Aleksandr Nevskij: Heiliger—Fürst—Nationalheld. Ein Erinnerungsfigur im russischen kulturellen Gedächtnis (1263–2000). [Aleksandr Nevskii: Saint—Prince—National Hero. A Figure of Commemoration in Russian Cultural Memory (1263–2000)] (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by Viktor Zhivov Dept. of Slavic Languages and Literatures 6303 Dwinelle Hall #2979 University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA 94720-2979 USA zhiv@berkeley.edu Frithjof Benjamin Schenk, Aleksandr Nevskij: Heiliger—Fürst—Nationalheld. Ein Erinnerungsfigur im russischen kulturellen Gedächtnis (1263–2000). [Aleksandr Nevskii: Saint—Prince—National Hero. A Figure of Commemoration in Russian Cultural Memory (1263–2000)]. 548 pp. Köln: Böhlau, 2004. ISBN 3412069043. €68.90. Frithjof Schenk's book is one of the first efforts in our field of Slavic Studies to write a story of the reception and various discursive usages of one historical figure encompassing a very long period of time. The figure is Prince Aleksandr Nevskii and the span of time is over seven centuries. For studies of this type, the choice of figure is of crucial importance. Aleksandr Nevskii is, no doubt, a very good choice, because only a small number of Russian historical personages have so rich a pedigree of discursive manipulations. His image incorporated several discursive (or ideological) blocks, such as his sanctity, his role as a defender of the "Russian land," as a founder of the ruling dynasty, as a saintly warrior, as a national hero, and so on. Each of these hypostases came to the fore in different historical periods under different historical circumstances; one interpretation superceded another but did not obliterate the previous one completely so that, as a discursively constructed entity, Aleksandr Nevskii is a multilayered palimpsest. The goal of the book is to read this palimpsest one layer after another and to analyze the numerous shifts and displacements of meaning that characterized its creation. The composition of the book is neat and transparent, in perfect accordance with its scholarly purposes. The first, introductory chapter deals with theoretical issues, the structure of the book, and some technical problems. The second chapter also functions as background: it treats Aleksandr Nevskii's biography as such. After that, the chapters are ordered chronologically. The third chapter deals with the "sacralization" of Aleksandr in the 13th through 15th centuries. The fourth chapter describes the "Russification" of Aleksandr in the 15th through 17th centuries (the Moscow period). The fifth chapter analyzes the transformation of Aleksandr into an embodiment of the imperial state (Verstaatlichung) in the 18th century. The next, sixth chapter encompasses the long 19th century (up to the Revolution of 1917) and demonstrates how Aleksandr turned into a symbolic figure of Russian [End Page 661] nationalism. This prerevolutionary part takes up approximately one-half of the book. The next six chapters deal with the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. This part begins with the seventh chapter's description of the dethronement (Entthronung) of the saintly prince in the first two postrevolutionary decades (1917–37). Separate chapters are devoted to the return of Aleksandr to favor in 1937 ("Die Sowjetisierung Aleksanders: Das Jahr 1937") and to Eisenstein's film Alexander Nevsky (1938), proclaiming the new role of Aleksandr in the construction of Soviet patriotism ("Der Verfilmung Aleksanders"). The tenth chapter analyzes the recruitment ("Rekrutierung") of Aleksandr as part of the preparation for war and later war efforts (1939–45). Postwar developments until 1985 are concisely described in the 11th chapter under the title "Consolidation and Criticism" ("Konsolidierung und Kritik"). The last postrevolutionary chapter (the 12th) covers the years 1985–2000 and discusses the fate of the patriotic hero during the time of perestroika and post-Soviet reforms. The final chapter (the 13th) draws conclusions from the study as a whole. In the 14th section of the book, the reader finds the lists of sources and literature, the protocol of the Eisenstein film, and other documentary materials. The theoretical framework described in the first chapter is appropriate for the tasks of Schenk's study. National, regional, or confessional history constitutes a part of the collective...