Date of Award
Fall 2022
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Slavic Languages and Literatures
First Advisor
Brunson, Molly
Abstract
This dissertation addresses how and why the Russian north—defined here as the imperial governorates of Arkhangelsk, Olonets, and Vologda—became a desired destination for Russian artists and writers in the period 1890-1910. I argue that the Russian north perfectly embodied both their discontent with and their triumphant faith in modernity, and that their depictions of the region reflected antimodern sentiments which were themselves constitutive elements of Russian modernity. At the core of this project is the notion that antimodernism is a philosophical orientation that signals both support of and protest against the processes of modernity and modernization.In the depictions of the Russian north that I analyze, antimodernism’s ambivalence toward modernity can be detected on multiple levels and across space, time, and media. In Evgeny Kochetov’s travelogue On the Frozen Sea, for instance, the topic of Chapter One, the author aims to strike a balance between promoting industrial and commercial interests in the Russian north, on the one hand, and reconciling these endeavors with Orthodox values and patriotic dedication, on the other. For Igor Grabar and Ivan Bilibin—the artists I turn to in Chapter Two—discussions on how to preserve, restore, and celebrate the wooden architecture of the Russian north touch off larger and more difficult struggles in the relationship between the old and the new. In Chapter Three, formal analysis of the works of artist-explorer Aleksandr Borisov demonstrates his clear awareness that his modern gaze represents an intrusion into and disruption of the Russian north he admires. Borisov’s paintings thus grapple with the question of how to explore and portray the region—both scientifically and artistically—without jeopardizing its autonomy and its nature. Finally, in the dissertation’s brief coda, I place my findings in dialogue with how the Russian north is portrayed in Andrei Konchalovsky’s recent docudrama The Postman’s White Nights, revealing that the Russian north continues to function as a myth in contemporary Russian culture—a myth upon which local communities’ very real survival depends. Through close analysis of multiple works across different media, this dissertation situates depictions of the Russian north in their wider historical and cultural context. In doing so, it reveals how the north transformed from a periphery to an epicenter for negotiating questions of national identity, political economy, and aesthetic principles.
Recommended Citation
Nordgaard, Ingrid C., "Depicting the Russian North: Modernity, Antimodernism, and the Arts, 1890–1910" (2022). Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Dissertations. 814.
https://elischolar.library.yale.edu/gsas_dissertations/814
