Russian Culture

Ø 1) What comes to your mind first when you hear the words “Russian culture”? What aspects of world culture did Russian culture make the greatest contribution to?

Ø 2) Look at the phrases and words from the text: a long tradition of excellence, be ranked seventh, old Russian folklore, fairy tales, bylins, influential, literary works, the Golden Age of Russian poetry, the Silver Age of Russian poetry, the influence of symbolism, architecture, woodcraft buildings, Orthodox churches, icons, painting on wood, realism, music, sculpture, ballet, opera. What do they mean?

Russian culture is associated with the country of Russia and, sometimes, specifically with ethnic Russians. It has a rich history and can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts, especially when it comes to literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet, architecture and painting, cinema and animation, which all had considerable influence on the world culture. Nowadays, Russian cultural heritage is ranked seventh in the Nation Brands Index, based on interviews of some 20, 000 people mainly from the Western countries and the Far East.

Old Russian folklore takes its roots in the pagan beliefs of ancient Slavs and now is represented in the Russian fairy tales and bylinas. The oldest bylinas were actually recorded mostly in the Russian North, especially in Karelia, where most of the Finnish national epic Kalevala was recorded as well.

Russian literature is considered to be among the most influential and developed in the world, contributing many of the world’s most famous literary works. Russia’s literary history dates back to the 10th century; in the 18th century its development was boosted by the works of Mikhail Lomonosov and Denis Fonvizin, and by the early 19^th century a modern native tradition had emerged, producing some of the greatest writers of all time. This period and the Golden Age of Russian Poetry began with Alexander Pushkin, considered to be the founder of modern Russian literature and often described as the “ Russian Shakespeare”. Tolstoy and Dostoevsky in particular were titanic figures to the point that many literary critics have described one or the other as the greatest novelist ever.

By the 1880s Russian literature had begun to change. Short fiction and poetry became the dominant genres of Russian literature for the next several decades which became known as the Silver Age of Russian Poetry. Russian literature came under strong influence of symbolism in the years between 1893 and 1914. Leading writers of this age include Valery Bryusov, Alexander Blok, Nikolay Gumilev, Anna Akhmatova, Osip Mandelstam, Marina Tsvetaeva, Ivan Bunin, and Maxim Gorky.

Russian architecture began with the woodcraft buildings of ancient Slavs. Russian architecture was influenced predominantly by the Byzantine architecture, until the Fall of Constantinople. The main stone buildings of “ancient Rus” were Orthodox churches, with their many domes, often gilded or brightly painted. Some Italian architects brought Renaissance trends into Russia. The 16th century saw the development of unique tent-like churches culminating in Saint Basil’s Cathedral. After Peter the Great reforms had made Russia much closer to Western culture, the change of the architectural styles in Russia generally followed that of Western Europe. Many churches demolished in the Soviet times were rebuilt, and this process continues along with the restoration of various historical buildings destroyed in World War II.

Russian icons are typically paintings on wood, often small, though some in churches and monasteries may be as large as a table top. There is a rich history and elaborate religious symbolism associated with icons. In the mid-seventeenth century, changes in liturgy and practice instituted by Patriarch Nikon resulted in a split in the Russian Orthodox Church. From that time icons began to be painted not only in the traditional stylized and nonrealistic mode, but also in a mixture of Russian stylization and Western European realism, and in a Western European manner very much like that of Catholic religious art of the time.

Realism came into dominance in the 19th century. The realists captured Russian identity in landscapes of wide rivers, forests, and birch clearings, as well as vigorous genre scenes and robust portraits of their contemporaries. Other artists focused on social criticism, showing the conditions of the poor and caricaturing authority; critical realism flourished under the reign of Alexander II, with some artists making the circle of human suffering their main theme. Others focused on depicting dramatic moments in Russian history. The “Peredvizhniki” (wanderers) group of artists (Shishkin, Kuindzhi, Kramskoi, Polenov, Levitan, Surikov, Vasnetsov and Repin) broke with Russian Academy and initiated a school of art liberated from Academic restrictions. In the late Soviet era many artists combined innovation with socialist realism including E.Neizvestny, and M.Shemyakin. Soviet artists produced works that were furiously patriotic and anti-fascist in the 1940s. After the Great Patriotic War Soviet sculptors made multiple monuments to the war dead, marked by a great restrained solemnity.

Music in 19th century Russia was defined by the tension between classical composer M.Glinka along with his followers, who added religious and folk elements to their compositions, and the Russian Musical Society, which was musically conservative. The later Romantic tradition is that of Tchaikovsky, one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era, whose music has come to be known and loved for its distinctly Russian character as well as its rich harmonies and stirring melodies. Soviet and Russian conservatories have turned out generations of world-renowned soloists. Among the best known are Oistrakh, Rostropovich; Richter, Shalyapin, Vishnevskaya, Netrebko and Hvorostovsky.

The original purpose of the ballet in Russia was to entertain the royal court. The first ballet company was the Imperial School of Ballet in St. Petersburg in the 1740s. The Ballet Russe was a ballet company founded in the 1909 by S.Diaghilev, an enormously important figure in the Russian ballet scene. Diaghilev and his Ballets Russes’ travels abroad profoundly influenced the development of dance worldwide. During the early 20^th century, Russian ballet dancers A.Pavlova and V.Nijinsky rose to fame. The Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow and the Mariinsky in Saint Petersburg remain famous throughout the world.

The first known opera made in Russia was “A Life for the Tsar” by Mikhail Glinka in 1836. This was followed by several operas such as “Ruslan and Lyudmila” in 1842. Russian opera was originally a combination of Russian folk music and Italian opera. Russia’s most popular operas include: “Boris Godunov”, “Eugene Onegin”, “The Golden Cockerel”, “Prince Igor”, and “The Queen of Spades.”

Ø 3) Which of the summaries renders the content of the text most adequately?

a) This text gives a short overview of Russian culture. According to the Nation Brands Index it is ranked seventh in the world. All aspects of Russian culture such as folklore, literature, architecture, painting and music are paid attention to.

b) This text deals with the description of various aspects of Russian culture from the beginning and up to the middle of the 20^th century, namely, folklore, literature, architecture, painting and music. The writer pays a more detailed attention to literature, painting and music, naming the trends, methods and the outstanding people who made Russian culture famous all over the world.