Moscow and Petersburg: The City in Russian Culture by Ian K. s> Lilly (review)

Abstract

REVIEWS 10I literaturestudieson the other, the usefulnessof books such as this has grown. While the author's strong conviction that 'the Balkans' should be seen as a single cultural-political and therefore filmic area might be a matter for discussion,there can be no doubt that this volume fillsa gap. Dina Jordanova goes beyond the Yugoslav War in arguing for a Balkans cinema, but that conflict and the cinema surroundingit is clearly the impetus for the book to be understood in its title. This makes the treatment of those films very important.Disappointingly,shedoes not fullygrasptheproblemssurrounding Emir Kusturica'smajorfilm Underground. While there is a very interestingand importanttreatment of the film and of the controversythat surroundedit therewas a majorpublic debate in Franceconnected to itswinning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes FilmsFestival -in the end, thejudgement is uneven. On the issueof the filmaspropaganda,the author'sexculpatoryconclusion is that 'nobody cared much [. . .] the filmwas perceived [by critics]as a gargantuan [sic] metaphor of the messy state of Balkan affairs rather than as a finely crafted propagandistic insinuation that would work in favour of one of the warring sides ... .] In the minds of reviewers, these Balkan nations were all the same'. This conclusion, however, misses the point: that set of messages was exactlywhat the Belgradeleadershipwanted;in the contestforheartsand minds, a circus of confusion would mean no clear judgements and, it was hoped, no stronginternationalaction. However, in the widerdiscussion,there is a slightly awkward but still very useful 'moral' 'Question and Answer' section which discusses wider issues, such as the film's financing and production. Other chapters have thematic concerns including villains, women, Gypsies. These offeran approach that will make partsof the book of interest to those beyond the Balkans. Another chapter offers a strong consideration of approaches to Sarajevo. Earlier chapters engage with the very difficult topics of 'the Balkans' and 'culture'. These are important contributions to various broader debates, as well as to specific discussion of those topics:the book is both about a particulararea and the cultureclaimed for it and also about areas studies and cultural studies. This discussion which does not concur with my views entirely should be considered by all interestedin thesetopics. In the absence of otherbookson the topic, and given its quality and depth in many areas, it is a great source of information and analysis.It is a volume that anyone interestedin the cinema of the countries, culturesand peoples in South-EasternEuropewillfindnecessary,while others may find ideas and comparative material. King'sCollegeLondon JAMES Gow Lilly,Ian K. (ed.).Moscow andPetersburg. TheCityinRussianCulture. AstraPress, Nottingham, 2002. Vii+ 120 pp. Notes. Index. fi 6.oo (paperback). THE six articles in this collection are the product of presentations and discussions at the I999 and 2000 annual conventions of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. They explore aspects of what Kirill Postoutenko terms in his introduction 'a struggle about spaces' (p. 4). Whatevertheirfocus, nearlyallthe authorstouch on both Moscow and 102 SEER, 82, I, 2004 St Petersburg, on the grounds that neither city can be represented or contextualized without the other. Sara Dickinson shows how representations of Moscow in texts written during or close to Napoleon's occupation were filtered through the prism of sentimentalism. I8I2 was a watershed for prioritizing positive images of Moscow through associations with suffering, especially with sufferingMother Russia. The extreme circumstancesof i 812 solidifiedother Moscow myths:for example, Moscow and its region as rustic idyll,where one could escape the excesses of urbanizationand cultivatefamily life. The myth was memorablyreworkedby Leo Tolstoi. Ian Lillytakesup the feminine angle in his study of female essence, community and Orthodoxy in 'Moscow texts'. In particular, he makes the interesting point that fictional works associated sexual fidelity with the city's centre, deviance and betrayal only with the periphery. Prostituteswere a regular feature of St Petersburg fiction, but apparently incompatible with mythologized Moscow's positive image. I wonder, though, about the more general characterization of Moscow's centre as 'pre-eminently feminine' (p. 36). A counter-example might be the domination of Red Square by St Basil's cathedral, where the masculine holy fool ousted the cathedral'sofficialdedication to the Protecting Veil of the Mother of God. In the officialbipolar model...