Search results

Political functions of demonstrative emotional behavior have been extensively studied by Western medievalists, but little, if at all, discussed by scholars of Rus. This article offers an analyis of representations of emotions in Russian political narratives; it is informed by the concept of Spielregeln («rules of play»), developed by the German historian Gerd Althoff, and by application of anthropological theories to the medieval studies practiced by Anglophone scholars, such as Stephen White and Paul Hyams. These historians showed that societies lacking explicit normative documents regulated political and social interaction by means of implicit «rules of play» manifested in ritual behaviors. Public display of emotions was probably the most prominent among such behaviors. A comparison of information derived from Russian primary sources with the picture that emerges from scholarly literature on emotions in political narratives of the high medieval West suggests that social functions of emotions and the ways to send a political message by means of public emotional display were essentially the same in Rus and Latin Europe.

This article analyzes electronic letters to the editor on the coverage of the riot in Kondopoga (2006) and the bombings in the Moscow subway (2010). Letters to electronic media are used for the first time as a source for popular opinion on nationalism and ethnic conflicts in Russia. The first argument of this study is methodological: a comparison between the polls and the letters suggests that letters to electronic media represent public opinion on nationalism even though Internet users still constitute a minority of Russian citizens. This study also claims that the letters under examination indicate a move from extreme nationalism to so called "banal nationalism," the term coined by Michael Billig, during the period between 2006 and 2010. Finally, the article argues that the concept of the civic nation is not yet well understood or accepted by Russian citizens. Although this concept, expressed in Russian by the newly coined wordrossiane, became somewhat more popular in 2010 than it had been in 2006, the ethnic understanding of Russian still prevails. The basis for the new identityrossiane, as it is presented in the letters, lacks common memories, myths and traditions that would resonate strongly in popular imagination.

The article is devoted to the analysis of vocabulary definitions that explain the vocabulary of Orthodoxy. The material was the basic dictionaries published in the USSR, modern explanatory dictionaries of the Russian literary language and dictionaries that represent the religious picture of the world. It is shown how by means of ways of interpretation of orthodox lexicon, system of marks and illustrations in dictionaries of the Soviet period occurs ideologization of lexicon, polarization of evaluations, opposition of Orthodox religion. Explanatory dictionaries of modern times are exempted from the Soviet ideological evaluations and political characteristics. They overcome ideological simplification in the representation of religious vocabulary. As a result of comparative analysis of vocabularies for secular people and dictionaries for the religious sphere discourse variants of vocabulary are revealed and it is proved that differences in the definitions of identical Orthodox lexemes are conditioned by the ideological concept of dictionaries compilers.

There is growing awareness of the importance of images in international relations. Explore the phenomenon over three centuries relating to Russia and Japan. A general perception of one country by another - the 'stereotypical collective mentality' - is historic phenomenon that continues to be a fundamental to international relations at all levels.

In this study, Yulia Mikhailova and David Prestel suggest that the political culture of pre-Mongolian Rus' may be similar to that of post-Carolingian Europe, where public order still existed in the absence of a strong centralized authority. In Rus' as also in the west, there was an order of norms rather than of institutions. Drawing on sources such as theTestament of Vladimir Monomakhand theHomily of Princes, Mikhailova and Prestel maintain that cross kissing was considered a sacred obligation for Rus' rulers, a view given further support by the behavior of princes as recorded in the chronicles. They appear to trust oaths made on the cross and accept that there will be negative consequences for those who break them. Violations threaten one's salvation, and when chroniclers are favorably disposed to certain princes, they attempt to demonstrate that their violations are justified by an offence on the part of the prince with whom the agreement was enacted.