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Russia on Edge: Reclaiming the Periphery in Contemporary Russian Culture

Interdisciplinary Workshop, 11-12 December 2009 (CRASSH, University of Cambridge)

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Historically, Russian power structures have been highly centralized and contemporary commentators often assume that political power and cultural momentum are located in the nation’s capital, Moscow. As a result, historical and cultural analyses of Russia have tended to overemphasize the centre.

Since October 2007, the Contemporary Russian Culture Studies forum - a seminar series hosted by the University of Cambridge's Centre for Research in the Arts and Humanities - has persistently suggested that this conventional view is misleading. Speakers and panels discussing topics as diverse as architecture, fashion, voting patterns, new media, political propaganda, contemporary art, gay culture, and contemporary film provided evidence of a shift in cultural focus - one from Russia’s political centre to its geographical periphery. Not only do major cultural figures increasingly emerge beyond major urban centres, the idea of centrifugal power sources and competing centres has become a crucial element in their work.

Rather than a recapitulation of the seminar series, this workshop is launched as an opportunity to explore and expand a common focus that emerged in the course of the different seminars. With this goal in mind, we have devised a program with short papers (15-20 minutes) and ample time for discussion. We hope to produce an edited volume based on the workshop proceedings.

 The workshop will be held at the University of Cambridge at the Centre for Research in the Arts and Social Sciences (CRASSH). The workshop proper will take place on December 11 and 12; December 10 is reserved for arrival, and the workshop dinner is held on December 11. Professor Serguei Oushakine, from the University of Princeton, will act as a keynote speaker.

The organizers are grateful for the generous support the workshop has received from both CRASSH and the Centre for East European Language-Based Area Studies (CEELBAS).

NB The University of Warwick is hosting a workshop which explores related questions - Cultures of the Margins (program poster) - on December 12 and 13. Scholars with an interest in the themes at issue are welcome to combine/pre-register for both events.