Per-Arne Bodin

Arsenij Aleksandrovič Tarkovskij

dikter

En klase syrener

Studia nad polską literaturą współczesną

Elena Namli

Stefan Hedlund

This book sheds new light on the continuing debate within political thought as to what constitutes power, and what distinguishes legitimate from illegitimate power. It does so by considering the experience of Russia, a polity where experiences of the legitimacy of power and the collapse of power offer a contrast to Western experiences on which most political theory, formulated in the West, is based. The book considers power in a range of contexts – philosophy and discourse; the rule of law and its importance for economic development; the use of culture and religion as means to legitimate power; and liberalism and the reasons for its weakness in Russia. The book concludes by arguing that the Russian experience provides a useful lens through which ideas of power and legitimacy can be re-evaluated and re-interpreted, and through which the idea of "the West" as the ideal model can be questioned.

Challenges from Russia

Power and Legitimacy

Ryssland har i alla tider både skrämt och fascinerat. Per-Arne Bodin skildrar den ryska identitetens framväxt – i spänningsfältet mellan Bysans, Europa och Asien – i en studie som vill bidra till förståelsen av rysk isolering och öppenhet. avgörande skillnader mellan den ryska och den västeuropeiska kulturen är den ryska ortodoxa fromheten och avsaknaden av renässans. I Europa och Ryssland skildras vårt stora grannlands kulturhistoria med avstamp i 900-talets kristnande. Den senaste tidens utveckling berörs i ett nyskrivet slutkapitel i denna reviderade utgåva.

Ryssland och Europa: en kulturhistorisk studie

Mikhail Suslov

More than 700 'utopian' novels are published in Russia every year. These utopias – meaning here fantasy fiction, science fiction, space operas or alternative history – do not set out merely to titillate; instead they express very real Russian anxieties: be they territorial right-sizing, loss of imperial status or turning into a 'colony' of the West. Contributors to this innovative collection use these narratives to re-examine post-Soviet Russian political culture and identity. Interrogating the intersections of politics, ideologies and fantasies, chapters draw together the highbrow literary mainstream (authors such as Vladimir Sorokin), mass literature for entertainment and individuals who bridge the gap between fiction writers and intellectuals or ideologists (Aleksandr Prokhanov, for example, the editor-in-chief of Russia's far-right newspaper Zavtra). In the process The Post-Soviet Politics of Utopia sheds crucial light onto a variety of debates – including the rise of nationalism, right-wing populism, imperial revanchism, the complicated presence of religion in the public sphere, the function of language – and is important reading for anyone interested in the heightened importance of ideas, myths, alternative histories and conspiracy theories in Russia today.

Language, Fiction and Fantasy in Modern Russia

The Post-Soviet Politics of Utopia

Per-Arne Bodin

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