Stephen M. Norris
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2022
- ISBN:
- 9781474456272
- eISBN:
- 9781399501569
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474456272.003.0007
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter analyzes recent Russian popular historical movies in the era of Vladimir Medinskii as Minister of Culture and Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency (2012-present). Following ...
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This chapter analyzes recent Russian popular historical movies in the era of Vladimir Medinskii as Minister of Culture and Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency (2012-present). Following Keith Dinnie, Melissa Aronczyk, and Robert Saunders, I see attempts to “brand” a nation, even for domestic audiences, as a crucial component of soft power and as a form of public diplomacy. Medinskii in particular has helped to promote a patriotic culture centered on the Second World War, Soviet sports achievements, and the Soviet space program. Developing this patriotic brand, however, has come with some costs. The branding of a Russian nation as advertised onscreen since 2012, in short, has produced a mixed bag of results in terms of soft power success.Less
This chapter analyzes recent Russian popular historical movies in the era of Vladimir Medinskii as Minister of Culture and Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency (2012-present). Following Keith Dinnie, Melissa Aronczyk, and Robert Saunders, I see attempts to “brand” a nation, even for domestic audiences, as a crucial component of soft power and as a form of public diplomacy. Medinskii in particular has helped to promote a patriotic culture centered on the Second World War, Soviet sports achievements, and the Soviet space program. Developing this patriotic brand, however, has come with some costs. The branding of a Russian nation as advertised onscreen since 2012, in short, has produced a mixed bag of results in terms of soft power success.
