Finnish and Russian Studies

(Disclaimer: I'm really tired, so this post might read confusing and tedious.)

It's been a great day.

First lecture: Folk music and dance in Finland. We got to listen to songs (calls and squeals, juoigos, lamentation and Kalevala melody), play instruments (kantele, bowed harp, among others) and sing songs. The teacher was very engaging and humorous.

Second lecture: Gender, Race and Ethnicity in Soviet and Russian Films of the 20th century.

Our Latvian professor began with Russian cinema that constructed womanhood through images that appealed to audiences at the time. In Baby Ryazanskie, we observe the patriarchal gender power relations in a rural home, while faced with psychologically nuanced representations of relationships and characters. Bed and Sofa focuses on a married woman who initially feels like a "bird in a cage." She does all the work, and doesn't get any love or attention. At the end, she leaves the house, free and independent. Alone is one of the first films to use sound. It is about an urbanite Soviet woman who is going to be a teacher. Images of consumerism are repeated and associated with joy, pleasure, happiness, privateness and hope for the future. This film marked the beginning of female economic migration.

Then we moved onto racial politics and how cinema made race and sex issues seem to not exist. Two questions posed were: What are the limits placed on (racial/gender) identity by iconography, narrative patterns, genres and target audience? and How cinematic organization of racial representations in binary terms reduces the complexity of race relations?" Our teacher presented Arapchonok (meaning "black boy" in Russian), who is a figure of "filial subordination and infinite growth." This image of a boy in colonial literature has been a symbol of eternal growth, but never reaching full development. European literature added to the image of Africa as an uninhabitable place, full of cannibals and savages (see: Tarzan and works of Jules Verne). During the 1920s, lots of movies were bought from Hollywood, and Russian cinema came out with cheap blockbusters of their own. Red Devils was Russia's first action movie, and it featured brother and sister protagonists with an African accomplice. He was shown as a soldier, a brave guy, who from time to time would use his skin color to scare people. In 1936, the movie Circus came out, and was an instant hit -- even Stalin loved it. The story is about an American woman who flees to Russia to hide/protect her mulatto son. She is the icon of femininity, and Russia is shown to love all kinds of people, as the nation adopts all people, no matter what race. Our professor pointed out the film's support for political paternalism and the reproductive agenda at the time. It came out in the same year abortions were banned. Maksimka (1953) is about an African boy on a slave ship who is rescued by Russian imperials. At the time, globality was becoming a part of Russian nationalism. Interest in Africa, Oceania and other parts of the world was heightened. The colonial thinking at the time, our professor said, was that if you help others, you help yourself. The boy is shown as taken from the "wild, pagan place" that is pre-lingual. He is objectified in camera shots, and later taught Russian words and given a Christian name: Maksimka. Many young children in Russia grew up with this kind of iconization/imagination produced in cinema.

Things started to change in the end of the 1950s. The 6th World Festival of Youth and Students was held in Moscow in 1957, and drew in tens of thousands of foreign students. "Moscow was open to the world and the world opened Moscow" (professor). There was art and expression and protests, and anti-colonial movements were held. Our professor had little time to wrap up, so she left us with two movies that, while "marginal and without much artistic quality," were unique and a kind of cultural resistance: The Black Sun and Chronicals of Night. When I find out more about the plots, I'll update this blog post.

I was surprised to find out that there haven't been any African directors in Russia. With such obviously racist commercials and overtones in cinema, along with people acting like racial/gender issues don't exist, it seems like a good idea to produce popular African-directed/centered films and distribute them in Russia. Just like women were able to improve their situation by writing and directing films.

Okay, I need to stop here. I can't really think straight since I'm so tired. And I have an early class tomorrow.

Wow, really a great day.