„Slavica Revalensia”: Указатель содержания (2014—2023) [_Slavica Revalensia_: An Index to Past Volumes (2014—2023)]

What awaits the reader in this section is an index to the content of Slavica Revalensia, the multilingual journal in Russian and Slavic Studies published since 2014 by Tallinn University Press.KEYWORDS: Tallinn University, Slavica Revalensia, Index

Shopping with Allah: Muslim Pilgrimage, Gender, and Consumption in a Globalized World

Book review:  Shopping with Allah: Muslim Pilgrimage, Gender, and Consumption in a Globalized World by Viola Thimm, 2023, University College London Press

Small States in Great Powers’ Geopolitics: Armenia’s Role in the US Policy on the South Caucasus

The paper examines the geopolitical importance of small states for great powers. The study focuses on the role and significance of Armenia – a small, landlocked state – through the evolution of American regional policy in the South Caucasus region.Recognising the limited capability of small states, the paper argues that the geostrategic location enhances the small state’s importance to great powers, thereby strengthening the position of the small state in the international system. The article concludes that despite geographical isolation, economic weakness, and scarcity of human and natural resources, Armenia is an important country for US national interests. The US interest in Armenia is due to its important geopolitical location at the crossroads of rival geopolitical interests, a number of US strategic priorities in the South Caucasus, Eurasia, and the Middle East as well as Armenia’s proximity to energy resources in the Caspian region and other strategically important countries in the region. Another significant factor of the US interest in Armenia is the Armenian-American diaspora community, which projects a certain influence on US domestic policy and US policy in the South Caucasus.Keywords: small states, geopolitical importance, foreign policy, Armenia, United States

New Era of Uncertainties: How US Foreign Aid Works in Times of War

Russia’s full-scale military aggression against Ukraine in February 2022 has brought immense damage to the people of Ukraine and Europe, their critical resources and infrastructure, and the whole idea of sustaining peace based on democratic principles. Rebuilding peace and democracy in this challenging time requires a lot of effort; foreign aid serves as the instrument for achieving this goal. It is noteworthy that since the invasion in 2022, Ukraine has become the top European recipient of US Foreign aid for the first time since World War II. This article examines the foreign aid relationship between the US and Ukraine in the years 2022 and 2023 and suggests that foreign aid is an important foreign policy tool despite certain criticisms regarding the effectiveness of the aid, its oversight mechanisms, and the diverse range of critical approaches, which argue that aid is perceived as a capitalist instrument serving the interests of a strong capitalist West rather than those of developing countries. Contrary to criticism, this article suggests that US aid to Ukraine in this difficult time is important in illustrating that democracy can survive in the global arena, undermining Russia’s future aspirations of attacking others, and supporting a secure environment for cooperation among states. Th is article studies the determinants of US foreign aid from the perspective of the donor and the recipient country, as a two-way and complex process, through the prism of liberalism. Based on the liberal tradition, we can assume that US assistance in Ukraine is focused on aiding Ukraine in countering authoritarian Russia and safeguarding democratic principles but is also influenced by the recipient’s commitment to liberal values, including the promotion of peace, a robust economy, and a thriving democracy. Keywords: foreign aid, US-Ukraine aid relations, US strategic interests, recipient influence on donor decisions, Russia-Ukraine conflict, liberalism

Positioning Post-Soviet Sociology in Global Sociology: Between the Global South and the Global North

Sociology in today's world often seeks to internationalise research and globalise problem solving. However, the so-called ‘global sociology’ is far away from being actually global as it involves in the discussion only specific regions and communities. The voice of other regions, as a rule, is not heard in the established system of connections and positions, and the regions themselves act as passive objects of (re)positioning, which is determined by the needs of specific research carried out by the nominally ‘global’ sociological community. The goal of the current study is to position one of the excluded sociological communities – post-soviet sociology – in global sociology using the North-South analytical framework that is frequently applied in discussions of global academic inequalities. The findings suggest that post-soviet sociology is positioned closer to the Global South, though significant country-based differences are observed. Post-soviet sociology functions as fragmented and disconnected, and this is facilitated by its orientation towards the ‘northern’ standards of knowledge production, which is professed even to the detriment of originality and independence

The Opium Business: A History of Crime and Capitalism in Maritime China

Book review:  The Opium Business: A History of Crime and Capitalism in Maritime China by Peter Thilly, 2022, Stanford University Press

Литературная распря в «Капитанской дочке»: Из материалов для комментария (43) [The Literary Dispute in _The Captain’s Daughter_ (Notes and Queries, 43)]

This article examines a scene in Pushkin’s novel where the protagonist, Pyotr Grinev, shares his poetry, prompting a mocking response from the antagonist, Alexei Shvabrin. The rivalry reflects the literary feud between 18th-century authors Trediakovsky and Sumarokov. The scene’s narrative mode intertwines surface text with allusive layers, causing Grinev’s verses to shift between the semantic fields of the two poets. This interplay undercuts both poetic schools' values. Key to understanding this scene is Pushkin’s unfinished Journey from Moscow to Petersburg, which revises the legacy of Russian eighteenth-century rhymed poetry and prefigures a shift toward blank verse. KEYWORDS: Lazar Fleishman at 80, 19th-Century Russian Literature, Alexander Pushkin (1799—1837), The Captain’s Daughter, The Journey from Moscow to Petersburg, Literary Feud, Surface Text and Its Allusive Layers, History of Literature

„Tagurpidi” mitut pidi: õpetlik, sürrealistlik, postmodernistlik [Instructive, surrealist, postmodernist: considering the aspects of the comic book “Tagurpidi”]

Ülevaade. Artikkel käsitleb Priit Pärna raamatut „Tagurpidi” (1980), menukat lastekirjandusteost, milles sõnaline komponent on mänguliselt põimitud mitmekihilise ja põneva visuaalse lahendusega. „Tagurpidi” on ilmunud kuues keeles ja Eestis endiselt kordustrükina saadaval, kuid seni pole seda kuigi põhjalikult analüüsitud. Siinne artikkel kirjeldab kõigepealt teose saamisluguajastu kontekstis, pöörates tähelepanu raamatu seostele selle autori peamiseks tegevusalaks peetava animafilmiga ning osutades, et lastele suunatud pildiraamat võis olla arvestatav eraldiseisev loominguline väljund. Järgmisena iseloomustatakse raamatu süžeed ehk peategelase Antsu rännakut Tagurpidiantslasse, muinasjutumaailma, kus on kindel vaid see, et tavapärased normid ja reeglid ei kehti. Raamat kujutab seda mittetavapärasust sihiteadlikult didaktiliselt, kaalutletult ja vaheldusrikkalt, seades vaatajate ette järjest piltmõistatusi ning mängides pildi ja tekstilise komponendi vahelistele ebakõladele. Seejärel keskendub analüüs teose visuaalsele poolele, kirjeldades piltides, kuid ka laiemas tervikus jälgitavaid vormivalikuid ja tasandeid: popilik väljenduslaad, teatav psühhedeelne mõõde, tugev sürrealismi, eriti Réne Magritte’i mõju ning ka teose üldisem postmodernistlik iseloom. Viimaks vaeb artikkel „Tagurpidi” ümber kujunenud nostalgilist diskursust, mida on eest vedanud seda lapsena lugenud kultuuritegelased ja -uurijad, kuid mis on kaldunud ehk pisut liialdama teosesse tagantjärele ideoloogilise lisamõõtme sisselugemisega.Võtmesõnad: eesti koomiks, eesti lastekirjandus, Priit Pärn, sürrealism, postmodernism, popkunst, hilisnõukogude perioodi kultuurSummary. The article discusses Priit Pärn’s book “Tagurpidi” (first edition: Tallinn: Kunst, 1980; a possible translation of the title would be “Topsy-turvy”), a popular work of Estonian children’s literature in which the verbal component is playfully intertwined with multi-layered and exciting visuals by making use of the medium-specific toolkit of comics. “Tagurpidi” has been translated into Finnish, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian (all published in 1989) as well as Spanish (2017). While the book has been available as a reissue in Estonia since 2005, and has prompted quite a bit of nostalgia-tinged discourse from its now-grown-up readers over the years, the article is the first attempt of academic analysis specifically dedicated to it.The initial subchapter gives an overview of how the book came to be, considering its original historical and sociopolitical context. Particular attention is paid to “Tagurpidi’s” links to its author’s activity in the field of drawn animation: while Pärn had a number of creative outlets, there is a tendency to regard animation as the most important one. Thus the discourse surrounding “Tagurpidi” has often presented the book as a reworking of a supposedly banned animation script from the late 1970s into something that could be released in the less controlled, marginal field of children’s literature. Upon closer inspection, this understanding appears to exaggerate matters, as the rough script drafts in question were never greenlighted by the Tallinnfilm studio’s drawn animation department Joonisfilm, and thus never made it out of the studio to the Soviet State Cinema Committee in Moscow, which held the actual power of censoring or banning films. On the other hand, it is important to assert that the book does have a fairly obvious connection with one of Pärn’s animated films, namely “Harjutusi iseseisvaks eluks” (“Some Exercises in Preparation for an Independent Life”, 1980): the book and the film have some overlapping themes and design similarities. It is also important to emphasize that at the  time, illustrating children’s picture books was a valid, attractive and well paid creative outlet in itself.The next subchapter discusses the contents of the book. The plot follows the main character, a little boy named Ants who dislikes conforming to common sense and practices, and tries to do the opposite at every opportunity. His concerned parents would like Ants to grow out of this phase and thus send him to visit his uncle in a fictional location named Tagurpidiantsla (approximately: Topsyturvyville), a fantasy environment where the only certainty is that conventional norms and rules do not apply. The book depicts the narrative environment in a considered, purposefully didactic, yet entertaining way, presenting the audience with a series of picture puzzles page after page, playing on the inconsistencies that emerge between the image and the textual component.The third subchapter is dedicated to the book’s illustrations, analysing the artistic choices and layers of meaning observed in particular images but also those emerging in the broader picture. There is a clear visual influence of pop art in the use of bright colours and collage, but the book also appears to have a certain psychedelic dimension. Surrealism, a phenomenon that was both highly popular yet officially still rather frowned upon in 1970s Estonia, is another strong influence. The book shows a particular fondness of Réne Magritte, with multiple references to his works, i.e. the character design of Ants’s uncle is linked to Magritte’s anonymous men in dark suits and bowler hats. Yet the overall nature of “Tagurpidi” also appears open to interpretation as a postmodernist work due to the characteristics of the narrative.The fourth subchapter of the article takes a look at the existing discourse about “Tagurpidi” in Estonia, shaped by cultural figures and literati who read the book as children, and influenced by nostalgic feelings as well as the so-called resistance discourse evident in much of the analysis of Estonia’s late-Soviet culture. The issue of whether these influences have led to a somewhat exaggerated reading of the book’s relatively faint ideological dimension emerges as a particular point to consider.Keywords: Estonian comics, Estonian children’s literature, Priit Pärn, surrealism,postmodernism, pop art, late Soviet cultur

Postmodernism siirdeajastu Eesti teatris [Postmodernism in the Estonian theatre in the transition period]

Ülevaade. Artikkel annab ülevaate postmodernistliku esteetika levikust eesti teatris siirdeajastul (1980. aastate lõpust kuni 21. sajandini). Sel perioodil avaldus postmodernism teatris nõrgemini kui teistes kunstides, piirdudes üksikute lavastajate ja teatritruppidega. Artiklis vaadeldakse postmodernismi perspektiivist lähemalt 1980. aastate lõpul tegutsenud lühiajalisi vabatruppe (Gregor, Ruto Killakund), 1992. aastal esimese Eesti erateatrina loodud Von Krahli teatrit ja selle juhi Peeter Jalaka loomingut ning riigiteatris tegutsenud Evald Hermaküla ja Mati Undi lavastusi. Postmodernistlik esteetika imbus eesti teatrisse 1990. aastatel ja hakkas teatripilti jõulisemalt mõjutama 21. sajandi alguses, kuid teatridiskursuses postmodernismi teooriad ei kinnistunud. Artiklis analüüsitakse eesti teatri postmodernismileiguse põhjusi ning selle mõiste kasutamist kirjeldusmudelina lääne teatris üldisemalt ja eesti teatridiskursuses.Võtmesõnad: postmodernism, eesti nüüdisteater, eesti teatridiskursus,Von Krahli teater, Peeter Jalakas, Evald Hermaküla, Mati UntSummary. The article gives an overview of the emergence of postmodern aesthetics in the Estonian theatre and the response it received in the theatre discourse during the transitional period. The postmodernisation of different arts occurred at various speeds and in a different scope. In the Estonian theatre, postmodernism was less pronounced than in other arts, being limited to individual directors and theatre groups. Postmodern aesthetics and the worldview that carried them permeated the Estonian theatre mainly through non-state theatre groups operating outside the state theatre system. The article first examines the short-lived theatre groups created in the late 1980s, such as Gregor and Ruto Killakund. It then focuses on the Von Krahl Theatre, founded in 1992 as the first Estonian private theatre, led by Peeter Jalakas. The article also analyses the postmodernist features of the productions of Mati Unt and Evald Hermaküla, directors who worked in state theatres.In general, postmodernism emerged in the Estonian theatre in the 1990s (although it did not become mainstream) and began to influence theatre aesthetics more strongly in the early 21st century. However, the theories of postmodernism did not take root in the theatre discourse. This developmental inertia is usually explained by the theatre’s institutionalism and the resulting dependence on audiences. The individual Estonian leading directors’ choices contributed to this, as well as a very weak conceptualisation of postmodernism in the theatre criticism of the time. The styles that were alternative to the mainstream were accepted in post-Soviet theatre discourse but were described as peripheral, largely because the private theatres of the 1990s were placed in the context of amateur theatre. The synchronic criticism constructed the theatrical canon based on state theatres, and therefore, postmodernist features in the Estonian transitional theatre have remained in the background.Keywords: postmodernism, Estonian contemporary theatre, Estonian theatre discourse, Von Krahl Theatre, Peeter Jalakas, Evald Hermaküla, Mati Un