Suchergebnisse

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.

Contemporary Russian Conservativism consists of 15 chapters by diverse hands but nevertheless has a high degree of coherence. The volume rightly highlights the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the promotion of conservativism and "traditional values". Many of the participants in the media debates around this issue no doubt hold sincere views while, as the editors argue, Putin and his entourage most likely adopted this new ideology for pragmatic reasons.

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.

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: 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.

Helge Ø. Pharo, University of Oslo, reviews The Logic of Fear. The Cold War - a New Global History 1917-1961, by Poul Villaume (Gads forlag 2020).

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.

Danish images of Russia in the 2010sThis article surveys how the editorial columns of five leading Danish newspapers treat Russia in the 2010s, building on an earlier study which focused on the first decade of the 2000s (Hansen 2010). The present study finds that the overall negative trajectory associated with Russia has continued, even grown more pronounced. In response, a minority position has developed on the fringes of political life in Denmark, holding that Russia is being demonized and that media coverage is too negative and essentially one-sided. The Danish newspapers surveyed focus on what is seen as an increasingly aggressive Russia violating borders and other established norms, and threatening its neighbours. The editorials reflect the gradual paradigm shift in views of Russia. They now speak openly of the need for Denmark to protect itself and its allies militarily against possible Russian aggression and to prevent Russia from wielding more power through its energy supplies to Europe, including supplies that traverse Danish territorial waters. Other topics in focus include Russia's invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea, its involvement in the war in Eastern Ukraine as well as its military campaign in Syria.

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.

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.

Den ortodokse kirke er forholdsvist ukendt blandt den brede befolkning i de nordiske lande, selvom antallet af ortodokse kristne i disse år er stærkt stigende grundet øget migration fra ortodokse majoritetslande. Derfor er Caroline Serck-Hanssens bog Den ortodokse kirke: Historie – lære – trosliv et relevant og velkomment bidrag. Bogen formidler den ortodokse kirkes historie, lære og aktuelle situation med særligt fokus på den norske og russiske kontekst. Den er skrevet i et klart og letlæseligt sprog, og er primært henvendt til den alment interesserede læser.
The Orthodox Church has remained relatively unknown among the general population in the Nordic countries, even though the number of Orthodox Christians in the region has been rising, due to increased in-migration from Orthodox-majority countries. Caroline Serck-Hanssen's Den ortodokse kirke: Historie – lære – trosliv (The Orthodox Church: History – Doctrine – Religious Life) is a welcome and relevant contribution. It relates the history, doctrines and current situation of the eastern Orthodox churches, with particular attention to the Norwegian and Russian contexts. It is written in clear and concise prose and is primarily addressed to the interested general reader.