307 pages

English

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Plots against Russia , livre ebook

Cornell University Press - Eliot Borenstein

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307 pages

English

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In this original and timely assessment of cultural expressions of paranoia in contemporary Russia, Eliot Borenstein samples popular fiction, movies, television shows, public political pronouncements, internet discussions, blogs, and religious tracts to build a sense of the deep historical and cultural roots of konspirologiia that run through Russian life. Plots against Russia reveals through dramatic and exciting storytelling that conspiracy and melodrama are entirely equal-opportunity in modern Russia, manifesting themselves among both pro-Putin elites and his political opposition. As Borenstein shows, this paranoid fantasy until recently characterized only the marginal and the irrelevant. Now, through its embodiment in pop culture, the expressions of a conspiratorial worldview are seen everywhere. Plots against Russia is an important contribution to the fields of Russian literary and cultural studies from one of its preeminent voices.

Sujets

Former Soviet Union

Post-Soviet states

Russia

History of Europe

Russie

Informations

Publié par	Cornell University Press
Date de parution	15 avril 2019
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781501716362
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,7500€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Plots against Russia

PlotsagainstRussia

ConspiracyandFantasyafter Socialism

EliotBorenstein

CornellUniversityPressIthacaandLondon

Copyright©2019byCornellUniversityAllrightsreserved.Exceptforbriefquotationsinareview,thisbook,orparts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu. Firstpublished2019byCornellUniversityPressPrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmericaLibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData

Names: Borenstein, Eliot, 1966– author. Title: Plots against Russia : conspiracy and fantasy after socialism / Eliot Borenstein. Description: Ithaca : Cornell University Press, 2019. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identiﬁers: LCCN 2018041939 (print) | LCCN 2018043657 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501716355 (epub/mobi) | ISBN 9781501716362 (pdf) | ISBN 9781501716331 | ISBN 9781501716331 (cloth ; alk. paper) | ISBN 9781501735776 (pbk. ; alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Popular culture—Russia (Federation) | Political culture—Russia (Federation) | Conspiracy theories—Russia (Federation) | Paranoia—Social aspects—Russia (Federation) | Postcommunism—Social aspects—Russia (Federation) | National characteristics, Russian. Classiﬁcation: LCC DK510.762 (ebook) | LCC DK510.762 .B67 2019 (print) | DDC 306.0947—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018041939

ForFranny,ofcourse.AndinmemoryofJoelBernstein(1937–2017)

Ofcoursethere’sanantiRussianconspiracy;theproblemisthatits participants include Russia’s entire adult population. —VictorPelevin,Generation P

Preface

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction:RussiaasanImaginaryCountry

1.ConspiracyandParanoia:ThePsychopathologyof Everyday Speech

2.RuiningRussia:Conspiracy,Apocalypse,andMelodrama

3.LostHorizons:Russophobia,Sovereignty,and the Politics of Identity

4.OneHundredYearsofSodom:DystopianLiberalismand the Fear of a Queer Planet

5.TheTalkingDead:ArticulatingtheZombiﬁedSubject under Putin

6.WordsofWarcraft:ManufacturingDissentin Russia and Ukraine

xiii

133

180

202

vi i i

Contents

Conclusion:MakingRussiaGreatAgain

Notes

WorksCited

Index

237

243

253

271

Preface

Thisisanuncomfortablebooktowrite.ItisalsothebookthatI’vebeen preparing to write for my entire adult life, although there is no way I could have known it. Theawkwardnessstemsfromanawarenessthatmypositioninwrit ing it is thoroughly compromised. The book you have in your hands (or possibly on your screens) is a study of paranoid, conspiratorial, and ex tremist trends in Russia’s media, ﬁlm, and ﬁction since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Given the geopolitical climate during this book’s gestation (2014–2018), I fear that it will be interpreted as simply an academic varia tion on the demonization of Vladimir Putin, which has proved both in evitable and unproductive during Putin’s third term as president. On the offchance thatPlots against Russiashould come to the attention of media types in the Russian Federation, accusations of “Russophobia” are as predictable as Russian election results (indeed, my inner “Kremlin troll” could compose the appropriate denunciation in seconds ﬂat). It’s one thing for Richard Hofstadter to isolate a “paranoid style” in US politics in the