Soviet and Post-Soviet Identities

Mark Bassin is Research Professor in the History of Ideas at the Center for Baltic and East European Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm. Catriona Kelly is Professor of Russian at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages, University of Oxford, and a Fellow of New College, Oxford.

• Introduction Mark Bassin and Catriona Kelly; Part I. The Status of National Identity: 1. The contradictions of identity: being Soviet and National in the USSR and after Ronald Grigor Suny; 2. Tales told by Nationalists Nancy Condee; Part II. Institutions of National Identity: 3. National identity through visions of the past: contemporary Russian cinema Birgit Beumers; 4. Archaising culture: the Museum of Ethnography Dmitry Baranov; 5. Rituals of identity: the Soviet passport Albert Baiburin; Part III. Myths of National Identity: 6. 'If the war comes tomorrow': patriotic education in Soviet and post-Soviet primary school Vitaly Bezrogov; 7. Conquering space: the cult of Yuri Gagarin Andrew Jenks; 8. Nation-construction in post-Soviet Central Asia Sergei Abashin; Part IV. Spaces of National Identity: 9. Soviet and post-Soviet Moscow: literary reality or nightmare? Dina Khapaeva; 10. From the USSR to the Orient: national and ethnic symbols in the city text of Elista Elza-Bair Guchinova; 11. The place(s) of Islam in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia Victoria Arnold; Part V. Languages of National Identity: 12. Language culture and identity in post-Soviet Russia: the economies of mat Michael Gorham; 13. Policies and practices of language education in post-Soviet Central Asia: between ethnic identity and civic consciousness Olivier Ferrando; 14. Surviving in the time of deficit: the narrative construction of a 'Soviet identity' Anna Kushkova; Part VI. Creeds of National Identity: 15. Competing orthodoxies: identity and religious belief in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia Catriona Kelly; 16. 'Popular orthodoxy' and identity in twentieth-century Russia: ideology, consumption and competition Alexander Panchenko; 17. Religious affiliation and the politics of post-Soviet identity: the case of Belarus Galina Miazhevich; Index.

'This is an insightful and informative volume, which provides a wealth of original information in relation to Soviet and post-Soviet identities. The links made between the past and present are particularly valuable, showing the ways in which the past is embedded in, and central for, understanding what is happening in the present. The range of themes and the geographical spread of the book are impressive, as is the use of empirical material in many of the chapters. It is an excellent source for academics and students alike in the field of Soviet and post-Soviet identity studies and it also has great relevance in a comparative sense beyond the region.' Moya Flynn, Slavonica