Håvard Bækken, Senior Researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies, reviews Putin's Russia and the Falsification of History: Reasserting Control over the Past, by Anton Weiss-Wendt (Bloomsbury Academic, 2021).
Helge Blakkisrud (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs) reviews the anthology Nationhood and Politization of History in School Textbooks: Identity, the Curriculum and Educational Media, edited by Gorana Ognjenović and Jasna Joselić.
Svein Mønnesland, professor emeritus at the University of Oslo, reviews Yugoslavia and Political Assassinations: The History and Legacy of Tito's Campaign against the Émigrés, by Christian Axboe Nielsen, published in 2020 by I.B. Tauris.
Abstract: The Child as an Instrument: Criticism of Titoist Discourse in Aleksandar Hemon's 'Islands' and Alma Lazarevska's 'Blagdan krunice'Especially since the war in the 1990s, much Bosnian-Herzegovinian fiction has employed the perspective of the child in order to express criticism of dominant ideological narratives. This article views the child figure as a political device that exposes the mechanisms of certain dominant discourses and that offers new, deviating angles on well-established conceptions within these discourses. The analysis of Alexander Hemon's short story 'Islands' (2000) stresses the grotesque imagery associated with the perception of the boy narrator as a way of 'unlearning' notions of Yugoslav modernity as idyllic, even paradisiac. And in Alma Lazarevska's 2003 'Blagdan krunice' (The Feast of the Rosary) the focus is not so much on the perspective of the boy protagonist as on his function as an arena for projecting narratives of the heroic soldier on the threshold between Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav discourse.
The article analyses representations of history in today's Russia as part of the ideology for expressing central political concepts underlying the Putinist regime. Mainstream interpretations of history build on a populist vision of Russia as a community with a stable, unchangeable core of identity. In this ideological context, history serves as the canvas on which the 'authentic' Russian identity manifests itself. The present research article examines representations of history by focusing on the concepts of 'historical sovereignty', 'unity of history', and the role of elites in history. It finds that regime ideology in today's Russia relies on a sizable infrastructure that involves producing historical knowledge for the purpose of securitizing history and making it an instrumental element in the populist (conservative-communitarian) ideology. Sources for this study come from the network exhibition 'Russia – My History', contextualized through content analysis of the key producers of ideology in Putin's Russia.
Abstract: The Sleeping Country. Siberia in Russian History, Culture and GeographyTorben Heuer (lecturer in Russian language and culture, formerly affiliated with Aarhus University) reviews Det sovande landet. Sibirien i rysk historia, kultur och geografi (The Sleeping Country. Siberia in Russian History, Culture and Geography) written by Margareta Attius Sohlman.
Emil Edenborg (Swedish Institute of International Affairs and Department of Ethnology, History of Religions and Gender Studies at Stockholm University) reviews The Shortest History of Russia: From the Vikings to the Present Day (Den korteste historien om Russland: fra vikingene til våre dager) by Peter Normann Waage (published in 2020 by Wigmostad & Bjorke).
Abstract in English:Fragments of the Past – History's Role in Russian Contemporary Literature Fragmenter av fortid – Historiens rolle i russisk samtidslitteratur is a thorough analysis of the utilisation of history in post-Soviet Russian literature. The author argues that literature functions as a 'place of reflection' that can produce vital alternatives to the monolithic understanding of history promoted by the authorities, and as such, literature has regained its traditional influence in Russian society following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Abstract in English:Russia and the Beginning of HistoryMorgan Olofsson's Russia and the Beginning of History consists of several interviews that the former Swedish news correspondent made with people he met in the 1990s. The purpose, he says, is to see how people have fared in the timespan from the 1990s to 2018, but also, more ambitiously, to sustain a dialogue between people on topics like the gradual dissemination of authoritarian political systems. Olofsson argues that we "need to learn from history" to protect democratic values; that is, values that connect people. The structure of the book is reminiscent of Mikhail Zygar's All the Kremlin's Men (2016), short annotated chapters, with introductions. The interviews stand out as sharp and perceptive, but the structure and editing of the book leaves more to be desired.
Niels Bo Poulsen, director of the Department of Military History and War Studies at the Royal Danish Defence College, reviews Industry, War and Stalin's Battle for Resources: The Arctic and the Environment by Lars Rowe.
Klas-Göran Karlsson, professor in history at Lund University, reviews Det Russiske imperiet. Fra sammenbrudd til triumph (The Russian Empire: From Chaos to Ascendancy) by Halvor Tjønn (Dreyers forlag 2020).
Abstract in English: The Orthodox Legacy: Perspectives on Russia's Theological TraditionCaroline Serck-Hanssen reviews The Orthodox Legacy: Perspectives on Russia's Theological Tradition by Sten Hartung. The book is a broad exploration of the history and theology of Russian Orthodoxy.
Gjennom en bredt anlagt og kunnskapsrik framstilling av Russlands samtidshistorie analyserer Martin Kragh Vladimir Putins illiberale prosjekt. In this broad-based, highly instructive, and fact-packed portrayal of Russia's contemporary history, Martin Kragh analyses Vladimir Putin's illiberal project.
Abstract in English: The Shaman in a Rain of Stars: A Journey to the Centre of AsiaIngvar Svanberg reviews 'The Shaman in a Rain of Stars: A Journey to the Centre of Asia' by B. MiRee Abrahamsen. The book is a travelogue from the Russian republics of Khakassia and Tuva in Siberia. Abrahamsen introduces the readers to the history of these regions as well as the everyday life of people living there in 2018, and gives a personal description of shamanism as a religious phenomenon.