1st Edition

Russian Culture At The Crossroads Paradoxes Of Postcommunist Consciousness

By Dmitri N Shalin Copyright 1996
    352 Pages
    by Routledge

    351 Pages
    by Routledge

    During the waning years of Soviet power, glasnost laid bare the distress of people trapped in a system they despised but felt powerless to change. The reexamination of values that began then continues today in the search for a new Russian culture, one rooted in the pre-Soviet past but dynamic and evolving, enabling Russians to meet the challenges they face in the contemporary world.Multi-textual, polyphonic, and contradictory, the current Russian cultural discourse is richly reflected in these essays by a diverse group of authors from Russian and American academic and cultural circles. Each chapter focuses on a particular cultural domain, surveying the historical origins of Russian beliefs and behaviors, exploring their Soviet and post-Soviet permutations, and highlighting the range of choices that Russians are facing at this critical juncture. The decisions they make will shape their society and culture for generations to come.Illuminating the universal significance of the Soviet experience, this volume raises provocative questions about the social, political, and economic sources of cultural change.

    Introduction: Continuity and Change in Russian Culture -- Historical Culture -- Intellectual Culture -- Psychological Culture -- Religious Culture -- Everyday Culture -- Moral Culture -- Popular Culture -- Literary Culture -- Artistic Culture -- Labor Culture -- Civic Culture -- Conclusion: Toward a Post-Soviet Society -- Afterword

    Biography

    Dmitri N Shalin