Narrative building in Russia

[kaur]

The Problematic Pages

by Leon Aron
To understand Vladimir Putin, we must understand his view of Russian history.
Post Date Wednesday, September 24, 2008

On June 18, 2007, a national conference of high school historians and teachers of social sciences was convened in Moscow. The agenda called for the discussion of "the acute problems in the teaching of modern Russian history," and for "the development of the state standards of education." It soon became clear that the real purpose of the gathering was to present to the delegates--or, more precisely, to impress upon them--two recently finished "manuals for teachers." One of them, to be published in a pilot print run of ten thousand, was called Noveyshaya Istoriya Rossii, 1945-2006 GG: Kniga Dlya Uchitelya, or The Modern History of Russia, 1945-2006: A Teacher's Handbook. It was the work of a certain A.V. Filippov, and it was designed to become the standard Russian high school textbook of Russian history, scheduled to be introduced into classrooms this month.

http://www.tnr.com/booksarts/story.html?id=27ab9fbc-6e71-4795-8608-5875a0ce6fb6

Flirting with Stalin.

"Dear friends! The textbook you are holding in your hands is dedicated to the history of our Motherland… from the end of the Great Patriotic War to our days. We will trace the journey of the Soviet Union from its greatest historical triumph to its tragic disintegration."

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10356

[bismark17]

Sigh.....I guess the blackhats will again be singing that old cadence, "Hey Mother Russia, you better behave or we will fill your skies with maroon berets...."

[kaur]

Nationalism of Putin’s Era Veils Sins of Stalin’s

The Kremlin in the Putin era has often sought to maintain as much sway over the portrayal of history as over the governing of the country. In seeking to restore Russia’s standing, Mr. Putin and other officials have stoked a nationalism that glorifies Soviet triumphs while playing down or even whitewashing the system’s horrors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/world/europe/27archives.html?hp

[Jedburgh]

RAD, 18 Nov 08: Social Movements and the State in Russia (http://sedev.isn.ch:80/serviceengine/FileContent?serviceID=PublishingHouse&fileid=7857CF61-21D3-9689-EBDD-069FF9AD347F&lng=en)
Analysis
Russia’s “Nashi” Youth Movement: The Rise and Fall of a Putin-Era Political Technology Project

Opinion Poll
“Nashi” and Patriotism
Participation of Young People in Politics
The Sixteen-Year-Olds of Today

Analysis
The Web That Failed: How the Russian State Co-opted a Growing Internet Opposition Movement

[kaur]

Economic Catastrophe Propels Russia into an Identity Crisis

It answered perfectly the ambitions of the new elites and the needs of a disoriented populace and included three key elements: prosperity, pride, and paternalism-or more precisely, Putin himself. All three are now in shambles, and Russia has found itself lost in depression

http://www.jamestown.org/programs/edm/single/?tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=34570&tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=27&cHash=5ee395b352

[kaur]

Russian Nationalism Threatens to Destroy the Russian Federation.

13.04.2009

The rise of ethnic Russian nationalism, of the kind characterized by the slogan “Russia for the Russians,” threatens the country both directly by promoting countervailing nationalisms among non-Russian groups and indirectly by making it more difficult for Moscow to move toward a law-based state, according to a Moscow analyst.

“A great state,” the analyst argues, “can be based either on a g reat past or on a great future. All that unifies in spirit the entire Russian population is May 9, 1945. But the unifying them of the war was completely exhausted by Brezhnev. In Russian history, “every other event has the effect of dividing the population.”

http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/2009/04/window-on-eurasia-russian-nationalism.html

[kaur]

Window on Eurasia: Medvedev Historical Falsification Commission ‘Harmful’ or ‘Useless,’ Memorial Expert Says

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s commission to block “ the falsification of history at the expense of the interests of Russia’ will either be harmful to Medvedev’s reputation and Russia’s prospects for reform or prove useless as an operational body, even if it says a very great deal about the habit of mind of its authors.
“The struggle against the falsifications of history,” Memorial’s Arseny Roginsky argues, “is not an affair of the state,” and consequently, “the activity of the new commission will be useless or harmful” because “we all know very well how [the Russian] state struggles with falsifications”

http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/2009/05/window-on-eurasia-medvedev-historical.html