June 22, 2016

WWII in Russian Cultural Memory


WWII in Russian Cultural Memory
June 22nd, as any student of Soviet history knows, is the day remembered in the official histories as the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. A popular song of the era opened with the lines, "Kiev was bombed/and then we were told/the war has just begun."
 
Of course, serial occupations began on the western borders of the USSR much earlier, in 1939, but these Soviet annexation of parts of Poland, southeastern Karelia and Salla in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina and the Hertza region of Romania remain outside of the gaze of the Russian historiography of WWII. 
 

A casual encounter with Russian popular culture may leave a Western observer puzzled at the insistence on recasting the past. While it was possible to see the final tableau of the Sochi Olympic games opening ceremony as a Russian version of "Mad Men" nostalgia, various observers and commentators have also pointed to this retro trend as a symptom of stagnation, a deficit of (at least official) national imagination.

But, in reality, there is a 70-year tradition of placing World War II, and sanctioned interpretations of it, at the heart of Russian popular culture.

A collection of recent war-themed TV productions on Rusichi is a continuation of this trend, with films ranging from Major Sokolov's Courtesans to Death to Spies. The wide variety of warriors in these films – White Guard officers, Red Cavalry men, infantry officers from the Belorussian front, NKVD and SMERSH agents undercover in the rear – appear to be united by the same ultimate goal of ensuring the greatness of their country, whether it entails expanding the imperial borders or retaking occupied territories. A continuity emerges: from the First World War, to the Civil War, to the Great Patriotic War.

A critic writes:

One may be left thinking that the veritable avalanche of historical TV series aimed not only to distract the Russian public from the country's everyday problems – corruption, unemployment, alcoholism, drug abuse – but also to inspire a new pride. <...> Meaning, we may be experiencing temporary difficulties, because enemies are all around us, but we will rise again and return to our former glory.

Whether the heroes of the films are in Crimea to uncover anti-Soviet plots (SMERSH) or choosing to serve the government that had arrested their parents (Women Scouts), good is on their side, and the ultimate goal of defending the country justifies any sacrifice.

Romanticizing war appears to be fruitful TV turf; thus far, however, the enterprise has failed to yield works that engage moral dimensions of Soviet and post-Soviet Russian policies or that accommodate non-Russian narratives of WWII. For the time being, war is firmly ensconced in the Russian popular imagination as the one truly glorious chapter in the nation's past.

You Might Also Like

Not to Be Forgotten
  • May 09, 2016

Not to Be Forgotten

For 45 years, the Cold War made it politically incorrect to recognize Soviet sacrifices and victories in defeating Hitler in World War II. This essay from 2010 is still relevant today.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

The Little Humpbacked Horse (bilingual)

A beloved Russian classic about a resourceful Russian peasant, Vanya, and his miracle-working horse, who together undergo various trials, exploits and adventures at the whim of a laughable tsar, told in rich, narrative poetry.
Okudzhava Bilingual

Okudzhava Bilingual

Poems, songs and autobiographical sketches by Bulat Okudzhava, the king of the Russian bards. 
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
How Russia Got That Way

How Russia Got That Way

A fast-paced crash course in Russian history, from Norsemen to Navalny, that explores the ways the Kremlin uses history to achieve its ends.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
The Latchkey Murders

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

Related Content

Nina Shevchuk-Murray
Nina Shevchuk-Murray
Nina Shevchuk-Murray came to the US from Ukraine, where she grew up in Lviv. She earned a degree in poetry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her translations include Peter Aleshkovsky’s Stargorod and Fish, as well as Oksana Zabuzhko’s Museum of Abandoned Secrets. Nina’s poetry has been included in Untidy Seasons, an anthology of works by Nebraska women poets.
Read More
May 9, 2016
Not to Be Forgotten
Not to Be Forgotten

For 45 years, the Cold War made it politically incorrect to recognize Soviet sacrifices and victories in defeating Hitler in World War II. This essay from 2010 is still relevant today.

Read More

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955