Personification of Russia

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A cover of Sentry [ru] magazine, approx. 1932, depicting Russia as a woman in a traditional costume liberated by a warrior in medieval armor with a shield depicting the National russian, trampling the Communist flag.

The personification of Russia is traditionally feminine and most commonly maternal since medieval times.[1] Most common terms for national personification of Russia are:

  • Mother Russia

Russian: Ма́тушка Росси́я, romanizedMatushka Rossiya (dim.); also
Russian: Мать-Росси́я, romanizedMat'-Rossiya; or
Russian: Ма́тушка Русь, romanizedMatushka Rus', lit.'Mother Rus''; or
Russian: Росси́я-ма́тушка, romanizedRossiya-matushka, lit.'Russia the Mother'

  • Homeland the Mother

Russian: Ро́дина-мать, romanizedRodina-mat

In the Russian language, the concept of motherland is rendered by two terms:

  • "place of birth", (femenine gender, Russian: ро́дина, romanizedrodina)
  • "fatherland", (masculine gender, Russian: отечество, отчи́зна, romanized: otchizna)

Harald Haarmann and Orlando Figes see the goddess Mokosh a source of the "Mother Russia" concept.[2][3]

Usage[edit]

During the Soviet period, the Bolsheviks extensively utilized the image of "Motherland", especially during World War II.

Statues[edit]

During the Soviet era, many statues depicting the Mother Motherland were built, most to commemorate the Great Patriotic War. These include:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Рябов О. В. (1999). Русская философия женственности (XI—XX века). Иваново. pp. 35–46.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  2. ^ Harald Haarmann, The Soul of Mother Russia: Russian Symbols and Pre-Russian Cultural Identity, ReVision Archived 2016-04-09 at the Wayback Machine, June 22, 2000 (retrieved May 2, 2016)
  3. ^ Figes, Orlando (2002). Natasha's Dance: a cultural history of Russia. New York: Metropolitan Books. p. 321. ISBN 9780805057836. [...] the goddess known as Mokosh, from whom the myth of 'Mother Russia' was conceived.
  4. ^ Казань. Храм на шести сотках — Ольга Юхновская."Не йог, не маг и не святой" — Российская Газета — Этот объект не включен в программу подготовки к казанскому миллениуму. Но его, без сомнений, будут показывать гостям города как редкую достопримечательность. Создатель множества памятников, художник из пригорода Казани Ильдар Ханов к тысячелетию столицы Татарстана строит на своем участке храм всех религий. В свое время творчество Ханова высоко оценил Святослав Рерих
  5. ^ "Павловск (Воронежская область)". Archived from the original on 2011-01-24. Retrieved 2012-11-02.

Further reading[edit]

  • Ellen Rutten, Unattainable Bride Russia: Gendering Nation, State, and Intelligentsia in Russian Intellectual Culture, 2010, ISBN 0810126567.

External links[edit]