What caused the emergence of nationalist movements in many post-communist states? What role did communist regimes play in fostering these movements? Why have some been more successful than others? To address these questions, Yitzhak Brudny traces the Russian nationalist movement from its origins within the Russian intellectual elite of the 1950s to its institutionalization in electoral alliances, parliamentary factions, and political movements of the early 1990s.
Brudny argues that the rise of the Russian nationalist movement was a combined result of the reinvention of Russian national identity by a group of intellectuals, and the Communist Party's active support of this reinvention in order to gain greater political legitimacy. The author meticulously reconstructs the development of the Russian nationalist thought from Khrushchev to Yeltsin, as well as the nature of the Communist Party response to Russian nationalist ideas. Through analysis of major Russian literary, political, and historical writings, the recently-published memoirs of the Russian nationalist intellectuals and Communist Party officials, and documents discovered in the Communist Party archives, Brudny sheds new light on social, intellectual, and political origins of Russian nationalism, and emphasizes the importance of ideas in explaining the fate of the Russian nationalist movement during late communist and early post-communist periods.
Industry Reviews
Mr. Brudny provides a salient background to understanding one of the great phenomena of post-1945 history: how Russians arrive at their view of the West. -- Ron Laurenzo Washington Times Brudny is a good guide to the origins of what probably lies ahead. -- Geoffrey A. Hosking Times Literary Supplement If readers think that today's anti-Western, antimarket, antisemitic variety of Russian nationalism is simply the fallout from the country's current misery, they should think again. With care and intelligence, Brudny traces its lineage back to the Khrushchev years. What began among the so-called village prose writers as a lament for a rural past ravaged by Stalin's experimentation gradually accumulated further grievances: the devastation of Russian culture and monuments, the infiltration of 'corrupting' Western values, and ultimately under Gorbechev the 'criminal' destruction of Russian power. Much of the book concentrates on how Khrushchev and Brezhnev tried--but ultimately failed--to harness this discontent for their own purposes. -- Robert Legvold Foreign Affairs Brudny's survey of relations between Russian nationalism and the Soviet state provides an in-depth insight into one of the most complicated aspects of the Soviet multi-national state. -- Taras Kuzio International Affairs A thought-provoking book. Virginia Quarterly Brudny shows that Russian cultural nationalism was a powerful force in the post-Stalin years, with ultimate political consequences. In meticulous detail Brudny sets out the various strains of Russian nationalism and points to the regime's encouragement of a certain kind of nationalism as a means of bolstering legitimacy through the 'politics of inclusion'...This volume is a significant contribution to the literature. -- R. J. Mitchell Choice In Reinventing Russia, situated at the intersection of culture (specifically the literature of the village prose movement) and politics, Brudny has managed admirably to draw out the wider implications of his inquiry and provided an extremely useful set of orientation points in the current, seemingly so chaotic, political debate in Russia. -- Hans J. Rindisbacher European Legacy Brudny's book paints a fascinating picture. It delineates a rich Soviet culture and society, one that is much more varied than has been previously depicted by most Western researchers. The overriding importance of the book derives from its argument that the post-Stalinist cultural debate in the Soviet Union is what created the infrastructure for the seemingly odd alliance between communist ideology and the nationalist intelligentsia--today's 'red-brown' alliance. It's a significant contribution to our understanding of the history of the nationalist idea...[Reinventing Russia provides] an enthralling overview of a historic development that has been neglected by most Western researchers...His book proves once more that anyone who seeks to understand developments in Eastern Europe cannot do so by merely analyzing the economic policy of the political maneuvers of the governing elite. -- Shlomo Avineri Ha'aretz Book Review The strength of Yitzhak M. Brudny's book, Reinventing Russia, is its explanation of how Russian Nationalists worked to advance their causes from the time of Stalin's death to the Soviet Union's demise. -- Cpt. Todd Laughman, USAF Military Review His analysis is enriched by Soviet archival materials recently made available; by examination of an immense range of published materials; and by interviews in Russia beginning in 1989. Consequently, the book will be very helpful for all concerned with the final decades of the Soviet system and its immediate aftermath in the Russian Republic. -- John A. Armstrong Journal of Modern History Yizhak Brudnyadds a new intellectual perspective to previous explications of Russian nationalism by illuminating the relationship between nationalist writers and the state. Unlike other scholars, who have analyzed Russian nationalism from an economic or sociological starting point, Brudny addresses his treatment on the idea that in communist societies the "politics of culture" achieves an unprecedented importance...Reinventing Russia breaks much new ground, transcending earlier studies and illuminating recent Russian political culture through the medium of intellectual history. -- Todd Lee History 19990901 In his excellent book Reinventing Russia: Russian Nationalism and the Soviet State, 1953-1991, historian Yitzhak Brudny demonstrates how post-Stalinist Soviet leaders used nationalism to fill the ideological gaps left by Marxism-Leninism, which was losing its power to inspire the population. -- Amy Knight Globe and Mail 20070616 In his excellent book Reinventing Russia: Russian Nationalism and the Soviet State, 1953-1991, historian Yitzhak Brudny demonstrates how post-Stalinist Soviet leaders used nationalism to fill the ideological gaps left by Marxism-Leninism, which was losing its power to inspire the population. -- Amy Knight Globe and Mail 20070616
