04
Society
RUSSIA NOW
BOOKMARKS www.mospat.ru Official website of the Moscow Patriarchate
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www.expat.ru/index.php Virtual community for English-speaking ex-
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pats and Russians
Revealing Reality Vladimir Medinsky explains and challenges some prominent
Opinion
Russian stereotypes in a series of controversial, best-selling books
A Church Reborn
Out of the
Mysteries of Russian
Shadows
ANDREI ZOLOTOV, JR.
FOUNDING EDITOR
Mythmaking
WWW.RUSSIAPROFILE.ORG
Growing up in 1970s' Moscow, I had a nanny
who had lived in our family for 45 years and died
Professor and politician in 1981, when she was 93 and I was 13. Like the
Vladimir Medinsky has RN Dossier vast majority of Soviet people, my family was not
explored and religious. My grandfather even prided himself
deconstructed negative in becoming an atheist as a teenager in pre-
stereotypes surrounding revolutionary Russia and refusing to attend the
Russians, such as laziness, compulsory Orthodox doctrine class at school.
brutality and drunkenness. Back then, it scandalized his father — a priest's
His books sparked vicious
EV, ANDREY SHIMARSKY COLLAGE
son turned high-ranking civil engineer. In Soviet
debate. Medinsky believes Russia, it was a norm enforced by persecution,
any myth, especially a education and all-encompassing atheistic pro-
negative one, is a blight on paganda.
the national conscience. But my nanny, Yevdokiya Frolova, was different.
GROUP She was a nun. After her convent was closed by
ALEXANDER SABOV
the Soviet authorities in 1927, like all of her sis-
RUSSIA NOW
MEDIA
ters, she spent a term in the Gulag labor camp.
OLMA Unlike many of them, she survived and ended up
How Russians are perceived by
BY
serving, selflessly and lovingly, four generations
GROUP, PHOTOGRAPHER NIKOLAY KOROL
the rest of the world is a bois- of our family, while quietly maintaining a rigorous
terous topic in any Moscow PROVIDED monastic discipline of strict fasting, daily prayers
cafe. Perhaps even more intrigu- and regular church attendance. Back then, Mos-
ing is how Russians perceive A year ago, OLMA Me- cow had some 40 open Orthodox Churches —
themselves, and why. Vladimir dia Group published Vladi- more than the few that remained open on the eve
Medinsky has spent his ca- mir Medinsky’s book “Rus- of World War II, when Stalin changed his church
reer deconstructing the wildest sian Drunkenness, Laziness policy, but much less than today's 700.
myths about Russia and how and Brutality.” (First edition: Thanks to my nanny, the Russian Church, the
they began - at home. 3,000 copies, second edition:
PICTURES PROVIDED BY OLMA MEDIA
Church of my ancestors, somehow had an ex-
150,000 copies). His sec- istence for me in this world parallel to the Soviet
Winston Churchill called Rus- ond book in the Myths about reality. But much had to happen before it became
sia a “riddle wrapped in a mys- Russia series called “Russian a faith of my own. There was an appreciation for
tery inside an enigma”, a long Slavery, Mud and the Pris- the Russian liturgical music and icons, the 1988
remembered cliche for Western- on House of Nations” also re- celebration of the Millenium of Christianity in Rus-
ers confused by the mysteries ceived public acclaim. Nearer sia, when the Church was let into public life, and a
of the Russian soul. But why are the end of the year the third trip to the United States as an exchange student,
Russians considered so exot- book came out, “Russia’s Own where I met a prominent emigre Russian priest,
ic? So strange, so romantic, and Way, Pilfering and Long-Suf- Alexander Kiselev. Ultimately, it all came together
then to others, so primitive? fering”. Medinsky says he is at my baptism into the Orthodox Church — my
It is true that all nations and out to challenge negative ste- faith in God, the profound meaning of Orthodox
countries tend to embellish their reotypes about Russia, partic- liturgy, and belonging to my family's and my na-
own history.... By contrast, ularly those shared by his Rus- tion's past and present. It was also a door to the
myths can be purposely forged sian readership. Russian civilization as a part of the European civi-
as an instrument of political pro- Debate raged over Vladimir Medinksy’s view that Russian stereotypes are partially self-propagated lization, to the whole world, and, hopefully, God's
paganda or psychological war- Kingdom.
fare. And, as far as Russian are Ask any Russian, and you will likely hear a similar
concerned, no other nation in It seems so. For example, a sec- cut off. Upon his return from schisms will develop - Western- Historical continuity broke story of a personal relationship with the Orthodox
history has endured such pro- retary to the Austrian Embassy, Europe, irritated by the thought izers and Slavophiles, liberals again, myths about “savage Church.
longed demonizing: This smear Korb, wrote a spiteful lampoon that everything in Russia was and radicals. Elite Russians be- Russia” were revived, all that It will rarely be a happy, conclusive or coherent
campaign has been going on against the young Moscow inferior to everything in Europe, came what emigrant philoso- was sacred in the country was one. Many people simply see Orthodox Christian-
for over three centuries now. state, cunningly passing it off he ordered people to wear Eu- pher Ivan Solonevich justly profaned - all done with our ity as a Russian faith, but do not know much about
Everything in Russia is either as the Ambassador’s diary. This ropean clothes. Such disrespect called a “foundling class,"a kind own hands and not anybody Jesus Christ, our Christian brothers and sisters
bad or wrong – dreadful roads, “diary” went into wide circula- for the Orthodox tradition of of cuckoo’s nestling planted in else’s. Remember Lenin’s fa- around the world or the Church's basic doctrine.
endemic alcoholism and idle- tion throughout Europe. Why? that time censured a shaved a songbird’s nest. It was this mous statement, “Russia is the Others see no contradiction between declaring
ness, corruption and pilfering, Because those countries saw a chin as something devilish and group that first propagated prison house of nations." themselves Orthodox, going every once in a while
mud and poor sanitation, and new power rising in the East notoriously Western.... The Em- those unfortunate myths about In the late 1980s, the onset to a church to light a candle and, at the same time,
an inherent lack of democratic and, to quote Prince Golitsyn, peror’s interference triggered a Russia, as if disassociating them- of perestroika brought a fresh reading horoscopes or keeping a lover. There are
culture, deriving from an age- they hastened to scorn us as profound schism within the selves from its “abject people." wave of myths about Russia quite a few whose Orthodoxy equals national-
long tradition of despotism. To barbarians. Church. In fact, the nation was Their modern followers are our that washed away whatever ism and those who see the Orthodox Church
substantiate the myth of “the split into two subcultures, if not new oligarchs, splashing money was good in our history, ex- as a medieval force isolating Russia. Alas, only
Russian threat,” Russians are pre- Maybe the essence of the prob- two separate nations: Peter or- about in the West, and new posing only vices.... I am sure a small percentage in cities and even fewer in
sented as intrinsically aggressive. lem was not people plotting dered half of the people to be liberals decrying “unwashed that if we do not squeeze out small towns actually go to church, confession and
All these myths began to emerge against Peter’s Russia. You European, while the other half Russia” at every international the poison of dirty myths, they communion, which are at the core of Orthodox
when Russia came to the fore have advanced a profound the- remained in a primordial conference. will be passed on to future gen- Christianity.
as an increasingly important ory, which suggests the rea- state. erations.
-
These millions of stories, both told and untold, are
actor in European and global son was closer to home. Your And what about so-called So- diverse, but often have someone in common: a
politics - in the 18th century, at conception makes much more By saying that, you prove that viet unity? Whatever we make This discussion will be con- grandmother, or a nanny, or another often distant
the time of Peter the Great and sense: Russians themselves making Russians into Europe- of the communist experiment tinued in forthcoming editions person who managed to keep the faith through the
the rise of the Russian Empire. have adopted those Western ans brought progress, taking in our country, it was an attempt of Russia Now. We would Soviet period. There were painful identity searches
myths. Russia out of its primordial sit- to “unite people” on an entirely be happy to hear from you: and the occasional awe before the beauty of
Are you saying that the Cold I am afraid that, to some ex- uation. But it’s still not clear on new basis. what are your perceptions Orthodox ritual and art — very often without any
War with Russia began during tent, it was an outcome of Pe- what grounds these Russian Yet the cultural gap only wid- of Russia and Russians? Do understanding of its meaning. We all recognized
Peter The Great’s rule? Isn’t that ter’s reforms - for example, his myths appeared. ened. Bolsheviks cast off all the these stereotypes correspond the churches as the prettiest buildings with domes
quite an extreme view? famous decree to have beards When a national body is split, achievements of Tsarist Russia. with reality? in town, mostly destroyed and rebuilt in the recent
years amidst the ugly monotonous concrete blocks.
There has also been major disappointment with
the government and political institutions, placing the
Church as a beacon of hope and an object of trust.
Media President gives a positive signal to opposition press
lem is bigger. It’s a symptom The church offered a new certainty in the chang-
of the state.” ing world. The institution remained constant over
Medvedev Admits that
The paper’s journalists shud- centuries and even millenia. Yet there is also
der at the moral burden carried a lack of knowledge about the Church and
by an editor who sends a re- its teaching, as well as a number of supersti-
Journalists Need Protection
porter on a dangerous assign- tions. There is the uncomfortable realization that,
ment. There is no consensus on once you finally join the Church, you'd have to
the right choice, but, privately, change your life. So it's easier to hang around
journalists choose perseverance. maintaining a sense of belonging, but not strain-
The tiny office of the paper’s ing oneself too much.
ings, one option is for journalists investigative department, where At the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, getting bap-
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
to arm themselves. This was pro- Politkovskaya used to sit, still has tized suddenly became fashionable and soci-
“I don’t know which of the pres- posed last week by one of the her books and calendars. ety at large had mythical expectations that the
idents is right,” Muratov wrote. paper’s shareholders, billionaire Her desk is now occupied by crippled Church would overnight instill morality
“Perhaps both, perhaps only and former State Duma depu- Dmitry Shkrylyov. and morale among the divided nation in crisis.
one of them.” ILIA PITALEV_RIA-NOVOSTI ty Alexander Lebedev. Most “We decided we would con- The Church, in turn, began licking its wounds and
In a corner of the office’s con- didn’t take to the idea. tinue because it was Anna who saw the opportunity to rebuild its infrastructure,
ference room hang photos of “Of course I’m against it,” brought us here in the first banking on its status as a national symbol and
those journalists who died in Yaroshevsky said, citing charters place,” says Shkrylyov’s wife and the state's willingness to repent for its past sins.
the line of duty. that forbid reporters to bear colleague, Daria Pylnova. Let- The late Patriarch Alexy II left the church incom-
Igor Domnikov, who report- arms. But Nadezhda Prusenko- ters still pile up from people parably stronger than he received it in 1990,
ed on corruption, was beaten va, responsible for public rela- seeking help, and, rather than and now secularist concerns about its clout are
to death outside his home in tions, sees self defense as a turning the area into a shrine growing increasingly vocal. But although the pro-
2000. Editor and former State much wider issue. or museum, colleagues opted gram of rebuilding the symbol has been fulfilled,
Duma deputy Yury Shcheko- Murdered journalist Anna Politkovskaya, known for her fearless “Statistics say that weapons to continue where Politkovska- the goal of changing society has not. If the vener-
chikhin died in 2003 in mys- reporting on human rights abuses, is mourned by the public help an assault victim survive ya left off. Like several of her able institution wants to be relevant, if it wants
terious circumstances, of aller- in five to seven percent of colleagues, Pylnova sees hope to narrow the gap between the two-thirds of
gy-like symptoms that cases,” she said. “Our own cor- in the president’s high-profile nominal Orthodox Christians and single percent-
colleagues attributed to poison- Markelov - a lawyer who the hit are still at large, Yaro- respondent in Sochi, Sergei interest in the paper. age points of practicing ones, much needs to be
ing. Politkovskaya, who wrote worked for the paper with cli- shevsky says, as are all those Zolovkin, was attacked by a hit- “That plant by the window done in the field of mission, education and social
about human rights abuses by ents including Chechens and involved in the other mur- man. He drew his gun and the - it was Anna’s,” Pylnova said. ministry.
federal and local forces in environmentalists - and Babu- ders. hitman ran away. If there is a “After her death, it started with- This is the mandate of the newly elected Patri-
Chechnya and ran a virtual help rova. To date, only the mur- If law enforcement isn’t ef- chance to save lives, we should ering. But now it’s come back arch Kirill — the Church's most outspoken and
center out of her office, was derers of Domnikov are behind fectively apprehending the kill- do it. It’s more than just pro- to life, and there are new dynamic leader. His ministry must reach out as
shot in 2006. Now, it was bars. But those who ordered ers and preventing other slay- tecting journalists. The prob- branches.”
-
my nanny did, all those years ago.
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