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

At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
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.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
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. 
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.
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.

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