Suchergebnisse

This paper analyses developments of the new cultural policy of the Russian government and the role of the Russian Orthodox Church (roc) in the implementation of this cultural policy. This question is embedded into a broader research problem of the status of the roc in today's Russian society, and its relation to the phenomena of secularization and post-secularization. This paper argues that although the roc has no clear-cut cultural policy and is under the influence of the government, it recently made significant steps towards embracing a hegemonic vision of Orthodox cultural policy with the help of a series of legal litigations about secular cultural products. Wagner's Tannhäuser opera production in Novosibirsk and the scandal initiated by the roc is under scrutiny as a case study in this paper.

This paper analyzes the phenomenon of classical opera used (and abused) by the Soviet officials as an instrument to re-build imperial common consciousness on a new, Soviet ground, and, thus, create the transnational political space of a very special character.

ABSTRACT
This essay examines the Etnogenez series of science fiction and fantasy novels. Launched in 2009 by the media producer, "political technologist," and Kremlin insider Konstantin Rykov, Etnogenez has enjoyed truly phenomenal success, developing into one of the most ambitious publishing projects of the post-Soviet period. At present it numbers more than fifty works, which circulate in millions of copies and additionally are broadly disseminated on the Internet and as e-books, audiobooks, and podcasts. There are Etnogenez fan clubs, computer games, and dozens of Internet discussion groups. Although the novels in the series differ widely in their plots and subjects, and are written in a variety of different science fiction genres, all of them are loosely inspired by the work of the historian and geographer Lev Nikolaevich Gumilev, in particular his theories of ethnogenesis (from which the project takes its name), passionarnost', and Eurasianism. The essay explores the powerful resonances between the Etnogenez project, the Gumilevian legacy, and the leading political and social narratives of Putin's Russia.