How the Russian Idea Was Represented: The New Book on the History of Visualization of Russia and Russianness

Abstract

We are pleased to present an encyclopedic-level work that continues the study of the scenarios and myths of the Russian monarchy begun by Richard Wortman. M. V. Leskinen has written a remarkable book dedicated to the representation of the Russian idea, Russia and Russianness in art and rituals throughout the imperial period, from the 1720s to the 1920s. In the review, we discuss the proposed approach to the study of “national imagination” and nation-building, the conservative ideology and politics of the Russian regime, the possibilities of visual sources and the methods of their analysis proposed by the author.