The "Russian Idea" on the Small Screen: Staging National Identity on Russia's TV
2014; George Washington University; Volume: 22; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1940-4603
Autores Tópico(s)Security, Politics, and Digital Transformation
ResumoTelevision remains most widely disseminated media in Russia today, and a majority of population believes that it provides reliable information. Even if internet is starting to challenge this supremacy, television continues to shape public opinion, which sees in it not only a means of information, but also a form of entertainment accessible to all segments of population. Television thus contributes both to reproduc- ing and shaping cultural and political consensus in society. Topics that create consensus among society are scarce, but national identity is assuredly one of them. While there is no unanimity on content making up Russia's national identity, notion that it is an important topic to which authorities should pay a lot of attention is largely accepted. It frames an understanding of domestic evolutions and international affairs for majority of citizens, and disseminates a culture that is based on Soviet legacy-the lowest common denominator, but most broadly shared. This article hypothesizes that television is a central driver of Russia's national identity debates.1The role of cinema and television in Kremlin-backed revival of patriotic mood in Russia has been topic of many studies. They have mainly concentrated on production of fiction rather than on role of historical documentaries or talk shows. This latter aspect, little of which is known, is focus of present investigation. In follow- ing sections, I argue that tradition, born in nineteenth century, of discussing topic of Russian (Russkaia ideia) through genre of publitsistika is now successfully delivered through television. The empirical work draws from Russia's main patriotic channels, mostly Rossiia-K (formerly Kul'tura), but also, to a lesser extent, Zvezda and Spas, which offer a unique lens for televisual staging of Russian idea.From a quantitative sociological point of view, choice of Rossiia-K as focus of content of television may seem questionable. The channel has a relatively small audience, only 1.7 percent in 2012 (14th position), with three main channels - NTV, Pervyi kanal, and Rossiia-1 - occupying 43 percent of ratings.2 Rossiia-K appeals to a particular subset of television audience that does not identify with post-Soviet cultural transformations and rejects invasion of foreign, especially American, programs on country's airwaves. Its core audience is older and well educated: 40 percent are aged 45-64 and 35 percent are over 65 years of age; more than 90 percent have at least a median education and 43 percent have a higher education (the highest rate of all networks).3 Statistically speaking, then, Rossiia-K is not representative of media landscape as it targets a specific group, intelligentsia. Yet it reflects a quasi-ideal debate about Russia's national identity, one that took shape in 2000s and led to something of a cascade effect by conveying a symbolic repertoire to a mass audience.In first part of article, I define notion of idea and major role of publitsistika genre in it, and then explore briefly visualization that has been ongoing for several decades, transform- ing idea from a written concept to a visual one, relayed by painting, cinema, and television. In second part, I discuss Rossiia-K programming strategies and investigate how program Who are we?, launched in 1992 and presented as the first program devoted to (russkaia) civilization, contributes to reloading idea by offering a consensus narrative based on empathy and non-critical thinking.The Idea and Publitsistika GenreThe term Russian conventionally refers to an impressive body of texts discussing essence of Russia's national identity.4 It emerged at end of nineteenth century, but now is used to encompass nearly two centuries of debates, whose thematic framework is shaped by two main questions: relationship with Europe (whether Russia is part of Europe, part of Asia, straddles both worlds, or is separate from both),5 and relationship between state and its population (whether Russia is a nation-state, an empire, or a multinational federation, with a political nature that is autocratic, democratic, or ideocratic). …
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