Innovation, Creativity and Culture: Third Annual Conference of the University Network of the European Capitals of Culture: Proceedings, Vilnius, Lithuania, 22nd-23rd October 2009

Innovation, Creativity and Culture: Third Annual Conference of the University Network of the European Capitals of Culture: Proceedings, Vilnius, Lithuania, 22nd-23rd October 200

Frontiers and limits of European culture

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A Country of Heroes? Belgium in Russian Propaganda during WWI... and After

The treacherous German invasion of Belgium and the heroic resistance by the Belgian king Albert, his army and subjects played a crucial role in the Russian war propaganda during WWI. German cruelties justified Belgian retaliations, and when these were slow in coming, imagination stepped in. Undaunted by any factual knowledge of Belgian politics, history, geography or military tactics, Russian novelists and poets adopted literary images derived from Maeterlinck, Verhaeren, Rodenbach or De Coster so as to instill Russian patriotism and indignation at German (cultural) barbarism. Soon enough, these images were adapted in paintings, war posters, propaganda films, sensationalist plays and pulp literature. These images were so strong that they even inspired real Russian politics: the tactics of inundation the Belgians used (with mixed results) convinced the Russian military to invite Belgian specialists to the Russian front; and when the negotiations over French arms for Russian troops started in 1915, the Russian government wanted to bring its troops under royal Belgian command, rather than under the republican French. The Russian image of Belgium created during the war would have an lasting impact: Russian émigrés after 1917 molded the image of king Albert after their late Emperor and wanted to believe that he would protect them (in vein). Soviet authors visiting Belgium only saw the country through the images of war. And Russia’s most popular Belgian novel – Charles De Coster’s Til Ulenshpigel (1867), about the civil war in the Low Countries in the 16th century – was first translated in… 1915 as part of the Russian propaganda war. In this case, as in others, suggestive ‘literary images’ were considered more appropriate and effective than cruel, factual representations.status: publishe

Zhizn' posle Tsaria: Russkie emigranty v Bel'gii, 1917-1945

После Октябрьской революции около десяти тысяч русских беженцев нашли приют в Бельгии. Бельгия благосклонно встретила русских, и их число неуклонно возрастало. Несмотря на пестроту политических симпатий и интересов диаспоры — от монархистских взглядов старшего поколения через пореволюционные движения у молодежи вплоть до консервативного конформизма, приведших часть диаспоры к сотрудничеству с нацистами, — все стороны эмигрантского быта были подчинены одной цели — освобождению родины от большевиков… Предлагаемое издание является первой монографией об истории русской эмиграции в Бельгии в межвоенный период. В книге на основе уникальных архивных документов рассмотрены многогранные и противоречивые взаимоотношения русской диаспоры со светскими и церковными властями новой страны пребывания, а также малоизвестные аспекты бельгийской истории.nrpages: 504status: publishe

“Fictional, but Truthful.” Nicolas Belina-Podgaetsky, a Soviet Journalist at the Service of Catholic Anti-Communism

Nicolas Belina-Podgaetsky (1896-1967) was the most prolific Russian émigré author in Belgium between the late 1930s and early 1950s. His memoirs, as well as numerous children books on the plight of Christians under Soviet rule apparently met the criteria for good Catholic, anti-communist literature and were published by Durendal, Casterman and Bonne Presse/Goede Pers (Averbode). As a typical convert, however, the former Soviet journalist Belina-Podgaetsky tried to emulate his new masters’ views and in doing so overstepped the mark. His autobiography was meticulously edited to obscure his Soviet (and atheist) past, while his fictional work contained so many ‘verifiable’ facts, that they became ‘True’ in a metaphysical and ideological sense. Notwithstanding the huge circulation and publicity his work never gained him the literary fame he craved. And despite his Russian and anti-communist profile, the Russian émigrés in Belgium never accepted him as one of their own. This article wants to explore how the life and work of a minor author as Belina-Podgaetsky’s not only reflected Catholic anti-communism in Belgium during that era, but also contributed to its creation.status: publishe

Interview met Wim Coudenys: Hoe Rusland in één jaar verandert van eeuwenoud tsarenrijk in een communistische dictatuur

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Глас вопиющей в литературной пустыне : 3. А. Шаховская и русская эмиграция в Бельгии

Coudenys Wim. Глас вопиющей в литературной пустыне : 3. А. Шаховская и русская эмиграция в Бельгии. In: Revue des études slaves, tome 73, fascicule 1, 2001. pp. 151-166

Quality assurance & accreditation

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Translators and the emergence of historiography in eighteenthcentury Russia

An important aspect of the modernisation of Russia in the 18th century was the creation of academic institutions that relied on European traditions of research and education. Translation was the main mechanism of the ‘transfer of knowledge’, as well as a scientific method. Translation, however, was not restricted to the mere translation of academic texts into Russian: it also played a crucial role in the development of the sciences themselves in Russia and facilitated the exchange of scientific and scholarly knowledge with Western Europe (the ‘circulation of knowledge’). History was one of the disciplines where translation was particularly crucial. This article studies in detail the dynamics of translation within 18th-century Russian historiography. Based on statistical data derived from the Slovar’ russkikh pisatelei XVIII veka and the Katalog lichnykh arkhivnykh fondov otechestvennykh istorikov XVIII v., the article draws some interesting conclusions with regard to the constantly changing relationship between translators and historians (who were not infrequently the same people). Most of the article (and its sequel in the next issue of QR) deals with the role of translation in the emergence of Russian history as an academic discipline. It developed from a tool used for political purposes under Peter I into a method for the study of historical sources. This development led to the establishment of historiography as a discipline that relied both on verifiable sources and followed the rhetorical logic of narrative texts. At the beginning of the 19th century, translation as a tool and a historical methodology lost its significance. What did remain was the profound tradition of reference to international knowledge. Later on, Russian historiography was considerably enriched by translations of historical works. This argument makes up the first part of the article.Одним из главных аспектов модернизации России в XVIII в. было создание академической науки. Европейский исследовательский опыт, сложившиеся научные школы были конструктивно восприняты в нарождающейся российской науке. Важным механизмом трансляции знаний и методов исследования был перевод. Однако перевод не ограничился простым «переложением» научных работ на русский язык, но играл решающую роль как в развитии самой науки в России, так и в обмене научными знаниями и опытом с Европой («циркуляция знаний»). Среди наук, которые особенно активно обращались к переводческой деятельности, оказалась историография. В статье подробно рассматриваются динамика переводческой деятельности и ее соотношение с потребностями исторической науки. На основании статистических данных, почерпнутых из «Словаря русских писателей XVIII в.», а также материалов «Каталога личных архивных фондов отечественных историков XVIII в. и первой половины XIX в.», автор делает интересные заключения о процессе взаимоотношений переводчиков и историков, иногда представленных одним лицом. В статье оценивается роль перевода в развитии российской исторической науки от цели распространения политической пропаганды при Петре I через задачу раскрытия исторических источников (в середине XVIII в.) до становления историографии как науки, опирающейся на источники, но в то же время соответствующей правилам нарратива (риторики). Сыграв свою конструктивную роль в формировании академической истории, в начале XIX в. перевод как историографический прием и метод отодвинулся на задний план. Но осталась глубокая традиция обращения к международному опыту, и в последующие времена российская историография многократно обогащалась переводами исторических штудий. В этом номере печатается первая часть статьи

Russische literatuur en oorlogspropaganda tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog. 'Antwerpen' van Aleksander Blok

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