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PUTIN, the former President of the Russian Federation who has been in power for just a few years, has now quickly become one of the most prominent figures of Russian history, and his seven or eight years in office have also constituted the “Putin Era” with distinct characteristics. So, can the “Putin Era” be a topic for discussion? The answer seems to be yes: first of all, relative to political, economic and social life, cultural development and change is rather slow and lags behind. After coming through the collapse of the USSR and the great turmoil of the “troubled times” of Boris Yeltsin, the Russian culture has finally gained a breathing period and a period of cushioning, and gradually generated certain new features and styles; secondly, with the international energy price surge, the Russian economy and even its entire national strength, Russia has made immense advancements, and the Putin government, with its great luck, has achieved a rare allround rejuvenation of Russia. In turn, the Russian culture and its development seem to have also secured their material premise and guarantee; lastly, Russia, which has been immersing itself in a fierce geopolitical game and cultural conflicts, has gradually realized that, in addition to political, military and economic strength, culture is also one of the most powerful weapons of a nation, and that the Russian culture has always been the best name card and signboard of the Russian race. With the awakening cultural consciousness of Russians, attention to their own culture and its influence has also been increasing day by day.
The most notable characteristic of Russian culture during the Putin era is probably its cultural plurality. After the collapse of the USSR , the originally uniform ideological system had fallen apart, so various kinds of cultural ideological trends and cultural orientation had immediately gained an equal status in Russian society, and formed a multi-culture co-existence. In the current composition of Russian culture, there exist at least some of the following subcultures:
Heritage of the Soviet Culture
Culture, unlike some social systems that can be thrown away immediately, has an inertia that is so great that it can often go beyond people's imagination. The disintegration of the USSR and collapse of the Soviet system has not necessarily meant the natural death of the Soviet culture at all, for in the "Putin Era", the so-called “Post-Soviet Culture” has not ceased; on the contrary, it has become more striking. For instance, the national anthem of the USSR is now used as the new national anthem of Russia; the army flag and army songs of the Soviet army are preserved intact, and the various kinds of monuments and sculptures of the Soviet era, after throwing off the “‘catastrophes” of before and after the disintegration of the USSR, have now become “cultural and historical relics” that are protected by the State. The “red classics”, created in the fields of writing, music and arts during the Soviet period, have once again become the objects of reading and appreciation for some people… The nostalgia and reminiscence in relation to the Soviet society and its lifestyle are now hovering around and permeating Russian society and the Russian people, just like in autumn the pride of the morning in the open field.
Powerful Infiltration of Religious Factors in Culture
The Russians are a race with a strong sense of religion. Since “the baptism of Rus” in 988, Russia has always been a member of the big Christian family. However, compared to the various races that embrace Catholicism and Protestantism, Russians seem to have a much stronger sense of mission and sense of ultimate concern. After the theory of the so-called “ Moscow as the Third Rome” was raised, the Russian Orthodox Eastern Church has always regarded itself as the authentic offspring of Christianity. After nearly a century's rule under Communist ideology that advocates atheism, the religious tradition of Russia quickly recovered, and has now infiltrated almost every corner of Russian society and cultural life.
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Liu Wenfei is a Research Fellow of the Foreign Literature Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Specially-appointed Professor of Henan University, Visiting Professor or Honorary Professor of a dozen higher learning institutions, including Peking University, Lanzhou University and Sichuan University, Secretary-General of the Chinese Association for Russian Literature, Member of the Chinese Writers' Association and Board Member of the Translator's Association of China. His main interests of research include Russian literature and culture. He has published several dozen monographs and works of translation, in more than a hundred research papers. |
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| Issue 5.2 |
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Elections
in Russian Society
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