Duelling, the Russian Cultural Imagination, and Masculinity in Crisis

Download or read book Duelling, the Russian Cultural Imagination, and Masculinity in Crisis written by Amanda DiGioia and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-10-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, written from a feminist perspective, uses the focus of duelling to discuss the nature of masculinity in Russia. It traces the development of duelling and masculinity historically from the time of Peter the Great onwards, considers how duelling and masculinity have been represented in both literature and film and assesses the high emphasis given in Soviet times to gender equality, arguing that this was a failed experiment that ran counter to Russian tradition. It examines how duelling continues to be a feature of life in contemporary Russia and relates the situation in Russia to wider scholarship on the nature of masculinity more generally. Overall, the book contends that Russia’s valuing of a strong, militaristic form of masculinity is a major problem.