̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Rachel Polonsky

Russia: Up close

tdk25 — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:00:53 +0000

Rachel Polonsky, lecturer in the department of Slavonic Studies and author of Molotov’s Magic Lantern, is one of five judges for the new Pushkin House Russian Book Prize, whose winner will be announced at the Hay Festival on 29th May.

She will be taking part in a debate on Russian literature at the Festival, where the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge holds an annual series of talks. ̽��ֱ��aim of the prize is to further understanding of the Russian-speaking world by encouraging strong, intelligent, and accessible non-fiction writing in the English language (including translations) on Russian and Soviet history, culture, politics, economics, and everyday life, including biographies and memoirs. ̽��ֱ��judges will be looking for a book which can command a wide audience of non-specialists.

Dr Polonsky says that there is a need for more awareness of the complexities of post-Soviet Russian culture and where its deep faultlines lie, with the identity of the bombers of the Boston Marathon just one reminder of why this is important. She adds: "Recently, Russian violence has shown a tendency to spill over its borders, as the murders and unexplained deaths in Great Britain over the past few years show. London has become a refuge for Russian money and the setting for a real-life Russian crime thriller of baffling intricacy; drawing in governments, secret services and big business and inevitably giving rise to lurid media stereotypes. ̽��ֱ��many books that were sent to the judges of the prize by publishers give a most encouraging picture of the deeper understanding of Russian culture available to readers curious about the realities behind these stereotypes. They included books on the revival of Russian Orthodoxy, the fate of the discipline of archaeology in the USSR and the films of the director Andrei Tarkovsky.”

̽��ֱ��six shortlisted books trace a path from 1917 to the present day. Dr Polonsky says: "Together these books show that the political, economic, cultural and social spheres are inseparable. At one end of this century-long span is Douglas Smith’s Former People, which tells the story of the aristocrats who remained in Russia after the revolution, to perish or survive as Soviet citizens. At the other is Masha Gessen’s portrait of Vladimir Putin in ̽��ֱ��Man without a Face, which describes how the personality and convictions of Russia’s present leader were shaped by the rough culture of post-war Leningrad and his years as a low-ranking agent in the KGB.

"Karl Schloegel’s Moscow 1937 is a cultural history of the capital city in the darkest year of Stalin’s Great Terror, which covers everything from town planning to show trials, and begins with a scene of magical flight from Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel, ̽��ֱ��Master and Margarita. Anne Applebaum’s Iron Curtain shows how the Soviet takeover of political power in Eastern Europe after 1945 depended on a takeover of all aspects of cultural, social and private life. She revives the word ‘totalitarianism’, which had fallen out of fashion among historians. Donald Raleigh’s oral history, Soviet Baby Boomers, is a portrait of the last, ‘post-totalitarian’, Soviet generation. In the background to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the rise of Putinism is the story of Russian oil, which is told in Thane Gustafson’s Wheel of Fortune."

̽��ֱ��other judges for the Prize, which includes £5,000 in cash, are Sir Rodric Braithwaite (Chair), former British ambassador to Moscow and author of Afgantsy: ̽��ֱ��Russians in Afghanistan 1979-1989; Lord Skidelsky, Emeritus Professor of Political Economy at Warwick ̽��ֱ�� and author of How Much is Enough?; AD Miller, Economist journalist and author of the Man Booker shortlisted Snowdrops; and Dmitri Trenin, Director of ̽��ֱ��Carnegie Moscow Center and author of Post-Imperium.

Dr Polonsky says: "We live in an age of unprecedented access to information. Researchers have greater freedom than ever to travel in Russia and are rich in contacts with Russians of all kinds, if they choose to seek them out. In turn, Russians now have access to books written about Russia in the West, many of which are now translated into Russian. ̽��ֱ��result is a constantly enriched field of writing about all aspects of Russian culture, which the Pushkin House prize is intended to cultivate and celebrate."

A new book prize aimed at furthering our understanding of the Russian-speaking world will help the West to come to terms with the complexity of post-Soviet Russian culture and overcome media stereotypes, according to a ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge lecturer.

̽��ֱ��books that were sent to the judges of this prize give an encouraging picture of the deeper understanding of Russian culture available to readers curious about the realities behind the stereotypes.

Rachel Polonsky

Credit: Andrew Griffith from Flickr.

Red Square in winter.

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Totalitarianism, violence and the silent majority

sjr81 — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 15:07:52 +0000

Her lecture ‘True Believers: Collaboration and Opposition under Totalitarian Regimes’ takes place at the Umney Theatre, Robinson College, tonight at 5pm.

Applebaum won the Pulitzer Prize for her 2004 book Gulag: A History, and is also the author of Between East and West: Across the Borderlands of Europe, and Gulag Voices: An Anthology. Her most recent book is Iron Curtain: ̽��ֱ��Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956.

She said: “ ̽��ֱ��horrifying genius of Soviet communism - as conceived in the 1920s, perfected in the 1930s and then spread by force to Soviet-occupied Europe was the system's ability to get the silent majority in so many countries to play along without much protest.

“A small proportion of people protested and small proportion collaborated. But carefully targeted violence, propaganda and state's monopoly on economic and civic institutions persuaded the rest to go along. These techniques were used to great effect in Eastern Europe after 1945.”

Applebaum, who is currently Philip Roman Visiting Professor at the London School of Economics, a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, is also a former Editor of ̽��ֱ��Economist, where she provided in-depth coverage of Eastern Europe before and after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

Dr Rachel Polonsky, a lecturer at the Department of Slavonic Studies and organiser of tonight’s event, said: “We are proud to be hosting Anne Applebaum, whose work and life centre on the areas we study in the Department.

“As a historian of the twentieth century, Anne reminds us how intricately interwoven the political destinies and cultures of Russia, Ukraine and Poland have been, and how important it is to study them together. She is one of a series of high-profile lecturers (including the Polish intellectual Adam Michnik and the British historian Norman Davies) whose visits to Cambridge demonstrate the commitment of the ̽��ֱ�� to securing a future for Polish studies within the Slavonic Department, and the hope that this commitment will resonate outward to a wider public, both within and beyond the ̽��ֱ��.”

Head of Slavonic Studies, Dr Emma Widdis, said: “Our research and teaching in Ukrainian, Russian and in future, as we hope, Polish, reflect our sense of the importance of understanding this complex European 'neighbourhood', in which historical legacies remain politically contested. We are all very much looking forward to Anne’s talk this evening.”

Tonight’s talk at Robinson College is part of the CamCREES 2013 public lecture series, which also runs alongside a series of public lectures on Resistance in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Upcoming events in this series include:

'Resistance and Rights' on Thursday 7 March 2013, given by Professor Benjamins Nathans, ̽��ֱ�� of Pennsylvania
How and with what effects was the rhetoric of rights - the lingua franca of liberalism - deployed in an avowedly illiberal society like the Soviet Union? How do activists invoke rights in today's Russia? This lecture will analyse continuities and ruptures in the career of civil and human rights as a mode of resistance from the period of "developed socialism" to the Putin era.

'Resistance and Performance' on Thursday 25 April 2013, given by Dr John Freedman (writer, translator, critic, and scholar of Russian theatre)
Political resistance and social commentary are deeply ingrained in the Russian theatre tradition. Rarely, however, have they been as open and obvious as in recent years. Throughout the Soviet period (and Imperial era) theatre artists "spoke the truth" by way of metaphor and implication. This tended to remain true even after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when artists, who achieved new freedoms, were more intent on creating new kinds of art than on speaking about social ills. But in one of the biggest breaks with tradition in the history of Russian theatre, some writers, directors and actors are currently becoming extremely outspoken in their works. This discussion will focus on current developments, putting them into a historical context.

'Resistance and Gender' on Thursday 2 May 2013, given by Dr Olesya Khomeychuk, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge

̽��ֱ��‘horrifying genius’ of Soviet totalitarianism and its ability to control and quell protest will be examined tonight by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum.

̽��ֱ��horrifying genius of Soviet communism - as conceived in the 1920s, perfected in the 1930s and then spread by force to Soviet-occupied Europe was the system's ability to get the silent majority in so many countries to play along without much protest.

Anne Applebaum

Newhouse Design

Russian Poster 38

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Cambridge makes Hay

bjb42 — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 09:16:17 +0000

̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge alumnus and Hay Festival director Peter Florence has invited the ̽��ֱ�� to contribute a third annual speaker series to the world-renowned Festival, held between May 27 and June 5.

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Hay series is a spin-off from the Cambridge Festival of Ideas, and features outstanding communicators from the Cambridge academic community.

Up to 5,000 people are expected to attend the talks and discussions in the Cambridge series and this year ̽��ֱ��Telegraph is the Festival’s media partner.

Highlights this year include philosopher Baroness Onora O'Neill debating the limits of toleration in today's society and Dr Amrita Narlikar on the rise of new powers Brazil, India and China and their impact on global governance. Dr Narlikar heads Cambridge's new Centre for Rising Powers.

India is one of the focuses for this year's Festival and Dr Kevin Greenbank and Dr Annamaria Motrescu will lead a session entitled “ ̽��ֱ��Reel Raj: cinefilm and audio archive from the Centre of South Asian Studies”. This includes remarkable footage from some of the almost 300 home movies in their collection which offer a unique glimpse of life in India and other parts of South Asia during the final days of the British Empire.

Hay audiences can also look forward to Dr Ha-Joon Chang on 23 myths of capitalism and Professor Tony Wrigley in conversation with George Monbiot, discussing a new look at the industrial revolution and the links between the industrial revolution and our current energy crisis. Professor Nicky Clayton will talk about her research on crow behaviour which was featured in a series of online films made available by the ̽��ֱ��.

And with an event which may appeal to adults and children alike, Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press Chief Executive Stephen Bourne will speak about the company’s decision to adopt a giant panda at the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Foundation in China – a bid to build closer working links with the country and to help protect the endangered species.

Other speakers include:

Dr Simon Mitton, on the books that have changed our view of the universe, from Alexandria to Cambridge
Professor Michael Lamb on children in the legal system
Professor Gerry Gilmore on whether science claims to know the unknowable
Professor Rosamond McKitterick on history, memory and ideas about the past
Dr Ulinka Rublack on dress codes in Renaissance Europe
Dr Clive Oppenheimer on eruptions that shook the world
Professor Simon Blackburn on the relationship between language and action, pragmatism, and practical reasoning.
Dr Rachel Polonsky on Molotov, one of Stalin's fiercest henchmen.

Nicola Buckley, currently Head of Community Affairs, said: “ ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is delighted to be contributing its speaker series to the Hay Festival once again. We welcome the Festival director’s vision to open up Cambridge research on historic and contemporary India, among many other topics, to the Hay audience, and we look forward to lively talks and debates.”

̽��ֱ��full line-up for the Cambridge series at the Hay Festival is:

Fri 27/5, 5.15pm

Professor Sir Colin Humphreys

Cambridge Series 1 - " ̽��ֱ��Mystery of the Last Supper: Reconstructing the Final Days of Jesus".

Reconciling conflicting Gospel accounts and scientific evidence, the distinguished Cambridge physicist reveals the exact date of the Last Supper in a definitive new timeline of Holy Week and offers a complete reassessment of the final days of Jesus.

Fri 27/5, 6.30pm Professor John Barrow

̽��ֱ��Book of Universes

̽��ֱ��mathematician encounters universes where the laws of physics can change from time to time and from one region to another, universes that have extra hidden dimensions of space and time, universes that are eternal, universes that live inside black holes, universes that end without warning, colliding universes, inflationary universes, and universes that come into being from something else – or from nothing at all.

Fri 27/5, 7.45pm Dr Simon Mitton

From Alexandria to Cambridge

̽��ֱ��historian of astronomy examines of Five Books That Changed Our View of the Universe: Ptolemy's Almagest, Copernicus' De Revolutionibus, Galileo's Siderius Nuncius and Dialogo, and Newton's Principia. A facsimile of the Copernicus manuscript will be displayed.

Sat 28/5, 2.30pm Professor Michael Lamb

Angels, Demons, Dunces

̽��ֱ��developmental forensic psychologist examines our inconsistent views of children in the legal system.

Sun 29/5, 2.30pm Dr Ha-Joon Chang

23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

̽��ֱ��economist turns all received wisdom about free markets, globalisation and the digital revolution on its head and offers an utterly compelling alternative. Chaired by Jesse Norman of the Treasury Select Committee.

Mon 30/5, 4pm Professor Tony Wrigley

Opening Pandora's Box: a New Look at the Industrial Revolution

All material production requires energy. All pre-industrial economies derived the bulk of their energy from agriculture. Production horizons were tightly bounded. ̽��ֱ��use of fossil fuel overcame this limitation. Chaired by George Monbiot.

Tues 31/5, 1130 Stephen Bourne

Panda-monium: social responsibility in China

Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Press has adopted the young giant panda Jian Qiao at the Chengdu Research Foundation in China. Its CEO reports on the practicalities and symbolism of this new relationship, and we'll meet Jian Qiao on the big screen.

Tues 31/5, 1pm Professor Simon Blackburn

Practical Tortoise Raising

̽��ֱ��Philosopher explores the relationship between language and action, pragmatism, pluralism and practical reasoning.

Tues 31/5, 1pm Professor Clive Oppenheimer

Eruptions That Shook ̽��ֱ��World

̽��ֱ��volcanologist explores geological, historical and archaeological records to ask how volcanic eruptions have shaped the trajectory of human society through prehistory and history. He looks at the evidence for

volcanic cataclysm and considers how we can prepare ourselves for future catastrophes.

Tues 31/5, 5.30pm Dr Amrita Narlikar

̽��ֱ��Rise of New Powers and the Challenges of Global Trade Governance

No good deed goes unpunished: the WTO’s timely response to accommodate the new powers – Brazil, China, and India – at the heart of its decision-making has created new opportunities but also generated unanticipated new problems. What insights can be learnt about the rise of new powers within the WTO and in other multilateral organisations?

Tues 31/5, 7pm Dr Kevin Greenbank / Dr Annamaria Motrescu

̽��ֱ��Reel Raj: cinefilm and audio archive

An overview of the digital holdings of the Centre of South Asian Studies and their potential in the teaching of British and South Asian imperial history. Chaired by Hannah Rothschild.

Weds 1/6, 11.30am Professor Gerry Gilmore

Past, present and infinite future?

Was there anything before the beginning, why does science claim to know the apparently unknowable; where do I come from? What do we know about the infinite future?

Weds 1/6, 4pm Rev Dr John Polkinghorne

Quantum Theory

" ̽��ֱ��mathematician, theoretical physicist and priest explains the strange and exciting ideas that make the subatomic world so different from the world of the every day."

Thurs 2/6, 2.30pm Dr Ulinka Rublack

Dressing Up: Cultural identity in Renaissance Europe

Historian Dr Rublack will show why clothes made history and history can be about clothes. Her research imagines the Renaissance afresh by considering people´s appearances: what they wore, how this made them move, what images they created, and how all this made people feel about themselves.

Thurs 2/6, 5.30pm Dr Rachel Polonsky

Molotov's Magic Lantern

A luminous, original and unforgettable exploration of a country and its literature, viewed through the eyes of Vyacheslav Molotov, one of Stalin's fiercest henchmen.

Fri 3/6, 2.30pm Professor Nicky Clayton

̽��ֱ��Ape On Your Bird Table

Crows are as smart as apes. They manufacture tools, they are socially sophisticated, and they plan where to cache for tomorrow's breakfast. These findings have led to a re-evaluation of avian cognition, and resulted in a theory that intelligence evolved independently in apes and crows.

Sat 4/6, 2.30pm Professor Rosamond McKitterick

History, Memory and Ideas About the Past

̽��ֱ��historian focuses on uses of memory and the problems of the relation between memory and written, especially narrative and records of memory. Particular memories can also be exploited to reinforce an identity or even an ideology. Modern historians have distinguished between official and popular history and memory, as well as collective and individual manifestations and uses of memory. She will explore how helpful modern experience may be in interpreting the distant past. Case studies of historical narratives and epitaphs inscribed on stone from the early middle ages (c. 500-c.900) will serve to highlight both the kind of material with which an early medieval historian works, and its implications for historical knowledge and interpretation more generally.

Sun 5/6, 2.30pm Baroness Onora O'Neill

Is Toleration Still A Virtue?

̽��ֱ��philosopher is an exacting examiner of great issues such as freedom of speech, assisted suicide and

stem cell research. Here she explores a fundamental assumption of liberal societies.

̽��ֱ��books that have changed our view of the Universe, eruptions that shook the world and Stalin's fiercest henchmen are just some of the themes that will be under discussion during the popular Cambridge Series at this year's Hay Literary Festival.

We welcome the vision to open up Cambridge research on historic and contemporary India, among many other topics, to the Hay audience.

Nicola Buckley

Peter Curbishley from Flickr

Hay Festival

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