Russian Culture In Transition

This book offers a critical perspective on the character of academic and broader intellectual discourses in post-perestroika Russia. It focuses on the distinctive paradigm in intellectual worldviews - new historical paradigm, as the author calls it - that found its quintessential expression in the rhetoric of "cultural restoration", or "cultural revival". The pervasiveness of this rhetoric, the manner in which it captured intellectual imagination, and the array of cultural effects it produced in various spheres of society are described in this work. The impact of the rhetoric on the area of humanities and social sciences is given special attention. The book explores the phenomena and processes that led to the formation of the new historical paradigm in the intellectual consciousness: the specificity of intellectual traditions in nineteenth-century Russia, the social place of intelligentsia in the Soviet Union, and the transformations in its social status after perestroika. It examines the ideological implications of this paradigm, its connection to the split between Slavophiles and Westernizers in new Russia, and its peculiar effects on social policies and on the shaping of intellectual identities. Many curious details on contemporary Russian culture - intelligentsia's ideals and cultural habits, language peculiarities, and others - will await the reader in this account.

For almost half a century, the Iron Curtain had separated Americans and Russians by barriers of misunderstanding, suspicion and alienation. The accession of Mikhail Gorbachev to power in the mid-1980s signalled the beginning of a revolutionary stage in American-Soviet relations. In the course of the following two decades Americans and Russians would interact to an extent never anticipated and come to call each other partners, or even friends. The word friendship, however, is often used superficially. This book provides a more profound answer to the question of how, from the American perspective, the image of, and the relationship to, Russia have changed since the former adversary "opened its doors" to the West. Ullmann not only reveals how the American public's attitudes toward Russia or the scope of people-to-people contacts have changed, she also analyses to what extent Americans have been able to learn about Russia in the mass media and to what extent they have been interested in studying Russian culture and language.

An accessible book covering the momentous changes that have occurred, and are still occurring, since the fall of the USSR in 1989. Contributions from an impressive collection of authors are drawn from the most recent and original research available and address political and social issues which impact on all levels of Russian society. The book consists of a selection of specially commissioned pieces which have evolved from the conference of the same name, held at Cambridge University in December 1994.

The dissolution of the Soviet Union brought a massive change in every domain of life, particularly in the cultural sector, where artists were suddenly "free" from party-mandated modes of representation and now could promote and sell their work globally. But in Russia, the encounter with Western art markets was fraught. The Russian field of art still remains on the periphery of the international art world, struggling for legitimacy in the eyes of foreign experts and collectors. This book examines the challenges Russian art world actors faced in building a field of art in a society undergoing rapid and significant economic, political, and social transformation and traces those challenges into the twenty-first century. Drawing on historical and ethnographic research, Art of Transition traces the ways the field of art has developed, evolved, and been sustained in Russia after socialism. It shows how Russia’s art world has grappled with its Soviet past and negotiated its standing in an unequal, globalized present. By attending to the historical legacy of Russian art throughout the twentieth century, this book constructs a genealogy of the contemporary field of postsocialist art that illuminates how Russians have come to understand themselves and their place in the world.

Foreword Preface Acknowledgements 1. The Voyage of Socio-Cultural Evolution in India and the CIS Manu Mittal 2. The Process of Cultural Transition in Russia Sankar Basu 3. New Currents in Russian Poetry Mikhail Epstein's After the Future Abhai Maurya 4. Impact of Social Transition on Russian National Identity A.V. Yegorova 5. Mass Media and National Identity in Multi-Cultural Society of Russia In Search of a Balance between Toleration and Freedom of Expression Veronica V. Usacheva 6. Three Centuries in Cultural Transition of the Kazak Society Güljanat Kurmangaliyeva Ercilasun 7. Indo-Persian Literary Culture and Central Asia Through Iranian Perspective S.A. Hasan 8. Society and Culture in the Twenty-First Century Role of Science and Religion in Development Mahnaz Merchant 9. Impact of Globalization on Culture One World Culture Neelmani Upadhyay 10. Psychological Aspects of Cultures and Societies in Transition N.K. Sharma 11. Globalization and National Culture Development Zarrin Abdukhalik-Zade 12. The Origin of the Cult of Fertility Central Asian and Indian Rock Art Debal Dasgupta and Vishwas H. Sonawane 13. Women's Liberation Liberalized Ritoo M. Jerath 14. The Russian Economy in the Post-Soviet Period Meeta Narain 15. Indo-Russian Bilateral Relations in 21st Century A Brief Report A. Rajeshwar Raju 16. The Dilemma of Ethnicity and Territoriality in Present Day Russia Ranjana Banerjee 17. Transformation of the Silk Road Concept With Reference to Kyrgyzstan - India Relations Indira Musaeva 18. The Kyrgyz Revolution Before and After Konuralp Ercilasun 19. Cultural Revivalism in Present Uzbekistan Tashmirza Khalmirzaev 20. Functional Specificity of Oriental International Lexicon (OIL) in the Languages of Central Asia and India Azad N. Shamatov and Sirajuddin S. Nurmatov 21. On the Reflection of Some New Scientific and Cultural Notions in Indian Life by Means of Modern Hindi Mahira Nasirova 22. Resurgence of Hindi in the Wake of Globalization Gajendra S. Chauhan 23. Problems of Single Mother Two Different Approaches J.P. Dimri and A. Charumati Ramdas 24. Contemporary Russian Plays A New Experience Nasar Shakeel Roomi Note: Chapter no 25 to Chapter no 37 are in Russian language Chapter no 38 & 39 are in Hindi List of Contributors As political, economic and social changes sweep across the globe, the term globalization acquires a meaning much beyond geopolitics and economics to include the globalization of culture. While societies attempt to reconcile their ancient as well as new cultural identities they silently and sometimes turbulently witness a state of dynamic flux unleasing powerful forces of further socio-cultural transition. India reflects a multitude of cultures both traditional and modern, that often blend, sometimes co-exist, at other times clash and at times fuse to give new meaning, form and expression in arts, language and culture. While contemporary Russian social and cultural trends break from the Soviet past, the newly independent States of the CIS in their assertion of national identities are distancing themselves from Russian language, literature, art forms and cultural heroes by either reviving lost traditions or attempting to find new cultural voices. These social and cultural transitions and transformations and the cultural history in the making in India and the CIS, need a close study. This book is a collection of critiques and essays by leading experts from diverse backgrounds from India, Russia and other CIS countries and brings together their insights and views on the rapid socio-cultural transition that these countries are passing through.

Whether bargaining for strategic arms reductions, rights to drill Siberian oil fields, or an apartment in Moscow, Americans are faced across the table by a distinct Russian negotiating style. What are its chief characteristics, and how can U.S. diplomats and businesspeople best deal with it as they pursue their own objectives? Jerrold Schecter explores these questions with a wealth of personal experience as a former government official, journalist, and corporate executive. His insights, deepened by his working knowledge of the Russian language, also draw on the testimony of U.S. and former Soviet diplomats and negotiators. As he examines the historical and cultural underpinnings of contemporary Russian negotiating behavior, Schecter finds that the Bolshevik legacy remains largely intact despite the Soviet Union's demise. A step-by-step examination of the negotiating process, based on unique inside accounts from retired Soviet officials, exposes the areas of greatest continuity in Russian interests and style, as well as areas of change. Russian Negotiating Behavior also identifies counterstrategies that western negotiators can use to protect their interests, and it outlines the requirements for doing business in Russia's nascent market economy.

The result of visits to Russia from 1930-1932, this book, published in 1933, at a time when the social structure of the world was in great upheaval, covers a wide range of the activities of Soviet Russia. Much of the book covers the Five-Year Plan in relation to industry, agriculture, labour, banking and the budget, but legal, political and sociological aspects of the country are also covered. The final section, which discusses the direction US foreign policy should take in relation to Russia has an enduring relevance today, some 70 years after this book was first published.