Russian culture
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Russians are especially known for their cuisine. Russian art has been extremely influential, and is considered a source of great pride to Russians. Russians are also known for their sense of humour. Russian literature has been greatly influential to world literature. Russia has also been home to some very famous classical music composers, another great source of national pride.
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[edit] History
[edit] Visual Arts
[edit] Icon painting
Russian icon painting was inherited from the art of the Byzantine churches, and it soon became an offshoot version of the mosaic and fresco traditions. Icon paintings in Russia attempted to help people with their prayers without idolizing the figure in the painting. The most comprehensive collection of Icon art is found at the Tretyakov Gallery.[1]
Rather than being mere imitations, Russian icons have a distinctive style; Andrei Rublev was particularly important to the icon movement.
[edit] Russian avant-garde
The Russian avant-garde is an umbrella term used to define the large, influential wave of modernist art that flourished in Russia from approximately 1890 to 1930 - although some place its beginning as early as 1850 and ending as late as 1960. The term covers many separate, but inextricably related, art movements that occurred at the time; namely neo-primitivism, suprematism, constructivism, and futurism. Notable artists from this era include El Lissitzky, Kazimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Vladimir Tatlin, Alexander Rodchenko, and Marc Chagall amongst others. The Russian avant-garde reached its creative and popular height in the period between the Russian Revolution of 1917 and 1932, at which point the ideas of the avant-garde clashed with the newly emerged state-sponsored direction of Socialist Realism.
[edit] Soviet Art
During the Russian Revolution a movement was initiated to put all arts to service of the dictatorship of the proletariat. The instrument for this was created just days before the October Revolution, known as Proletkult, an abbreviation for "Proletarskie kulturno-prosvetitelnye organizatsii" (Proletarian Cultural and Enlightenment Organizations). A prominent theorist of this movement was Alexander Bogdanov. Initially, Narkompros (ministry of education), which was also in charge of the arts, supported Proletkult. However, the latter sought too much independence from the ruling Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks). This resulted in Vladimir Lenin intensely disliking it, and by 1922 it had declined considerably. It was eventually disbanded by Stalin in 1932. After Stalin died, Soviet Art went into decline Russian artists became more independent of the state. In the 1980's, the government ruled that it could not restrict what Russia's artists could paint.
[edit] Architecture
Russian architecture was influenced predominantly by the Byzantine architecture until the Fall of Constantinople. Aristotle Fioravanti and other Italian architects introduced Renaissance trends. The reigns of Ivan the Terrible and Boris Godunov saw the development of tent-like churches culminating in Saint Basil's Cathedral, as shown to the right. In the 17th century, the "fiery style" of ornamentation flourished in Moscow and Yaroslavl, gradually paving the way for the Naryshkin baroque of the 1690s.
The 18th-century taste for rococo architecture led to the splendid works of Bartolomeo Rastrelli and his followers. During the reign of Catherine the Great and her grandson Alexander I, the city of Saint Petersburg was transformed into an outdoor museum of Neoclassical architecture; the 19th century was dominated by the Byzantine and Russian Revival. Prevalent styles of the 20th century were the Art Nouveau (Fyodor Shekhtel), Constructivism (Aleksey Shchusev and Konstantin Melnikov), and the Stalinist Empire style (Boris Iofan).
Some notable Russian buildings include:
- Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod | Golden Gate (Vladimir) | Cathedral of Christ the Saviour | Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir | Cathedral of the Annunciation | Cathedral of the Archangel | Cathedral of the Dormition | Church of the Savior on Blood | Saint Basil's Cathedral | Kazan Kremlin | Saint Isaac's Cathedral | Kazan Cathedral | Peter and Paul Cathedral | Sukharev Tower | Menshikov Tower | Moscow Manege | Narva Triumphal Gate | Kolomenskoye | Peterhof | Gatchina | Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra | Solovetsky Monastery | Kunstkamera | Russian Museum | Catherine Palace | Grand Kremlin Palace | Winter Palace | Simonov Monastery | Novodevichy Convent | Lenin's Mausoleum | Tatlin's Tower | Palace of the Soviets | Seven Sisters (Moscow) | All-Soviet Exhibition Centre | Ostankino Tower | Triumph-Palace | White House of Russia
[edit] Matryoshka doll and other handicraft
A Matryoshka doll (Cyrillic матрёшка or матрешка) is a Russian nesting doll. A set of Matryoshka dolls consist of a wooden figure which can be pulled apart to reveal another figure of the same sort inside. It has in turn another figure inside, and so on. The number of nested figures is usually six or more. The shape is mostly cylindrical, rounded at the top for the head and tapered towards the bottom, but little else. The dolls have no extremities, (except those that are painted). The true artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be extremely elaborate. The theme is usually peasant girls in traditional dress, but can be almost anything; for instance, fairy tales or Soviet leaders.
Other forms of Russian handicraft include:
[edit] Performance arts
[edit] Theater
[edit] Cinema
While Russia was involved in filmmaking as early as most of the other nations in the West, it only came into prominence during the 1920s when it explored editing as the primary mode of cinematic expression. Because of the depletion of resources due to World War I, Russian film schools would take copies of D. W. Griffith's Intolerance and re-cut it as an exercise in creating meaning.
"Soviet Cinema" should not be used as a synonym for "Russian Cinema", as the two are completely different mediums. Although Russian language films predominated, several republics developed lively and unique cinemas, while others did not. Most notable for their republican cinema were Armenia, Georgia, Lithuania, Ukraine, and, to a lesser degree, Belarus and Moldova.
Since the dissolution of The Soviet Union, Russian cinema has seen a time of great transformation. Although still largely funded by the state, the topics and intended audience have been updated. During the '90s, Russian film-making decreased sharply, going from hundreds per year to the double-digits. However, recent years have brought increased viewer-ship and subsequent prosperity to the industry through exploration of contemporary subjects like sexuality in the 2004 film .
Although its audience has decreased, the Russian cinema still tends to cover serious and sometimes philosophical issues. It also frequently shows educational films on culture and history. The film "Ostrov" dealt with many important subjects such as loyalty and religion.
[edit] Dance
- Main articles: Russian ballet - Ballets Russes - Barynya - Kamarinskaya
Russia is world-renowned for its ballet dancers. Dancers such as Alexander Godunov have brought world-wide attention to the artform. During the years of the USSR, ballet dancers were used by the government to display the cultural prowess of the Russian nation. They were flaunted by the government and some claimed mistreatment.
Recently, Russian ballet has moved from the politically motivated realm back to its roots of cultural expression. The Russian people are extremely proud of their ballet dancers.
[edit] Music of Russia
Russia is a large and culturally diverse country with dozens of ethnic groups; each with their own forms of folk music. Russia has a great input to classical Music as well as more modern genres. Composers such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Shostakovich have become world famous. During the period of Soviet domination, music was highly scrutinized and kept within certain boundaries of content and innovation. After the fall of the USSR in the early 1990s, western-style rock and pop music became the most popular musical forms in Russia. With the rise of western music, some native artists became quite popular. Recently, Russian music has tended to be extremely oriented to religious audiences.
[edit] Opera
The first known opera made in Russia was A Life for the Tsar by Mikhail Glinka in 1836. This was followed by several operas such as Ruslan and Lyudmila in 1842. Russian opera was originally a combination of Russian folk music and Italian opera. After the October revolution many opera composers left Russia. Russia's most popular operas include:
[edit] Other art related subjects of interest
[edit] Internet culture
Originating from Russian scientific community and telecommunication industries, a specific Russian culture of using the Internet has been establishing since the early 1990s. In the second half of 1990s, the term Runet was coined to call the segment of Internet written or understood in the Russian language. Whereas the Internet "has no boundaries", "Russian Internet" (online communications in the Russian language) can not be localized solely to the users residing in the Russian Federation as it includes Russian-speaking people from all around the world. This segment includes millions of users in other ex-USSR countries, Israel and others abroad diasporas.[2]
With the introduction of the the Web, many social and cultural events found reflections within the Russian Internet society. Various online communities formed, and the most popular one grew out of the Russian-speaking users of the California-based blogging platform LiveJournal (which was completely bought out in December 2007 by Russian firm SUP Fabrik).[3] In January 2008 a LiveJournal blog of the "3rd statesman" Sergey Mironov had appeared.
As of late, there are scores of websites offering Russian language content including mass media, e-commerce, search engines and so on. Particularly notorious are the "Russian Hackers".[4] Russian web design studios, software and web-hosting enterprises offer a variety of services, and the results form a sort of national digital culture. Commercial giants such as Google and Microsoft have their Russian branches. In September 2007, the national domain .ru passed the milestone of a million of domain names.[5]
[edit] Language
Russian is the common official language throughout the Russian Federation understood by 99% of its current inhabitants and widespread in many adjacent areas of Eastern Europe and Asia. National subdivisions of Russia have additional official languages. For more information on individual languages and Russian dialects see:
[edit] Literature
Russian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union. With the break up of the USSR, different countries and cultures may lay claim to various ex-Soviet writers who wrote in Russian on the basis of birth or of ethnic or cultural associations.
[edit] Formalism
Russian Formalism refers to a number of highly influential Russian and Soviet scholars such as (Viktor Shklovsky, Yuri Tynianov, Boris Eichenbaum, Roman Jakobson, and Grigory Vinokur) who revolutionized literary criticism between 1914 and the 1930s by establishing the specificity and autonomy of poetic language and literature. Russian Formalism exerted a major influence on philosophers such as Mikhail Bakhtin and Yuri Lotman, and on structuralism as a whole. The movement's members are widely considered as the founders of modern literary criticism.
[edit] Poetry
Acmeist poetry-Bogatyr-Bylina-Onegin stanza
Famous poems:
[edit] Cuisine
Russia has a rich culinary history and offers a wide variety of soups, dishes centered around fish, cereal based products, and drinks. In addition to meat, vegetables, fruit, mushrooms, berries and herbs also play a major part in the Russian diet. Primordial Russian products such as caviar, smetana (sour cream), buckwheat, rye flour, etc. have had a great influence on world-wide cuisine. Russians are also especially known for their wide array of beers. In the 14th century, the first vodka was brewed in Russia. Ever since, it has been a staple of modern Russian cuisine.
[edit] Martial Arts
Russia has an extensive history of martial arts. Some of its best-known forms include the Kadochnikov's Systema, Retuinskih's System ROSS, Ryabko's Systema, Sambo, and Systema.
[edit] Media
Russian media began largely under the Soviet Union. However, during this period all media was controlled by the government and many of the freedoms Western newspapers enjoyed were denied. At this time, Russia's most famous newspaper was Pravda; an official publication of the Communist Party printed and circulated between 1918 and 1991. The paper is still in operation in Russia, but it is most famous in Western countries for its headlines during the period of the Cold War. A number of other, less famous, newspapers were (and indeed still are) also called Pravda.
Russian media has grown extensively since their suppression during the Communist period, although the independence of media outlets such as NTV Russia has been curtailed in recent years.[6] The largest newspaper in Russia currently is Trud, followed by the Russian Pravda. The first English language newspaper in Russia was the Moscow News. (See also Category:Russian media.)
[edit] Religion
Ethnic Russians have predominantly followed the Russian Orthodox Church. However, during the Soviet era, Atheism was favored by the government which led to a significant decline in the church. Other minority ethnic groups of Russia often hold to Islam or Animism.[citation needed] Judaism also has a large presence along with Catholicism, Protestantism and Buddhism.
Related Articles:
- Church of the Last Testament
- History of the Jews in Russia and the Soviet Union
- Islam in Russia
- Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations
- Old believers
- Religion in the Soviet Union
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Russian Catholic Church
[edit] Tourism
Russia has a rich cultural heritage that is embodied in the cities of Moscow with its Tretyakov Gallery, Bolshoi Theatre or the Kremlin's collections, and Saint Petersburg on the river Neva, close to the Baltic Sea, with its famous "white nights", the art collections of the Hermitage Museum and the Russian Museum.
Many little towns with old cloisters and castles on the countrysidecan. There are cities with their own rich traditions like Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) on the Baltic Sea coast or Novgorod on Lake Ilmen. Other destinations include: Tver, Vologda, Nizhni Novgorod, Kirov, Ekaterinburg and Rostov.
Other popular tourist destinations:
- trip through the big rivers like Volga, Lena or Yenisei.
- trip on the famous Trans-Siberian railway to Vladivostok on the Pacific Ocean.
- beach vacation spot in Sochi.
Russia's climate is generally moderate with the exception of the mountain areas or Eastern Russia in Siberia. The coasts of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea offer a climate much like the Mediterranean.
[edit] Humor
Russia owes much of its wit to the great flexibility and richness of the Russian language, allowing for puns and unexpected associations. Like with any other nation, its vast scope ranges from lewd jokes and silly wordplay to political satire.
[edit] Anecdote
Russian jokes, the most popular form of Russian humour, are short fictional stories or dialogues with a punch line. Russian joke culture features a series of categories with fixed and highly familiar settings and characters. Surprising effects are achieved by an endless variety of plots. Russians love jokes on topics found everywhere in the world, be it politics, spouse relations, or mothers-in-law.
[edit] Chastushka
Chastushka (частушка), a type of traditional Russian poetry, is a single quatrain in trochaic tetrameter with an "abab" or "abcb" rhyme scheme. Usually humorous, satirical, or ironic in nature, chastushkas are often put to music as well, usually with balalaika or accordion accompaniment. The rigid, short structure (and to a lesser degree, the type of humor these use) parallels limericks. The name originates from the Russian word части́ть, meaning "to speak fast."
[edit] See also
- List of famous Russians
- Russian folklore
- Culture of the Soviet Union
- Culture of Russia
- Russian traditions and superstitions
[edit] References
- ^ Russian Art and Architecture
- ^ Henrike Schmidt and Katy Teubener. "“Our RuNet”? Cultural Identity and Media Usage". Ruhr University Bochum. http://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/russ-cyb/library/texts/en/control_shift/Schmidt_Teubener_Identity.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ^ Russian oligarch invades the blogosphere — Telegraph.co.uk, 06/01/2008
- ^ "Police say Russian hackers are increasing threat". Reuters. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/internetprivacy/2004-07-28-russian-hackers_x.htm. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ^ "Millionth Russian domain name registered". United Press International. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/2007/09/18/millionth_russian_domain_name_registered_/8156/. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
- ^ Meet the chief exec of Kremlin inc ... The Guardian
[edit] External links
- RussianCulture.ru
- VANGOGH.RU - russian art
- Contemporary Russian Poets Database
- Contemporary Russian Poets in English translation
- Russian Culture: Internet resources
- Viv Groskop, New Statesman, December 13, 2004, "Stalin would have loved it: 25 December used to be a day like any other in Moscow. That has all changed"
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