Intersections of Russian Art and State Politics
The workshop examines the intersection of culture and politics in contemporary Russia. It takes as a starting point the so-called “cultural turn” in Russian politics of 2011–2012 that marks the state’s renewed attention to culture.
Main content
Turn-of-the-century Russian culture and politics have passed through several stages – the liberalization and instability of the 1990s, social and cultural stabilization in the 2000s, and in recent years, the state’s repeated attempts to influence culture. The government has increasingly been trying to align work within the cultural sphere with its own ideological agenda, demanding that films, literature, theatre plays and museums meet a certain standard of patriotism. Meanwhile, artists and those in charge of cultural institutions have been advised, in part through new laws, not to offend religious feelings, use explicit language or spread so-called “homosexual propaganda” among minors, nor depict the country’s history or the current administration too unfavorably. Many artists, on their part, have not been shy in their response to current political events, thus challenging the reigning ideological order, while others have adjusted or wholeheartedly subscribed to the new conservative climate of the Putin era. Understanding these developments requires careful and multi-dimensional analysis. We wish to investigate both the state’s attempts to control, shape and influence culture, and the responses of cultural actors, such as writers, filmmakers, and musicians, to the changing cultural scene. It is essential that these currents are not viewed as “one-way” movements, “pro et contra”, as it were, that are not in dialogue which one another. Rather, we believe that they should be explored in their capacity of a dialogical dynamics (Eagleton 2007), as part of an ongoing negotiation of history, culture, values and traditions among societal, cultural and political actors, with due attention also to technological and economic changes.
Program
14.10–14.30: Jardar Østbø, IFS: Russian Cultural Sovereignty and Sovereign Deviance in Russian Culture (discussant: Kåre Johan Mjør, UiB/HVL)
14.30–14:50: Kåre Johan Mjør, UiB/HVL: Russian Civilizationism at the turn of a new decade: A conceptual approach (discussant: Stehn A. Mortensen, UiB)
14.50–15.10: Johanne Kalsaas, UiB: Contested commemoration: The 75th anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Northern Norway as a site of online memory wars (discussant: Brita L. Bryn, UiB)
[15.10–15.15: Break]
15.15–15.25: Sanna Turoma (U of Tampere) on her project group/work & potential for cooperation
15.25–15.45: Dinara Yangeldina, UiB: #russianrapisracist vs #AmericanRapIsGay. On geopolitics, trolling and double mistranslation of race in the Twitter racism controversy between Talib Kweli and Russian Rappers(discussant: Ingunn Lunde, UiB)
15:45–16.05: Brita L. Bryn, UiB: Culture, Communication and Commitment in Russia during the 2020 Corona Crisis (discussant: Jardar Østbø, IFS)
16.05–16.25: Irina Anisimova, UiB: Clashing Ideologies: the Public Debate Surrounding Zuleikha Opens her Eyes (discussant: Dinara Yangeldina, UiB)
16.25–16.45: Stehn A. Mortensen, UiB: The Art of Framing in Sorokin’s “White Square” (discussant: Johanne Kalsaas, UiB)
16.45–17.05: Ingunn Lunde, UiB: Time and tactility: Sergei Lebedev’s poetics of memory (discussant: Irina Anisimova, UiB)