Das Rußland zwischen den Zeilen. Die russische Emigrantenpresse im Frankreich der 1920er Jahre und ihre Bedeutung für die Genese der 'Zarubežnaja Rossija' by Claudia s> Weiss (review)

Abstract

344 SEER, 8i, 2, 2003 Kleimenova, however, makes little attempt at analysing this wealth of material in any original way. She has no interest in generalizing her findings from the perspective of a contemporary understanding of cultural, literary and socio-historical processes. Kleimenova's aim is simply to highlight OLRS's place in the progressivedevelopment of Russia'snational cultureand literature.Her purpose is not so much to understandand explain OLRS as a historical phenomenon but more to rebuild and exhibit it as a monumental structure(ofnames, factsand figures). Such an ambition would perhaps appear strangeif it were not for the fact that Kleimenova's 'monument' is being erected under the auspices of the reincarnated OLRS itself, an organization that (re-)emerged in Moscow in 1992, and in which Kleimenova occupies the important post of Academic Secretaryand the society'sofficialhistorian.In its 'impartial'fightfor 'healthy letters' (zdravaia slovesnost'), the new OLRS is consciously reviving the 'goodold ' traditionsand practices of its imperial ancestor.Meeting regularlyat the Tsvetaeva Museum, the revived society, headed by a number of eminent professors and academicians, discusses old and new problems of Russian language and literature,commemorates majorliteraryjubilees, exposes nonnormative language use in politics and the media, and, last but not least, activelyconstructsitsown distinguishedpast and identity. It would be unjust, however, to draw the conclusion that, in this context, Kleimenova's monograph represents little more than an 'official'history of the organization, on a par with, say, the much more modest surveyby N. M. Mendel'son published a century ago in the society's centenary volume, ObshchestvoLiubitelei Rossiiskoi Slovesnosti pri Moskovskom Universitete (I81 I-I91 I) - Istoricheskaia zapiska i materialy za stolet,Moscow, I91 I . By providing an impressivehistorical synthesisframed with a rigorous scholarly apparatus, Kleimenova's monograph offers an important and much needed contribution to research into the history of imperial Russia's academic and literary institutions. It is difficult, however, not to see the glaring parallels between institutional self-reflection characterizing the formation of the academic field in late imperial Russia, and very similarstrategiesnow taking place in processesof academic re-institutionalizationin post-Soviet Russia. Woifson College, Oxford ANDY BYFORD Weiss, Claudia. Das RuJ3land zwischen denZeilen.Die russische Emigrantenpresse im Frankreich derIs2oer Jahreundi/re Bedeutung fur dieGenese der'Zarubeznaja Rossia'. Hamburger Veroffentlichungen zur Geschichte Mittel- und Osteuropas, 7. Dolling und Galitz, Hamburg, 2000. 3I2pp. Notes. Tables. Figures.Bibliography.Index. C34.8o. CLAUDIA WEISS'S volume is an examination of the Russian emigre press in France during the I920S. Weiss contends that this little-researched topic is significant in determining the sense of collective identity that developed amongst Russian emigres which she refers to as 'Zarubezhnaia Rossiia' (ForeignRussia). According to Weiss, this term was firstintroduced into the newspaper language of the Russian emigration by the Russian daily REVIEWS 345 Vozrozhdenie, and can be interpreted as the expression of a community ('identitatsstiftende, imaginare Gemeinschaft', p. 267) that wished to be recognized as an autonomous, self-determiningentity. The volume opens with a detailed account of the historicalbackgroundto the Russian emigration in France. The existence of a Russia 'between the lines' ('RuBland zwischen den Zeilen') can be located in the emigre press, Weiss argues. In the second part of the book, she provides descriptionsof the journalists and their working environment, considers the press as a cultural forum, and discussesboth the political dimensions of the press and the extent to which it servedas an aid to the emigre community in its effortsto cope with dailylife in a foreigncountry. Having established the circumstances Weiss then turns, in the last part of the book, to the role of the press in developing a collective identity in the emigre community. The year I925 is determinedas a culminationpoint in the process of establishing 'Zarubezhnaia Rossiia'. According to Weiss, this is evident not only in a sharpincrease in the number of publications,but also in their change of perspective. Periodicals on economics, for example, were suddenly replaced by papers on religion and common interest topics. Weiss interprets this as indicative of a shared sense that the chances of returning home were diminishing,and thatthisrealizationpromptedan increasedfocus on the emigres' immediate situation and experiences. At the same time, a political shift took place in the community towardsmore conservative,rightwing...