| Title | : | Pussy Riot: Speaking Punk to Power (Russian Shorts) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1350113530 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781350113534 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 152 |
| Publication | : | Published November 12, 2020 |
After their scandalous performance of an anti-Putin protest song in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior and the imprisonment of two of its members, the punk feminist art collective known as Pussy Riot became an international phenomenon. But, what, exactly, is Pussy Riot, and what are they trying to achieve? The award-winning author Eliot Borenstein explores the movement's explosive history and takes you beyond the hype.
Pussy Riot: Speaking Punk to Power (Russian Shorts) Reviews
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2.5
The author is Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, Collegiate Professor in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Senior Academic Convenor the Global Network at New York University.
I looked forward to reading this. I remember the stir created by Pussy Riot (PR), at least in the west, following their very unorthodox performance in the cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Moscow and the consequent arrest, trial and imprisonment of two of its members. I was especially keen to learn how PR and its antics were perceived by the Russian populace in general, rather than the authorities (Kremlin and Russian Orthodox church) in particular.
Leftist and feminist, PR related to Actionism, founded in Austria in the 1960s. This, together with Situationism and Moscow Conceptualism inspired Voina (War), an anarchist, activist art collective movement which saw shoplifting as a form of art! From these stables the balaclava wearing PR was born.
Anti Putin and Russian Orthodoxy, inasmuch as the latter buttressed Putin’s authoritarianism, PR’s performance in the cathedral was deemed blasphemous by the authorities. PR was charged with premeditated hooliganism. The subsequent trial chose to ignore, as far as possible, all derogatory references made by PR against Putin. The outcome of the trial was the imprisonment of 2 of the PR group, widely decried in the west. But how easily we are programmed to bash other ("wicked") regimes when all governments adopt similar tactics, some more transparently than others. The PR members were eventually released prior to the winter Olympics, hosted by Russia in 2014. All governments bow to pressure if self interest is to be damaged too adversely otherwise.
Interesting facts here of how feminism prospered somewhat after the Bolshevik revolution to be reined in under Stalin in the 1930s. Homosexuality was tolerated under the soviet regime prior to Putin’s reactionary legislation.
I found the latter half of the book a slog. Dry, wordy and not as easy to follow as it might have been. 2* for ‘enjoyment’. A few photographs/ illustrations would not have come amiss. Being the softy I am, I’ve upped it to 3 for some interesting factual snippets.
