Beyond the Limits: The Concept of Space in Russian History and Culture by Jeremy s> Smith (review)

Abstract

520 SEER, 79, 3, 200I Hungarians, and the Southern Slavs,discussedhere by AndrewWachtel.The evident need to know about the history and interaction of these diverse culturesjustifiesthe book. Evalina Kelbetcheva'sessay on Bulgaria('Between Apology and Denial: BulgarianCultureduringWorldWarI') can be assessed alongside studies of Romania (Maria Bucur, 'Romania: War, Occupation, Liberation')beforeveeringWestwith 'Occupation, Propaganda,and the Idea of Belgium' by Sophie de Shaepsdrijver, to France (Marc Ferro), Italy (Walter L. Adamson), and 'Popular Culture in Wartime Britain' by Jay Winter. This dense tangle of alliances and patriotisms is seen against the shiftingscenarioof war and new ideologies. The editorsdescribethis as 'afirst step in the direction of a synoptic culturalhistoryof Europe duringthe Great War'.It is a brave undertakingwith a long way to go. The least familiar material concerns Eastern Europe. Harold B. Segel on 'Culture in Poland during WorldWar I' brings home the effects of transient armies trampling indigenous identities. Steven Beller describes Austrian culture from the Vienna Secession to Karl Kraus's operetta 7The LastDaysof iVIankind.It was ambitious to discuss Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia as 'the South Slavic lands', when their cultural differences recently proved so incompatible. By contrast the thread of Jewish culture may been glimpsed stretchedthroughoutEasternEurope, seemingly caught in every conflict and disadvantagedby everyformof nationalism. Any specialistexpertreaderwill encounter unfamiliarnames here, whether painters,writersor political activists.The effectcan be overwhelmingbut the aim is worthwhile and the overall vision coherent enough to provide the readerwith the prospectof culturalhistorythat does not prioritizethe biggest and most powerful countries. Furthermore the notes are extensive and scholarly, giving references to sources which can then be pursued by the individualscholar. This is a problematic,usefuland ambitiousbook which willoffersomething to any scholarworkingin the fieldwhetherin literature,artor history.Whilst it can never hope to be complete or coherent in itself, it provides a multitude of leads to follow. Department ofFineArt JOHN MILNER University ofNewcastle uponTyne Smith,Jeremy (ed.). Beyond theLimits.TheConcept ofSpace inRussian Histog and Culture.Studia Historica, 62. Suomen Historiallinen Seura, Helsinki, 1999. 276 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Index. Price unknown. BEYOND THE LIMITS consists of the following chapters: Jeremy Smith, 'Introduction'; Sergei Medvedev, 'A General Theory of Russian Space: a Gay Science and a Rigorous Science'; Elena Hellberg-Hirn, 'Ambivalent Space: Expressions of Russian Identity'; Christer Pursiainen, 'Space, Time and the Russian Idea'; Paul Fryer, 'Heaven, Hell or ... Something in Between? Contrasting Russian Images of Siberia'; Katerina Gerasimova, 'The Soviet Communal Apartment'; Anna Rotkirch, 'Travelling Maidens and Men with Parallel Livres Journeys as Private Space during Late Socialism'; Pentti REVIEWS 52I Stranius 'SpaceinRussian(Soviet)Cinema:theAesthetics ofCensorship and theCaseof "TheMirror"'; TimoVihavainen,'FromGlobalism in Confinement to Egocentrism Unbound:the Spheresof the RussianIntelligentsia'; ArtoLuukkanen, 'Sacredand SecularSpaceIntertwined...A CaseStudy: The BilateralEcumenicalNegotiationsbetweenthe Evangelical Churchof FinlandandtheRussianOrthodoxChurch Spacefor"UsefulIdiots"and SincereKebisty'(sic); ChrisJ. Chulos,"'APlaceWithoutTaverns": Spacein thePeasant Afterlife'; JarmoEronen,'DistanceandLogistics asProblems TheirSovietSolutions'; RobertArgenbright, 'Spaceof Survival: the Soviet Evacuation of IndustryandPopulation in I94I'; JeremySmith,'Delimiting NationalSpace:theEthnographical Principle in theAdministrative Division oftheRSFSRandUSSR, i9 i8-1925'; andRichardStites,'Crowded on the EdgeofVastness: Observations onRussianSpaceandPlace'. The editorarguesthat'theconceptof Spaceis a subjectwhichis of great fascinationand importanceboth to Russiansthemselvesand to thosewho havesoughtto understand Russia.Andyet,thestudyof Spaceasa category in its own rightis in its infancyas faras the academicworldis concerned' (p. iI). This volume arose from an internationalseminaron the topic organized attheUniversity ofHelsinki in I998.Theseminar brought together scholarsfroma rangeof disciplines, andSmithsuggeststhatbecauseof the infancyof the topic, it was appropriate to adopta varietyof approaches. Moreover,'in orderto providethe widestpossiblescopeof discussion,no definition ofSpacewaslaiddown'(p. 12). Thechapters therefore differwithregardtothetypeofspacediscussed. On thelevelofpersonalspace,forexample,Rotkirch writesaboutbusiness trips andholidaysintheSouthassettingsforromanticadventures, whileStites,in hisentertaining analysis ofRussianworkplaces, showshowtheyaresimultaneously 'impregnable' (theentranceisroundtheback),'irregular' (laidoutina confusingand disorderedway), and 'domestic'(a place for personaland family-oriented chat). On the macro-level,Medvedevand Hellberg-Hirn generalizeaboutRussiaas a whole;indeed,basinghis arguments on postmodernistRussiantheorizing ,Medvedevattemptsto constructa theoryof Russianspace.He presents,asanappendix,'Russian Historyin 22 Periods', suggesting thatRussianhistoryhasalternated betweenperiodsof 'horizontal' (liberal) and'vertical' (repressive) culture.Forexample,theChurchofChrist the Saviour(vertical)was underStalinto have been replacedby Tatlin's Palace of Soviets (the ultimate in verticality), but under Khrushchev was actuallyreplaced by a (horizontal)swimmingpool. While this schematization of Russian historyis of questionablevalue, Medvedev does also suggestmany interesting ways of looking at Russia, such as seeing Russian space as a 'conglomeration of [cultural] peripheries' (p.17). Hellbirg-Hirn's chapter contraststhe expansive symbolsof Russian national...