Cuisine and the Construction of Russian National Identity

Venue: Discursive Space (Level 5, Room 553), Arts West

Presenters: Professor Darra Goldstein

Professor Darra Goldstein explores Russian national identity and cuisine from the 18th century into the present.

This talk explores Russian national identity and cuisine from the 18th century into the present. Ever since Peter the Great opened his country to the West, the Russians have struggled with ambivalence toward outside influences. This unease has extended beyond political wariness into cuisine, with Western foodways alternately embraced and rejected over the years.

Today, following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Western food is again politically fraught. The economic sanctions imposed by Europe, Australia, and the U.S. have led Russia to ban imports of meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and dairy products, causing widespread food shortages. Where Soviet Customs officers once seized illicit magazines and books, Russian Border Control now confiscates cheese and other Western foodstuffs.

Russians are famously accustomed to deprivation, but these latest shortages have led not to resignation but to a gradual revival of artisanal production that is transforming Russia’s gastronomic landscape. We can see a new form of nationalism being played out in the culinary sphere.

Professor Darra Goldstein is the Willcox B. and Harriet M. Adsit Professor of Russian at Williams College and Founding Editor of Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture. She has published widely on literature, culture, art, and cuisine.

Supported by the Macgeorge Bequest.

from
https://events.unimelb.edu.au/events/7719-cuisine-and-the-construction-of-russian-national-identity