Soviet self-hatred : the secret identities of postsocialism in contemporary Russia

**__Soviet Self-Hatred__** **examines the imaginary Russian identities that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union.** Eliot Borenstein shows how these identities are best understood as balanced on a simple axis between pride and shame, shifting in response to Russia's standing in the global community, its anxieties about internal dissension and foreign threats, and its stark socioeconomic inequalities. Through close readings of Russian fiction, films, jokes, songs, fan culture, and internet memes, Borenstein identifies and analyzes four distinct types with which Russians identity or project onto others. They are the __sovok__ (the Soviet yokel); the New Russian (the despised, ridiculous nouveau riche), the __vatnik__ (the belligerent, jingoistic patriot), and the Orc (the ultraviolent savage derived from a deliberate misreading of Tolkien's epic). Through these contested identities, __Soviet Self-Hatred__ shows how stories people tell about themselves can, tragically, become the stories that others are forced to live. Soviet Self-Hatred examines the imaginary Russian identities that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Eliot Borenstein shows how these identities are best understood as balanced on a simple axis between pride and shame, shifting in response to Russia's standing in the global community, its anxieties about internal dissension and foreign threats, and its stark socioeconomic inequalities. Through close readings of Russian fiction, films, jokes, songs, fan culture, and Internet memes, Borenstein identifies and analyzes four distinct types with which Russians identify or project onto others. They are the sovok (the Soviet yokel); the New Russian (the despised, ridiculous nouveau riche), the vatnik (the belligerent, jingoistic patriot), and the Orc (the ultraviolent savage derived from a deliberate misreading of Tolkien's epic). Through these contested identities, Soviet Self-Hatred shows how stories people tell about themselves can, tragically, become the stories that others are forced to live. "As Borenstein shows in his readings of a range of popular culture texts, the imaginary identities Russians have been trying on since the Soviet collapse reflect an aggressive, often outward-facing self-hatred that allows some Russians to come to terms with their country's standing in the world, the social and economic misery, and the dominance of oligarchism and Putinsim"- Provided by publisher Contents Acknowledgments Introduction: Postsocialism and the Legacy of Shame 1. Zombie Sovieticus: The Descent of Soviet Man 2. The Rise and Fall of Sovok 3. Just a Guy Named Vasya 4. Whatever Happened to the New Russians? 5. Rich Man’s Burden 6. Russian Orc: The Evil Empire Strikes Back Conclusion: Russian Self-Hatred Notes Works Cited Index