Rus, Russia, and Ukraine in Alternative Slavic Fantasy by English-Language Writers

Alternative Slavic fantasy is defined here as fantastika (speculative fiction) created by English-language writers on the basis of real or assumed Slavic folklore, separate from Slavic fantasy per se. The focus of the current paper is the logic of interaction between Slavic folk plots and characters with Russian and Ukrainian history. The first part addresses Medieval Rus in Peter Morwood’s and Katherine Arden’s trilogies. The second part, which addresses Russia and Ukraine in the 19th-20th centuries will be published in the next issue of the journal.Alternativna slovanska fantazija je tu opredeljena kot fantastika (spekulativna fikcija), ki so jo avtorji angleškega jezika ustvarili na podlagi resnične ali domnevne slovanske folklore, ločene od slovanske fantazije same po sebi. V prispevku je poudarek na logiki interakcije med slovanskimi ljudskimi zapleti in liki z rusko in ukrajinsko zgodovino. Prvi del govori o srednjeveški Rusi v trilogijah Petra Morwooda in Katherine Arden. Drugi del, ki govori o Rusiji in Ukrajini v 19. in 20. stoletju, bo objavljen v naslednji številki revije

Rus, Russia and Ukraine between Fairy Tales and History: Alternative Slavic Fantasy by English-Language Writers: Part Two: Modern Russia and Ukraine in the 19th and 20th centuries

This is the second part of the paper (for introduction and the first part which addresses Medieval Rus in Peter Morwood’s and Katherine Arden’s trilogies see Studia Mythologica Slavica 24 (2021): 13–32). Alternative Slavic fantasy is defined as fantastika (speculative fiction) created by English-language writers on the basis of real or assumed Slavic folklore, separate from Slavic fantasy per se. The focus of the current part is the logic of interaction between Slavic and/or quasi-Slavic folk plots and characters with Russian and Ukrainian history of the 19th–20th centuries in Evelin Skye’s dilogy and Catherynne Valente’s and Orson Scott Card’s novels.Prispevek je drugi del prispevka; uvod in prvi del je objavljen v Studii Mythologici Slavici 24 (2021): 13–32). Alternativna slovanska fantazija je opredeljena kot fantastika (spekulativna fikcija), ki so jo ustvarili angleškojezični pisci na podlagi resnične ali domnevne slovanske folklore, vendar ločeno od slovanske fantazije kot take. V središču pričujočega dela je logika interakcije med slovanskimi in/ali kvazislovanskimi ljudskimi zapleti in liki z rusko in ukrajinsko zgodovino 19.–20. stoletja v dilogiji Evelin Skye ter romanih Catherynne Valente in Orsona Scotta Carda

Haya Bar-Itzhak

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M. Bulgakov, A. Akhmatova and N. Gumilev as Literary Characters in Contemporary Russian Fantastic Fiction

This paper discusses a new tendency in contemporary Russian fantastic fiction: the transformation of the personalities of Russian writers and poets into literary characters. The analysis shows similar patterns of fantastic transformation in Bulgakov, Akhmatova and Gumilev. These patterns include the use of the biographic and auto-biographic myths about them, the transformation of their writings into storages of compositional devices, plots, motifs and characters, which are freely manipulated and projected onto their authors’ lives. Becoming literary characters, they often continue to write fiction or poetry. The newly created texts may enter into discussions with the texts-prototypes, confirming, contesting and/or recreating them

The Crisis in Ukraine and the Split of Identity in the Russian-speaking World

The events of 2014 in Ukraine triggered a wave of discussions and narratives rewriting history and reexamining allegiances and cultural affinities. Material for the study was drawn from Facebook, blogs and internet discussion forums, folk humor disseminated online, personal correspondence and participant observation. This essay discusses how opinions are formed in the diaspora and how they are affected by different sources of information. The attitude to events in Ukraine has turned into a litmus test in personal relations, sometimes leading to a break up of friendships and family relations. Our analyses will disclose ambivalences in the perception of Ukrainian crisis in the diaspora. Those who support Ukraine do not necessarily come from that country or have cultural affinities with it and not all Ukrainian supporters identify with democratic values. Critics of the current Ukrainian government do not always support the actions of Putin’s Russia. Among them there are also people from Ukraine and able to speak Ukrainian. Like many political conflicts this one fueled nationalism not only in the participating countries but also in the Russian-speaking diaspora

SOVJETSKA DIJASPORA U NASTAJANJU: SUSRETI U KIBERPROSTORU

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has become a vital part of everyday life. The emphasis in CMC investigation is on the globalizing nature of the Internet, while its localizing role as the meeting place of dispersed communities has not been sufficiently researched. Defining diasporas, scholars indicate the importance of their symbolic dimensions and the ethnic group consciousness. In the case of former Soviets, however, the latter is less important than common language and culture. We discuss institutional and grassroots sites that function as a cyber extension of the real-life diaspora of former Soviets.U tekstu se analiziraju internetske stranice stvorene za ruske govornike koji borave izvan Ruske Federacije. Građa je prikupljena s internetskih stranica koje održavaju različite vladine institucije i nevladine organizacije u Rusiji kao i s internetskih stranica koje su pokrenuli bivši sovjetski emigranti nastanjeni u različitim zemljama. U radu se uspoređuje struktura dijasporičkih internetskih stranica i informacija koje oni donose, kao i intenzitet s kojim korisnici sudjeluju u virtualnim diskusijama. Uočene su tri tendencije u virtualnim dijasporičnim aktivnostima bivših Sovjeta. Kao prvo, riječ je o pokušaju da se na internetu ponovno stvori Sovjetski Savez, koji bi ujedinio svoje bivše građane svojim političkim i ideološkim simbolima. Slabi odaziv posjetitelja upućuje na bezuspješnost tog projekta. Drugo, službena Rusija nastoji konsolidirati dijasporu kojoj bi pripadali svi bivši Sovjeti. To se nastojanje manifestira u popularizaciji različitih programa znanstvene i kulturne suradnje putem interneta, stvaranju baze podataka o literaturi posvećenoj Rusima u inozemstvu, konzultacijama među ruskim građanima koji borave izvan Rusije o različitim pravnim pitanjima, itd. Unatoč tim naporima aktivnost publike kojoj su te informacije namijenjene ostaje niskom. Konačno, internetske stranice koje nastaju "odozdo" i održavaju se kao osobne ili zajedničke internetske stranice privlače puno više posjetitelja i aktivnih sudionika nego institucionalne internetske stranice. Oni pokazuju da svi bivši Sovjeti koji sudjeluju u aktivnostima na tim internetskim stranicama ne pripadaju dijaspori. Neki od njih žele održati veze sa "starom domovinom", no to ne pretpostavlja lojalnost Ruskoj Federaciji, a diskurs o povratku u domovinu tek je marginalan. Druge internetske stranice su više orijentirane na uspješnu integraciju u zemlji imigracije. No i one odražavaju napore imigranata da reproduciraju poznate institucije, kulturne prakse i lojalnost prema ruskom jeziku