Soil and Soul: The Symbolic World of Russianness

Description

Originally published in 1998, in this book, a number of stereotypes, symbols and signs of Russia, such as the double-headed eagle, the star, bread-and-salt, troika, the Orthodox cross, etc., are presented as a consistent set of metaphors, revealing a symbolic world made by and for the Russians in order to sustain and reinforce their group identity. The Russian language, culture and history form the basic core of the symbolic archive, or thesaurus, of Russianness, from which the necessary images, symbols and signs of identification are provided to manifest connection with the sphere of Russian identity. Such symbolism may directly or obliquely refer either to the territory (soil) of Russia, or to the ethnically specific traits of the Russian people (soul). Both soil and soul are emphatically personified in the symbolic image of Holy Russia - Mother Russia. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Contents Introduction 1 Symbolic Communication The Symbolic World of Russianness Symbol and Myth The Mythic Idea Culture as Symbolic Communication Self and Other Sources and Methods 2 Territorial Symbolism: The Double-Headed Eagle History in a Nutshell St George St Andrew Split Eagle Decoding the Eagle Colour Symbolism Territorial Marking Territories and Titles The Territorial Imperative Expansion and Colonization Return of the Eagle 3 Symbols of the Centre The Wandering Centre Moscow: Concentric Structures Petersburg: Centre and Periphery Modernism and Polarization The Prestige of the Centre Rival Centres Red Square Periphery as Opposition 4 The Tsar: Father to the People Saintly Princes Tsar and God The Monomakh Crown The Pious Ruler Hero and Father The Era of Empresses Foreign Metaphor Tsar and People The Last Tsar 5 Orthodox Christianity: The Collective Spirit The Legend of Choice Pagan Heritage Byzantine Connections Unifying Power The Third Rome Western Influences The Schism Vehicles of Meaning Icons: Windows to Heaven The Trinity Virgin of Vladimir Holy Russia Millennium Christ the Saviour 6 Mother Russia: Soil and Soul Beloved Motherland Feminine Russia Concentrated Matriarchy Sacrifice Hills of Heroes Womanhood and Nationhood Soil and Soul The Face of Russia 7 Ethnic Symbolism: Real Russianness? Folk Tradition The Mythic and the Aesthetic Folk Dress Heaven and Earth National Food Ritual Food Food as Fantasy Bread and Salt Protected Space Easter Eggs Kissing Customs The History of Vodka Drinking Habits Drinking Tea Ethnicity and Nationality 8 Russian Stereotypes National Character Russkii Narod Collective Body What’s in a Name? We and Others Purity of the Nation Language and Ethnicity Russian Time and Space Money and Wealth Utopian Worlds 9 Creation of the Nation: A Symbolic Discourse The Russian Idea Creation of History Protective Formula The Slavophile Utopia The Russian Home Narrating the Nation The Narod in Collections Museum and Empire The Intelligentsia National Culture Pushkin and Co. Whose Project? The Eurasian Temptation 10 Understanding Russianness Ambivalent Space The Nesting Principle Enigmatic Russia Current Discourse Cultural Archaeology National Regeneration Parts and Wholes Understanding? Recommended Reading Selected Bibliography List of Illustrations Index Acknowledgements