Second-Hand Beliefs: Recycling Culture in Post-Soviet Russia

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

The concept of recycling is one of the central topics in current cultural studies. It is treated both as a universal trend which shapes the present by reusing the debris of the past and as a historically specific and culturally unique form of a dialogue with history. The proposed panel focuses on the ‘second-hand’ life of symbols, values, and beliefs in the Post-Soviet Russia. What is the role of second-hand artifacts in shaping current values and beliefs? How do these objects get integrated in today’s cultural practices and political agendas? Following Viktor Shklovsky’s famous line, the panel will explore the process through which old forms become saturated with new meanings and contents. While focusing on practices of cultural recycling, the panel will also explore how such forms of secondary use act as techniques of re-animation and restoration of historical forms.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology/Cultural Studies

Chair

• Marcus C. Levitt, U of Southern California

Papers

• Gosha Rubchinskiy: Conservative Queer and Biopolitics of Fashion - Maria Engström, Uppsala U (Sweden)

• The Spell of Trukhliashechka: Working through Soviet Enchantment Now - Serguei Alex. Oushakine, Princeton U

• The Goblin versus Hollywood (On Dmitry Puchkov’s Oeuvre) - Valery Vyugin, Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkin House) RAS (Russia)

Discussant

• Lilya Kaganovsky, U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign