Anyone familiar with the contemporary Russian humorous folklore (jokelore, or in Russian anekdoty) knows that one of the most popular series of such jokes revolves around the Chukchis, the native people of Chukotka, the most remote northeast corner of Russia. These jokes, especially popular in 1990s and 2000s, fit the international genre of ethnic stupidity jokes . . .
posted by jason's_planet
on Nov 10, 2012 -
17 comments
In the first years of the Fifteenth Century Henry III of Castile sent Ruy Gonzalez de Clavijo as his ambassador to Samarkand. His journey introduced him to
giraffes and many other sights unknown to Europeans of the time. Samarkand was then the center of the largest empire in the world, that of Tamerlane the Great (a.k.a Timur), the
last of the nomad conquerors. His capital began as a city of the
Sogdians, which became an important center of culture and trade, as is
recorded in these 7th Century wall paintings. Samarkand was refashioned by
Timur and his descendants, the most famous being
the astronomer Ulugh Beg, and the Timurid legacy
is still visible in Samarkand. After Timur's death, his empire disintegrated, and soon fell into decline, but left enough of a mark to inspire both
Christopher Marlowe and
Edgar Allan Poe. The Russian Empire conquered Samarkand in 1868, and the city was documented in the early 20th Century in
color photograhs by Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii (
this one's a favorite) and remained an out of the way place
in the Soviet era.
posted by Kattullus
on Oct 27, 2012 -
15 comments
Perry Anderson's book length three part series on the history of India from
the beginnings of its independence movement,
through independence and partition into
its recent history as a nation-state is the latest in a series of erudite, opinionated and wordy articles in The London Review of Books by the UCLA professor of history and sociology on the modern history of various countries, so far taking in Brazil, Italy, Turkey, Cyprus, the EU, Russia, Taiwan and France.
[more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on Aug 25, 2012 -
6 comments
Человек с киноаппаратом ("Man with a Movie Camera") is a classic experimental documentary film that was released in 1929. Directed by pioneer Soviet filmmaker
Dziga Vertov, this classic, silent documentary film has no story and no actors, and is actually three documentaries in one. Ostensibly it documents 24 hours of life in a single city in the Soviet Union. But it is also a documentary of the filming of that documentary and a depiction of an audience watching that documentary and their responses. "We see the cameraman and the editing of the film, but what we don't see is any of the film itself."
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Feb 13, 2012 -
26 comments
"Legendary" Russian movie studio
Mosfilm is posting some it's most famous films on its
youtube channel. They will be posting 5 new legendary Soviet films per week. They expect to have 200 uploaded by end of year. Most have English subtitles.
[more inside]
posted by spicynuts
on May 6, 2011 -
16 comments
Mapping Petersburg "..explores the everyday life and the material, political, and literary culture of St. Petersburg
[..] at the beginning of the twentieth century. It maps eleven itineraries through the city with the purpose of creating a palpable sense of life in Russia's late imperial capital on the eve of the 1917 revolution and during the subsequent decade." [
About] [
via]
[more inside]
posted by peacay
on Apr 6, 2011 -
8 comments
RussianFilter:
Historical Chronicles with
Nikolai Svanidze is an ongoing Russian television documentary series which, starting with 1901, picks out one person per year, every year, of the 100 years of the 20th century in Russia. It's entirely in Russian, of course, but for them as speaks it, it's one fascinating perspective on Russian history, with excellent narration, copious detail, and fascinating interconnections of events, people and places. All of the episodes that are available through Google Video and various other sources, and
[more inside]
posted by cthuljew
on Aug 30, 2010 -
8 comments
Kommunalka - communal apartments - were begun by the Bolsheviks in Russia at the end of the Russian Revolution to address overcrowding in cities - and also to
punish the bourgeoisie who had previously lived in comfort. Kommunalka were an enduring social experiment, where multiple families were assigned by the state to
live together in close quarters with no expectation of privacy. It was not uncommon for tenants to
spy on each other. Though communism ended in Russia almost two decades ago, Kommunalka
still exist today.
posted by contessa
on Jul 18, 2009 -
18 comments
It stands as one of the more unusual turning points of the Cold War, thanks mostly to the surprise appearance of several naked middle-aged women. Taking The Cure: How a group of British Columbian anarchists inspired democracy in Russia.
[more inside]
posted by amyms
on May 13, 2008 -
7 comments
Dead Road - Museum of Communism in the Open. "It was one of the most ambitious projects of the Stalin era, known as the
'railway of bones'. At least 10 people a day died during the four years of its construction [actually 1947-1953], but unlike most of Uncle Joe's grand designs it was never completed and now sits unfinished in the tundra, an icy road to nowhere." The
transpolar railway was built by labour camps
^ 501 and 503 and construction was stopped after the amnesty following Stalin's death in 1953; 800km, about half, was built. Some sections are currently in operation, but much is abandoned:
depot and locomotives in Dolgoe,
Dolgoe itself,
labour camps,
more spectacular decay. (Previously:
Norilsk, which was supposed to see an extension of the line.)
posted by parudox
on Aug 27, 2007 -
13 comments
Diary of a Collapsing Superpower - "Seventeen years ago, the Berlin Wall fell, and two years later the Soviet Union broke apart. More than 1,400 minutes published earlier this month in Russia from meetings that took place behind the closed doors of the Politburo in Moscow read like a thriller from the highest levels of the Kremlin. They reveal Mikhail Gorbachev as a party chief who had to fight bitterly for his reforms and ultimately lost his battle. But in doing so, he changed the course of history and helped bring an end to the Cold War."
posted by Gyan
on Nov 28, 2006 -
32 comments
Cosmos Patrol: Star Trek for Communists In the late 60s, the Soviets copied the TV show
Star Trek and used it as propaganda and entertainment. Set in the 23rd Century, the 400 galaxy-exploring crewmembers are led by a handsome Commander with a coldly logical First Officer. Ensign Chekhov assists as they encounter alien life forms and embrace them as brothers.
posted by stevis
on Jan 12, 2002 -
25 comments
Overview of CIA Support of bin Laden during Russia-Afghan War “[T]he CIA, concerned about the factionalism of Afghanistan ... found that Arab zealots who flocked to aid the Afghans were easier to ‘read’ than the rivalry-ridden natives. While the Arab volunteers might well prove troublesome later, the agency reasoned, they at least were one-dimensionally anti-Soviet for now. So bin Laden, [and other] Islamic militants ... became the ‘reliable’ partners of the CIA in its war against Moscow.”
Senator Orrin Hatch: “It was worth it ... Those were very important, pivotal matters that played an important role in the downfall of the Soviet Union.”
Dated: Aug. 24, 1998
posted by raaka
on Sep 11, 2001 -
15 comments
