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Vladimir Putin's macho image and his deployment of a masculinized Russian nationalism have fascinated Russians and non-Russians alike, generating considerable public and scholarly analysis. This article argues that the appeal of Putin as a powerful and hypermasculine leader over the last twenty years is best understood not just in the larger geopolitical context of Russia's national and economic decline in the 1990s but also in terms of Soviet and post-Soviet discourses of failed manhood. In particular, this work focuses on the widespread critique of men as fathers in the 1950s and 1960s and the accompanying campaign to create a new model of Soviet fatherhood, aiming to make men into "family men" and better fathers. The construction of the new ideal father—actively engaged in household tasks and child-rearing—challenged the Soviet gender order and contributed to the development of a domestic and family-oriented model of Communist manhood. Although it is primarily an investigation of the problematization of Soviet fathers and the reconfiguration of Soviet fatherhood in the 1950s and 1960s, this article also suggests that perceptions of failed fatherhood and Communist manhood in the post-Stalin and late Soviet eras, combined with post-Soviet anxieties about masculinity in the new political and economic order of Russia in the 1990s, provide a window into the appeal not only of Putin and his strongman persona but also of the broader narratives of masculinized nationalism in contemporary Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although Russia does not yet have a widespread term like the GermanOstalgie, it has witnessed an extensive social and cultural longing for its Soviet past, which we can define by the term “Back in the USSR”. This expression has taken on a vast range of meanings, becoming a multi-purpose label for disparate phenomena, such as online stores selling Soviet memorabilia, websites dedicated to Sovietbyt, and nostalgia-based marketing strategies. Nostalgia for the Soviet past has inspired a host of Russian writers and film directors. The author attempts to determine the main features of “Back in the USSR” via the analysis of two nostalgic texts, namely Andrei Strel′nikov’s novelBack in the USSR. A Nostalgic Novel(2001) and Valerii Rozhnov’s television seriesBack in the USSR(2010). As the author demonstrates, nostalgia is mobilized in these texts according to the principle ofpars pro toto, examples of which include the citation of official Soviet discourse, the dissemination of “relics” from the Soviet past (everyday objects, food, etc.), and heterotopia. Representing Soviet space as an existing place within modern Russia, both works pulsate with “new romanticism”. The author’s reading of these texts reveals that while post-Soviet Russia has yet to deal with its past, it is seeking to do so via new forms of artistic expression. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines several issues that inhibits the growth of Russian culture as of October 2014. It discusses two characteristics of culture including its influence on how humans mold themselves. It tackles culture's unique resources as well as the views of experts on the problems inhibiting the growth of Russian culture. It also details the study on the cultural activities in Russia from 1985 to 2014.

The article discusses Russian President Vladimir Putin, focusing on the reasoning behind his actions and how his views affect Russia and its people. It also looks at Putin's affinity with the past, and his desire to invigorate a Russian nationalism. Other topics of the article include the Cossacks, Russia's unofficial nationalist army, the Russian mentality of greatness, and Putin's belief that he can act without repercussions. It also explores the relationship between Putin and other leaders including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former U.S. President George W. Bush, and Putin's ability to blend the political and the personal through his grudges.

This article examines some of the organizational changes shaping Russian new music from the collapse of the USSR in 1991 to the present and their consequences for composers active in Russia today. The Soviet collapse triggered significant transformations in how new music in Russia is funded, where and by whom it is performed, and how it is promoted and distributed. These developments have affected the opportunities available to contemporary Russian composers, their strategies for career success, and how they envision their place vis-à-vis other composers or within society at large. More significantly, such changes have shaped individual composers' creative practices: as composers moved into new collaborative networks after the Soviet collapse; as the resources at their disposal changed; and as they composed for new performers, markets, or patrons, so, too, did their styles change. In explaining musical developments from an organizational perspective, this article draws upon theories from the sociology of culture literature, in particular Howard Becker's idea of "art worlds" and the production-of-culture perspective developed by Richard Peterson and others. The article also considers factors other than organizational ones affecting Russian music today, including the generational shift presently underway as members of post-Soviet birth cohorts enter the professional ranks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a response to the article in the issue "Constructing the 'Other': Construction of Russian Identity in the Discourse of James Bond Films" by Katerina Lawless. Topics discussed include the role of the media in shaping reality, the use of stereotypes in the media and motion pictures, and the history of media coverage of Russia.

The present article examines the representation of Russian culture in a corpus of James Bond films spanning 1962–2012. Through the discussion of the importance of film and language in modern culture the article tests the idea that ideology is promulgated via language in film and addresses the interactions between language, control, ideology, power, representation and stereotyping. Drawing on a diversity of interrelated discourse and cultural approaches, the article provides evidence that through linguicist discourse Bond films perpetuate both linguistic and cultural hegemony over the Soviet Union and Russia. The findings suggest that the prevailing ideological message of the Bond movies about Russians and their culture is predominantly negative. Bond discourse evokes already existing stereotypes of Russia and frames Russians as ‘others’ by subjecting them to negative labelling and generalisations. The representation of Russians featured in later films has hardly changed and seems to be firmly constrained in the stereotypical frame of the ‘classic’ movies. Through the analysis of the linguistic representation of Russia in the discourse of Bond films the study not only adds to the growing work on cinematic discourse, but also contributes to the studies of James Bond phenomenon while enriching the studies of the representation of Russians in Western cinema. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Posed are the preliminary results of library census in the Russian Federation of 2010 to 2011. Given is the characteristic of the main indicators and problems of such an accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Der Aufsatz bietet einen Überblick über verschiedene Strömungen des okkulten Untergrunds im spätsowjetischen Russland, insbes. im Milieu der literarischen Bohème, in und außerhalb von wissenschaftlichen Institutionen und in der volkstümlichen bzw. alternativen Gesundheit. Einflüsse östlicher Philosophie und Religion werden diskutiert, Probleme der Terminologie, Einflüsse und Wechselbeziehungen zum westlichen New Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post-Soviet Russians' identity continues to evolve. While ‘Eurasianism’, with its idea of ‘symbiosis’ between Russians and Muslims of various ethnic backgrounds, has started to decline and has been replaced in the minds of the elite and some of the general public with ‘Byzantism’, a peculiar Russocentric ideology sans traditional Slavophilism and rising racism. ‘Byzantism’ emphasizes the importance of transethnic Orthodoxy and Russian language/culture as key elements of Russian civilization. It also implies adherence to a strong corporate state and the assumption that Russia is surrounded by a hostile East and West, the last more dangerous for it undermines the spiritual core of Russian/Byzantism civilization. These views, however, are challenged by those who believe that Russia is a part of the West or, to be precise, of Central/Western Europe. One sees the clash of these views in response to a movie on the death of the Byzantine Empire, which was produced in 2008 on the eve of Putin's transfer of power to Dmitry Medvedev. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses the role of representative strategies in twentieth-century Russian culture. Just as Russia interacted with Europe in the Marquis de Custine's time via discourse and representation, in the twentieth century Russia re-entered European consciousness by simulating 'socialism'. In the post-Soviet era, the nation aspired to be admitted to the 'European house' by simulating a 'market economy', 'democracy', and 'postmodernism'. But in reality Russia remains the same country as before, torn between the reality of its own helplessness and poverty, and the messianic myth of its own greatness. Post-Soviet culture is a product of Stalinist culture. 'Russian postmodernism' was created less by artists, writers, poets, and film makers, than by theorists and critics. At the beginning of the 1990s, a need to describe contemporary Russian culture emerged. In this way, 'Russian postmodernism' arose from the desire to 'sell' projects in the West-from the simple obligation to describe socialist experience in concrete, transferable terms that Westerners could grasp. The nostalgia experienced by the post-Soviet era creates its own simulated postmodernism, in which the matrices of the construction and functioning of culture cease to be connected with specifically Russian (Soviet) history, and instead reproduce Western models almost exactly. We are facing yet another attempt at radical cultural modernization. If the first attempt (revolutionary culture) was the most original and fruitful, and the second (Stalinist culture, Socialist Realism) was less productive but still original, then the third, post-Soviet, attempt (rich in individuality, but lacking in original ideas or style) is for the moment the least productive and original. If we exclude sots-art (conceptualism) from 'Russian postmodernism', there would be nothing left. Clearly, an original cultural model in post-Soviet Russia will not take shape until original strategies for processing the country's cultural past are developed. In their turn, these strategies can only result from a radical transformation of post-Soviet identity into a new, genuinely Russian one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A transcription of a meeting of the Department of Foreign Policy Planning of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation is presented. Topics include the condition of the biosphere, the interaction between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the scientific and business communities, and the Scientific Council Under the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs.

While the Cold War is a memory, and Hillary Clinton and Sergei Lavrov have hit the 'reset button', recent spy scandals show that the United States and the West still do not have smooth relations with Russia. If we wish to understand Russia, we must understand its cultural origins, something we have failed to do so far. While Russia's behaviors often appear western, they do not share the same traditions of Rome and religious reformation. One can make more sense of Russian security and intelligence culture-as opposed to specific Communist or Post-Communist cultures-by tracing their common philosophical and historic roots back to their point of origin, between 500 and 1,000 years ago to the Byzantine Empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Russian perspective on international humanitarian cooperation in the 21st century, focusing on issues related to globalization and culture. The challenges faced by Rossotrudnichestvo (the Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation) are discussed in terms of Russia's international prestige and influence in world affairs. A brief historical overview of Russian engagement with the larger world is presented in this context, beginning with the reforms of Czar Peter the Great .

The article discusses the differing paces of economic reform in Russia and China. China's much greater rate of economic growth is seen as a result of that country introducing reforms earlier, in the late 1970s, versus Russia, which did not see the reforms of "perestroika" until the late 1980s, during the late Soviet period. Also discussed are cultural differences, with the Chinese seen as historically placing greater emphasis than Russians on education. Also discussed is religion and state in the two countries, and differences between Chinese and Soviet communism.

An introduction to the issue and its theme of the history of conservatism in Russia is presented, with reference to articles by Arkadii Minakov, Aleksandr Repnikov, Igor Khristoforov, and others.

The article analyses how imperial memory is presented in textbooks addressed to the secondary schools of the Russian Federation. During the last decade our Eastern neighbour tends to actualize the issues dealing with the heritage of the Tsarist and Soviet empire as well as pro-imperial discourse. The textbook "History of Western Russia" was chosen for the reason that it reflects history teaching tendencies in general and contemporary history teaching in particular in Russia. The article reviews the usage and explanation of the concept "Western Russia" in the context of the theory of "western borderlands of the empire". Basically, Russia's imperial experience is estimated positively; moreover, the issue of the empire's past remains a politically sensitive question today. Therefore, this textbook, in fact, is a collection of methodological, or even ideological, patterns which is adapted to the above mentioned issues and which is extensively applied to the process of history teaching; it could be even stated that it is supplemented by the postulates of the tsarist historiography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses Russian civilization and the feelings of nationalism which dominant Russian cultural identity. The reshaping of Russian cultural and civilizational identity following the fall of the Soviet Union is explored. The importance of religion, power, and culture in Russian national identity is analyzed. Reasons for nationalistic tenancies are also examined.

The article focuses on the social attitudes of Russian citizens. Particular attention is given to how a large segment of the population continues to be state-dependent, whether it be through pensions or because they are employed in the state sector. Another factor is that there are many citizens that are vulnerable in various ways and unable to provide for their needs all by themselves. The author argues that the state needs to provide the necessary means for people to become self-sufficient.

The article features Russian Orientalist Lev Gumilev and his contributions to Russian history. During the 1950s, Gumilev started to reassess the historical values, meaning the rooted ideas and methods of historical studies. He believes that it is mission to the reality of the 13th century in Russia. He attributed the birth of Russian civilization to the Byzantine spiritual culture and the fraternity of the steppe batyrs of the Horde.

Discusses the state of post-Soviet human sciences in Russia. Qualities of the European historical cultural monism; Characteristics of the Russian human scientist; Overview of the cultural conditions in the country following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Discusses educational integration within the Commonwealth of Independent States. Barriers in the path of processes of integration; Need for a program for the preservation and development of Russian culture; Education of Russian children outside the Russian Federation.

Determines how Hofstede's five cultural dimensions apply in Russia. Uncertainty avoidance; Individualism and collectivism; Power distance; Paternalism; Masculinity and femininity.

Reflects on human mechanisms that would promote the development of a genuine civilization in Russia. Analysis of the Marxist-Leninist political economy; Requirements for technological mentality and information resources; Differences between technology and mode of production; Transplanting progressive Western technique; Cultural nucleus as a determining mechanism; Autotransformations through self-awareness.

The article provides information on role of women in Russian evangelical churches and ministries including gathering of Evangelical Christian-Baptist and Pentecostal women. Topics discussed include concerns for women included on the website of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Union of Russia, women's ordination, and Biblical Resources.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the economic condition of Russia, the issues inhibiting the growth of modern Russian culture, and mathematical modeling of historical processes.

Provides an overview of the book "Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia," by Orlando Figes.