, Part I
"The dignity of Russia’s most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin, has been saved, but as a result Moscow’s most pretentious café is now nameless. It all started a few weeks ago...
Book Review: "Russian TV Series in the Era of Transition"
What distinguishes "Russian TV Series in the Era of Transition" from other works on Russian television is its emphasis on the industry's adaptation to global markets and trends.
Excerpt from "Monuments for Posterity: Self-Commemoration and the Stalinist Culture of Time," Part I
Only through self-commemoration could the Stalinist memory regime complete the intergenerational chain of memory, assuring individuals that their community possessed not only an ancient past, but also a limitless future.
When Russia’s Window on the World Slammed Shut: Reminiscences of an American Researcher, Part II
As I walked by the Ploshchad’ Vosstaniia metro stop, across from the Moscow Railway Station, a pop-up protest streamed past me, chanting: “Ukraine is not our enemy” and “No to...
Unexpected Telegram: The Assassination of a Pro-Kremlin Blogger
Tatarsky's assassination signals that the internet and social networks are now far more than either a haven for anti-Putin oppositional voices or a dark space for Kremlin trolls.
Polina Barskova surveys poetries from the Siege of Leningrad
The Siege of Leningrad (1941-1944) produced "multiple poetries," some published within hours, some written "in the dark," never to be published.
Crime and Punishment in Today's Russia
Almost 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, crime and policy responses to it are critical to understanding the political dynamics of the region.
Reconstructing Stalingrad: The Struggle to Rebuild and Redefine the "Hero City" After 1943, Part II
On Tuesday, June 15, 1943, the front page of "Stalingradskaia pravda" ran a letter to the editor, penned by a group of nineteen women led by a one A. M....