Isolated, marginalised, and turned into a propaganda tool. This is how Lithuanian writer Kristina Sabaliauskaitė described Russian culture at the European Parliament’s discussion. However, such comments were not welcomed by everyone.
At the EP discussion “Pushing Pushkin: the imperialism and decolonisation of Russian culture”, Sabaliauskaitė and British journalist Edward Lucas sought to unravel the DNA of Russian culture.
According to Sabaliauskaitė, Russia’s cultural isolation dates back to ancient times.
“For the last 100 years, in the 20th century, Russia had almost no contact with Europe and the West because of the Iron Curtain, closed borders, and the denial of citizens’ right to travel freely. It was basically a closed country,” the writer said.
She noted that Russia was closed in the last millennium too. For example, at the beginning of the 18th century, Russia had no universities, and when the first one was established, it was not an independent institution like in the West.
Sabaliauskaitė argued that before the 18th century, secular Russian culture was almost non-existent. Russia had no contact with the Renaissance and did not participate in the discovery of new lands or any other sharing of scientific achievements.
The situation began to change with the accession of Tsar Peter the Great, during whose reign Russian culture suddenly turned to Europe.
“At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, Russians start travelling around Europe convinced that they have done their cultural homework. They feel unaccepted, unappreciated for their efforts, and very resentful that Europe does not accept them as cultural equals,” Sabaliauskaitė said.
“They were offended, and the sour grapes syndrome appeared in Russian culture,” she added, calling this a crucial moment in history.
Russia’s resentment
According to the writer, another turning point was the Napoleonic Wars when France – the cradle of European culture, which the Russian elite tried to emulate – invaded the Russian Empire.
“After that, nothing was the same again. They [Russians] realised that they were not accepted, culturally inferior. Under the influence of the sour grapes syndrome, they invented theories about the greatness of Russia,” she said.
Russians believe in these theories of evil West and spiritual Russia even today, Lucas added. In his words, the Sovietisation of Russian culture that followed the October coup was the end of the heyday of Russian literature, known as the Silver Age (late 19th-early 20th century).
Sabaliauskaitė argued that the beginning of the 20th century was a particularly important moment in Russian culture, when “it seemed that they were finally succeeding”.
“Art, especially visual art, had been lagging behind the European fashions up to then, and it was in line with the fashions of the period at the beginning of the 20th. But then, there was a revolution,” she said.
According to the writer, after the 1917 revolution, art was directed toward the then largely illiterate Russian society and became a propaganda tool.
“Everything became a tool for spreading the propaganda of the new order, and everything had to be simplified and accessible to the masses,” she explained.
Quarantine for Russian culture
At the Q&A session at end of the discussion, Lucas and Sabaliauskaitė received remarks from a woman who introduced herself as an ethnic Russian.
“You didn’t invite any Russians who could give their perspective. I can tell you right now that this is very biased,” she said.
According to her, the discussion did not mention Russian political society and other Russians who do not support Putin’s regime.
Sabaliauskaitė responded with a quote from the French traveller and writer Astolphe de Custine’s book Letters from Russia: “They consider any dissent as treason, any unwanted truth as a lie.”
“I think the way for Russia to recover and heal is self-criticism. It is also to pay attention to what Russia’s neighbours and other countries think about Russia,” she said.
“I grew up in the Soviet Union, under censorship, so I would never want to cancel or censor Russian culture,” she added. “On the contrary, I think that we need to read the Russian classics to understand this defeatism, the inevitability of cruelty, of helplessness, of hopelessness, and we need to understand Russian culture in the face of current events.”
However, various exhibitions and events celebrating Russian culture only serve to empower Russian institutions. That’s why Sabaliauskaitė said she proposes to quarantine Russian culture until the country starts behaving in a way that deserves the respect of others.
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