Children of Mother Russia
| Introduction | People | Projects | Statistics |
What does ‘Russianness’ mean to ordinary Russians? Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, is jointly leading an exploration of the roots of contemporary Russian national identity through the personal life stories of individuals from a wide range of backgrounds.
While each individual has a different understanding of what it means to be Russian, Catriona Kelly, Professor of Russian, is already convinced of one thing: ‘National identity matters to all Russians’, she says. ‘Where they find that identity is widely debated.’ For some, reviving their Russian Orthodox faith is important; for many, the search for identity means restoring cultural traditions and buildings neglected under the modernising drive of the Soviet period. But extreme, xenophobic nationalism is regarded as a minority position.
The project, with funding from the AHRC, involves a core group of nine academics from Russia and Britain, and two graduate students. Subjects range from identity documents to food and hospitality, from institutions such as museums through monuments and local traditions. Migration has long been part of the Russian experience, and Professor Kelly’s colleague Dr Andy Byford is interviewing representatives of the 250–300,000 Russians now living in Britain, the vast majority of whom have arrived since the 1990s. In contrast, graduate student Victoria Donovan is exploring local identities and cultural memory in three medieval towns in north-west Russia.
The work will add to the Oxford Russian Life History Archive, a project associated with the European Humanities Research Centre, of which Professor Kelly is co-director.
