Transcript Russian Culture

Russian Culture
Cuisine
Theatre
Literature
Humor
Music
Famous Russians
Cuisine
Basics
 Russian cuisine has a rich
and diverse history
 Includes a wide variety of
soups and fish dishes
 Mushrooms, vegetables,
and fruit play a greater
role than meat does
 Primordial Russian
products such as caviar
and buckwheat have had a
profound world influence
Cuisine
Okroshka
 Okroshka is a cold




Russian soup
It usually has meat or fish
in it
Always has two
vegetables
Is eaten as an appetizer
Russians keep ice on hand
to keep it cold
Cuisine
Shchi
 Shchi is also known as




cabbage soup
Has been the main
Russian first course for a
millennia
Consists of cabbage, meat,
carrots, herbs, sour
components, etc
In cooking it is stewed on
the stove
It is eaten regularly over
the course of the year
Cuisine
Entrees
 Golubtsy consists of
stuffed cabbage rolls in
cream sauce
 Stuffed with beef, rice,
tomatoes, etc
 Pelmini is a Siberian meat
dumpling
 Filling is mainly of beef
chuck and pork fat
Cinema
Basics




Russian cinema came into
prominence in the 1920’s
In the beginning Russian
film’s were predominantly
propaganda types
Up through the early 1960s
film was quite censored
Finally in the 1980s
censorship was relieved and
touchy issues could be
talked about openly
Cinema
Early Films



Sergei Eisenstein was a
famous director in the
Stalinist era
Some of his greater films
include Aleksandr Nevsky
and Ivan Grozny
In the 1950s and 60s
Ballada o Soldate and
Letyat Juravli claimed
increasing renown
Cinema
Modern Films




The collapse of the Soviet
Union brought a virtual end
to Russian cinema and
literature
Very few noteworthy films
were made for over a
decade
Russian cinema now centers
on profit making
Low quality action, comedy,
and pornography features
prevail
Cinema
Russian Ark



In 2002, Aleksandr Sokurov
filmed Russian Ark
It was the world's first
unedited feature film:
recorded in uncompressed
high definition, shot in a
single take and featuring the
world's longest steadicam
shot
Russian Ark has been
critically acclaimed around
the world
Literature
Basics



Refers to true
Russian literature,
or that of émigrés
Émigrés were
white Russians
who fled after the
Bolshevik
Revolution
Some literature
comes from
countries that were
once part of Russia
or the Soviet Union
Literature
Soviet Era




Sovietization of Russia
affected her literature after
1917.
Maxim Gorky, Mikhail
Sholokhov, and Valentin
Kataev were prominent writers
of this period
Socialist Realism was the only
official writing style supported
by the Union
Classical Russian style
literature had to be secretly
written
Literature
Modern



Modern Russian literature
currently is suffering through a
difficult period, for few writers
rise above the mass pulp
fiction
Detective stories and thrillers
are very popular genres in
Russia
Generations of Winter (about a
family struggling in the Stalin
Era) by the Russian writer
Vasily Aksyonov has been
critically acclaimed and gained
popularity in the US
Humor
Basics



Russian humor exhibits
much wit and flexibility due
to the richness of the
Russian language
Like other nations, Russia’s
humor includes political
satire, lewd jokes,
wordplay, toasts, and
anecdote
Russia also has it
Chastuskas which are
usually humorous Russian
poetry
(Russian Big Mac)
Humor
Satire




Russian humor expresses
human spirit
Even under communist
oppression, humor
flourished as a way to
counter and ridicule the
elite
In the 70s and 80s satirical
political wit addressed
social shortcomings
In the 90s Russia began to
lament the decline of humor
as a symptom of
Westernization
Humor
Chastushkas





Chastushka are a type of
traditional Russian poetry
They us an “abab” or
“abcb” rhyme scheme
Chastushkas are often put to
music as well, usually with
a balalaika or accordion
The rigid, short structure
parallels limericks in British
culture
The name chastushka
originates from a Russian
word meaning “speak fast”
Music
Basics

Russia is a large and
extremely diverse country,
with dozens of ethnic
groups, each with their own
forms of folk music
 During the period of Soviet
domination, music was
highly scrutinized and kept
within certain boundaries of
content and innovation
 After the fall of the USSR,
western-style rock and pop
music became the most
popular musical forms in
Russia
Music
Classical

Russia has a long history of
classical music innovation
 The first major Russian
composer was Mikhail
Glinka
 He added folk and religious
elements to classical
compositions
Music
Soviet Era




In the 1910s, romances
became very popular
This period saw the birth of
Russian rock with the band
Pojuschie Gitary
With Sovietism came
samizdat, a grassroots
strategy to sidestep imposed
censorship
Bulat Okudzhava and
Vladmir Vysotskiy gained
black market fame playing
jazz and rock music
Famous Russians
Basics




For a long time Russia has been a multinational country, and
many people of different nationalities contributed to its culture
They may be ethnic Georgians (like Stalin), Jews (like
Trotsky), Poles (like Vaslay Nijinsky), Tatars (like Rudolf
Nureyev), Ukrainians (like Nikolai Gogol), Germans (like
Catherine the Great
Sometimes we don't know their exact ancestry, for their formal
nationality was written down at random or for political or
other reasons
They may have emigrated or immigrated, and thus may appear
in other "Lists of...", but nevertheless their names are linked to
the words “Russia” and “Russian”
Famous Russians
Konstantin Thon



Konstantin Thon was an official
architect of Imperial Russia
during the reign of Nicholas I
His major works include the
Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the
Grand Kremlin Palace and the
Armory in Moscow
Konstantin was a master of
Byzantine Revival and NeoByzantine architectural styles
Famous Russians
Igor Stravinsky





Igor Stravinsky was RussianAmerican composer of modern
classical music
He wrote works in the neoclassical and serialist styles
Stravinsky also wrote in a broad
spectrum of ensemble
combinations and classical forms
Stravinsky was one of the most
authoritative composers in 20th
century music, both in the West
and in his native land
He was named by Time magazine
as one of the most influential
people of the century
Famous Russians
Anna Kournikova




Anna Kournikova sports
personality who achieved fame
first as a tennis player
She was born in Moscow, Russia
but currently lives in Miami,
Florida, in the United States
She set her mark after she became
a professional player. Kournikova
debuted at age 14 in the Fed Cup
for Russia, still the youngest
player ever participating
Her serve was notably weak for a
top-level tennis player but her
variety of shots delighted the pure
tennis fan
Famous Russians
Grigori Rasputin




Grigori Rasputin was a Russian
mystic with an influence in the
later days of Russia's Romanov
dynasty
Rasputin was also known as the
Mad Monk, although he was not
actually a monk, but a religious
pilgrim
He was believed to have been a
psychic and faith healer. He can
be considered one of the more
controversial characters in 20th
century history
He played a small but extremely
pivotal role in the downfall of the
Romanov dynasty that finally led
to Bolshevik victory and the
establishment of the Soviet Union
Famous Russians
Aleksandr Pushkin



Aleksandr Pushkin was a Russian
author, whom many consider the
greatest Russian poet and the
founder of modern Russian
literature
Pushkin pioneered the use of
vernacular speech in his poems
and plays, creating a style of
storytelling -- mixing drama,
romance and satire
Pushkin's work shows the
influence, among others, of the
satire of Voltaire, of the poetry of
Lord Byron and of the tragedies
of Shakespeare
Famous Russians
Vladimir Lenin
•
•
•
•
Vladimir Lenin was a Russian
revolutionary, the leader of the
Bolshevik party and the founder
of the ideology of Leninism
Rather than settle into a legal
career, he became more involved
in revolutionary propaganda
efforts and the study of Marxism
On November 8, Lenin was
elected as Chairman of the
Council of People's Commissars
by the Russian Soviet Congress
Lenin was shot twice in an
attempted assassination in 1918
Famous Russians
Andrei Rublev
•
•
•
•
•
Andrei Rublev is considered to be
the greatest Russian iconographer
There is little information about
his life, but Andrei Rublev
probably lived in the TroitseSergiyeva Lavra
He decorated icons and frescos
for the Cathedral of the Dormition
of the Moscow Kremlin
The only work authenticated as
entirely his is the icon of the Old
Testament Trinity (pictured)
He was canonized in 1988. The
church celebrates his memory on
July 4
Back to Home