Not by Firkowicz’s Fault: Daniel Chwolson’s Comic Blunders in Research of Hebrew Epigraphy of the Crimea and Caucasus, and their Impact on Jewish Studies in Russia

2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-668
Author(s):  
Michael Nosonovsky ◽  
Dan Shapira ◽  
Daria Vasyutinsky-Shapira
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Jewish Studies ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Political Pressure ◽  
Scholarly Community ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Crimea ◽  
Huge Impact ◽  
Academic Argument

AbstractDaniel Chwolson (1819–1911) made a huge impact upon the research of Hebrew epigraphy from the Crimea and Caucasus. Despite that, his role in the more-than-a-century-long controversy regarding Crimean Hebrew tomb inscriptions has not been well studied. Chwolson, at first, adopted Abraham Firkowicz’s forgeries, and then quickly realized his mistake; however, he could not back up. Th e criticism by both Abraham Harkavy and German Hebraists questioned Chwolson’s scholarly qualifications and integrity. Consequently, the interference of political pressure into the academic argument resulted in the prevailing of the scholarly flawed opinion. We revisit the interpretation of these findings by Russian, Jewish, Karaite and Georgian historians in the 19th and 20th centuries. During the Soviet period, Jewish Studies in the USSR were in neglect and nobody seriously studied the whole complex of the inscriptions from the South of Russia / the Soviet Union. The remnants of the scholarly community were hypnotized by Chwolson’s authority, who was the teacher of their teachers’ teachers. At the same time, Western scholars did not have access to these materials and/or lacked the understanding of the broader context, and thus a number of erroneous Chwolson’s conclusion have entered academic literature for decades.

Utopias of One

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Kotin
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
World War I ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Jim Crow ◽  
Personal Autonomy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Original Research ◽  
The Soviet Union

This book is a new account of utopian writing. It examines how eight writers—Henry David Thoreau, W. E. B. Du Bois, Osip and Nadezhda Mandel'shtam, Anna Akhmatova, Wallace Stevens, Ezra Pound, and J. H. Prynne—construct utopias of one within and against modernity's two large-scale attempts to harmonize individual and collective interests: liberalism and communism. The book begins in the United States between the buildup to the Civil War and the end of Jim Crow; continues in the Soviet Union between Stalinism and the late Soviet period; and concludes in England and the United States between World War I and the end of the Cold War. In this way it captures how writers from disparate geopolitical contexts resist state and normative power to construct perfect worlds—for themselves alone. The book contributes to debates about literature and politics, presenting innovative arguments about aesthetic difficulty, personal autonomy, and complicity and dissent. It models a new approach to transnational and comparative scholarship, combining original research in English and Russian to illuminate more than a century and a half of literary and political history.

POST-SOVIET CITY AS A PALIMPSEST

2020 ◽  
pp. 48-68
Author(s):  
Elena A. Kosovan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Urban Space ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Coordinator ◽  
Post Soviet Period

The author of the publication reviews the photobook “Palimpsests”, published in 2018 in the publishing house “Ad Marginem Press” with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The book presents photos of post-Soviet cities taken by M. Sher. Preface, the author of which is the coordinator of the “Democracy” program of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Russia N. Fatykhova, as well as articles by M. Trudolyubov and K. Bush, which accompany these photos, contain explanation of the peculiarities of urban space formation and patterns of its habitation in the Soviet Union times and in the post-Soviet period. The author of the publication highly appreciates the publication under review. Analyzing the photographic works of M. Sher and their interpretation undertaken in the articles, the author of the publication agrees with the main conclusions of N. Fatykhova, M. Trudolyubov and K. Bush with regards to the importance of the role of the state in the processes of urban development and urbanization in the Soviet and post-Soviet space, but points out that the second factor that has a key influence on these processes is ownership relations. The paper positively assesses the approach proposed by the authors of the photobook to the study of the post-Soviet city as an architectural and landscape palimpsest consisting mainly of two layers, “socialist” and “capitalist”. The author of the publication specifically emphasizes the importance of analyzing the archetypal component of this palimpsest, pointing out that the articles published in the reviewed book do not pay sufficient attention to this issue. Particular importance is attributed by the author to the issue of metageography of post-Soviet cities and meta-geographical approach to their exploration. Emphasizing that the urban palimpsest is a system of realities, each in turn including a multitude of ideas, meanings, symbols, and interpretations, the author points out that the photobook “Palimpsests” is actually an invitation to a scientific game with space, which should start a new direction in the study of post-Soviet urban space.

Development of the Legal Framework for Regulating Relations for the Training and Retraining of Judges in the Soviet Period (1946–1991)

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
S. I. Pukhnarevich ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
The Soviet Union

The article shows the formation of the legal basis for the formation, development and functioning of the system of training and retraining of judicial personnel in the country in the period from 1946 until the end of the USSR. The article also explores the forms and approaches to the organization of improving the quality of the staff of the judicial system. It was concluded that the Soviet Union has formed an ideologically oriented, strictly centralized Federal-Republican system of professional development of court employees.

scholarly journals “As quiet as a mouse”: Media use in Azerbaijan

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (s1) ◽  
pp. 893-911
Author(s):  
Ilgar Seyidov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Media Use ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Media System ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Supportive Role ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One

AbstractDuring the Soviet period, the media served as one of the main propagandist tools of the authoritarian regime, using a standardized and monotype media system across the Soviet Republics. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, 15 countries became independent. The transition from Soviet communism to capitalism has led to the reconstruction of economic, socio-cultural, and political systems. One of the most affected institutions in post-Soviet countries was the media. Media have played a supportive role during rough times, when there was, on the one hand, the struggle for liberation and sovereignty, and, on the other hand, the need for nation building. It has been almost 30 years since the Soviet Republics achieved independence, yet the media have not been freed from political control and continue to serve as ideological apparatuses of authoritarian regimes in post-Soviet countries. Freedom of speech and independent media are still under threat. The current study focuses on media use in Azerbaijan, one of the under-researched post-Soviet countries. The interviews for this study were conducted with 40 participants living in Nakhichevan and Baku. In-depth, semi-structured interview techniques were used as research method. Findings are discussed under six main themes in the conclusion.

RUSSIAN DIASPORA. SUMMATION AND RESEARCH PROSPECTS

2020 ◽  
pp. 130-143
Author(s):  
Irina V. Sabennikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Scientific Research ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Third Stage ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
Significant Phenomenon ◽  
History Of ◽  
Methodological Principles

The historiography of any historically significant phenomenon goes through several stages in its development. At the beginning − it is the reaction of contemporaries to the event they experienced, which is emotional in nature and is expressed in a journalistic form. The next stage can be called a retrospective understanding of the event by its actual participants or witnesses, and only at the third stage there does appear the objective scientific research bringing value-neutral assessments of the phenomenon under study and belonging to subsequent generations of researchers. The history of The Russian Diaspora and most notably of the Russian post-revolutionary emigration passed to the full through all the stages of the issue historiography. The third stage of its studying dates from the late 1980s and is characterized by a scientific, politically unbiased study of the phenomenon of the Russian emigration community, expanding the source base and scientific research methods. During the Soviet period in Russian historiography, owing to ideological reasons, researchers ‘ access to archival documents was limited, which is why scientific study of the history of the Russian Diaspora was not possible. Western researchers also could not fully develop that issue, since they were deprived of important sources kept in Russian archives. Political changes in the perestroika years and especially in the period after the collapse of the Soviet Union increased attention to the Russian Diaspora, which was facilitated by a change in scientific paradigms, methodological principles, the opening of archives and, as a result, the expansion of the source base necessary for studying that issue. The historiography of the Russian Diaspora, which has been formed for more than thirty years, needs to be understood. The article provides a brief analysis of the historiography, identifies the main directions of its development, the research problematics, and defines shortcomings and prospects.

scholarly journals Activities of Non-Governmental Organisations Aimed at Conflict Settlement in Post-Soviet States

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Nikitin ◽  
Irina Bolgova ◽  
Yulia Nikitina
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
The State ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Public Interests ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
International Environment ◽  
International Projects ◽  
The Government ◽  
Public Organisations ◽  
Set Up

This article analyses the peace-making activities of Soviet/Russian nongovernmental public organisations (NGOs) with reference to the Federation for Peace and Conciliation, the successor of the Soviet Peace Committee. NGOs were formed at the initiative of the state and party organs of the Soviet system but were transformed into independent NGOs after the collapse of the USSR with their own active strategy of assistance in conflict resolution. This study is based upon unique archive materials and the personal experience of one of the authors, who used to work for such organisations. The study focuses on the ethnopolitical conflicts which took place between the collapse of the USSR and the mid‑1990s. There is a widespread opinion in academic literature that so-called non-governmental organisations set up by the government do not have their own identity, especially during social crises, and passively follow the government’s political line. However, the study of their activities demonstrates that during the first years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, these organisations initiated a significant number of practical and political projects with the participation of high-ranked representatives of the governments, parliaments, and political parties of both post-Soviet and foreign states and international organisations, including the UN, OSCE, NATO, CIS, etc. This, in turn, played a role as a substantial supplement to classical interstate diplomacy and practically promoted the settlement of certain ethnopolitical conflicts. The archive materials analysed prove that in the early post-Soviet period, a certain inversion in the direction of political and ideological impulses took place, and a number of non-governmental organisations that used to transmit the interests of the Communist Party and state organs to the international environment were able to create new international projects and consultations in the form of “track one-and-a-half” diplomacy, i. e. the informal interaction of officials in the capacity of unofficial experts. And in such cases, it was NGOs which shaped the agenda and transmitted public interests to the state structures of Russia and the CIS states, mediating between fighting sides and amongst representatives of various states, practically assisting the settlement of ethnopolitical conflicts.

scholarly journals One for all, each on its own: Analysing the post-Soviet system of collective security

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-110
Author(s):  
David Erkomaishvili
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Soviet System ◽  
Collective Security ◽  
Subsequent Transformation ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Security Relations ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed independent states, which emerged in its place, to construct their own alignments. The choice of the case for empirical analysis had been made based on several unique characteristics. Orthodox Alliance Theory had almost never properly addressed alignments in the post-Soviet space due to the lack of access to information during the Soviet period - along with the structure of the state: only Soviet alignment policies were taken into consideration, instead of those of its constituent republics as well - and modest interest of alliance theorists in the region. Continued disintegration of the post-Soviet space, which has not stopped with the collapse of the Soviet Union but keeps fragmenting further, creates a unique setting for researching the adequacy of Alliance Theory's classic assumptions as well as developing new approaches. This work traces the development of the post-Soviet system of collective security and its subsequent transformation into a series of bilateral security relations, along with the shortfall of multilateralism.

scholarly journals Еmigration processes from Russia: directions, scale, ethnic structure

POPULATION ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-50
Author(s):  
Leonid Rybakovsky ◽  
Natalia Kozhevnikova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Migration ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Century ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Migration Flow ◽  
Period Analysis ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Internal Migrations

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the structure of migration processes in Russia radically changed, a significant part of the internal migrations transformed into international ones. Although the scale of internal migrations noticeably decreased, still they continued to exceed international by several times. Along with the re-emigration of Russians and the immigration of people of other nationalities to Russia from the countries of the new abroad, which assumed a mass character, the international emigration from Russia to the countries of the old abroad increased significantly. This international migration flow has become permanent in the post-Soviet period. Analysis of statistical data made it possible to conclude that the scale of international migration, that substantially increased in the 1990s, in the zero years of the 21st century declined markedly. This applies both to immigration flows to Russia from the countries of the new abroad and to emigration flows from Russia to the countries of the old abroad. Despite the significant reduction in emigration from Russia in the twenty-first century, the main recipient countries for emigrants, as they were originally, are still Germany, Israel and the United States. The latter is due to the ethnic component. The article shows the extent to which international migrations damage Russia and improve labor (first of all, scientific and technical) and demographic potential of a number of recipient countries. It is emphasized that the solution of these problems is beyond the scope of state migration policy.

scholarly journals Diseases of the Indigenous Peoples of Yakutia in Photo Projects of the Late XIX ‒ First Third of the XX Centuries

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-119
Author(s):  
Stepanova Lena B. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Northeast Asia ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Socialist Republic ◽  
Foreign Population ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Medical Photography

Disease theme of indigenous population of the Northern national outskirts of Russia, as well as the study of special knowledge in the field of traditional medicine and healing practices, for a long time belonged to the taboo part of knowledge. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century, there was a turning point in the visual culture of region, when the picture of diseases was expressed through the camera and became public. There are works of photographers documenting the course of the most dangerous diseases, such as leprosy and external manifestations of mental disorders. The aim of this study is to study external factors that influenced the genesis of the “medical” series of visual images of the population of Northeast Asia. The research methodology is based on a cultural and historical analysis of the events that preceded its appearance and subsequent application in medical practice in order to document the course of diseases in the Soviet period. This article presents the results of a brief review of the prehistory of the “medical” direction in ethnographic photography of the Yakut region. The circle of photographers of the Yakut region is defined, where stories illustrating the diseases that the local population suffered from are reflected. At the beginning of the twentieth century, footage of medical practices and shamanistic rituals for healing were presented in the photo projects by I. V. Popov and A. P. Kurochkin. In the 1920s-1930s. the genre of “medical photography” is represented by the works of the doctor-epidemiologist T. A. Kolpakova, military surgeon E. A. Dubrovin, unknown with the initial “D”, who worked in the medical detachment of the Commission for the Study the Productive Forces of the Yakut Republic (CYR) The Academy of Sciences of the Soviet Union and the People’s Committee the Health of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. The experience of studying this topic serves as a clear illustration of the specifics of the region and in some way confirms the conclusions made by the participants of numerous expeditions that studied the foreign population of the Yakut region and predicted the inevitable extinction in the future. Keywords: medical anthropology, anthropology of disease, visual research, indigenous people, visual text, visual sources

The Theme of Repatriation of Jews from the USSR in the Soviet Media as a Manifestation of Media Propaganda in the 1970s (the Сase of the Izvestiya)

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 135-148
Author(s):  
Strovsky Dmitry L. ◽  
◽  
Antoshin Alexey V. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Editorial Policy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Mass Consciousness ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Empirical Material

This article analyzes the substantive approaches used by the Soviet press when reflecting the topic of the repatriation of Jews from the USSR to Israel in the 1970s. This period is of particular importance in the course of studying information propaganda as an independent socio-political activity aimed at the formation of a certain type of mass consciousness. During this period, information propaganda of the Soviet mass media was perceived as an essential basis for strengthening ideological and political positions of the Soviet Union by leveling the complexities of its daily life. The study of how exactly these media promoted the topic of repatriation seems to be new in the study of the information space. The disclosure of this topic through the use of extensive empirical material enables to see the patterns of development of this space at the final stage of the Soviet period, which in turn, determines the relevance of the study in modern conditions, when manipulative priorities anew have become noticeable in the practice of the Russian media. The authors envisage the editorial policy of such an influential central newspaper as Izvestia. This publication, like all the other Soviet media, was attached to propaganda priorities, which predetermined manipulative approaches when covering the topic of repatriation. In order to determine the main trends of manipulative influence, we used structural-functional and systemic methods, as well as a method of content analysis, which together afford to see the patterns of development of the Soviet print media in the disclosure of the topic presented in the title of this article. The results of the research are not only theoretically but practically oriented, since they provide understanding of effective methods of influencing the audience and using them in everyday media practice. Keywords: media, Soviet ideology, propaganda, manipulation, class approach, Zionism, Jews

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