The aim of this course is to introduce a broad understanding of popular Russian culture to students who will learn how to take a critical standpoint to the study of contemporary culture and ideology and use it in their everyday lives both as professional and intellectual practice.

The course is arranged in three basic topics. In the ‘Introduction’ I outline some theoretical approaches to the study of popular culture and focus on the current issues that exemplify three levels of analysis of popular culture: texts, practices, and institutions. An interdisciplinary approach to the topic mainly draws on the works in cultural studies (J.Thompson, S.Hall, J.Fiske, A.McRobbie et al.), the ‘production perspective’ for the sociology of culture (R.Peterson, D.Crane),  and ‘economy of culture’ (P.DiMaggio, P.duGay). In the course I apply this ‘optics’ to the study of representation of gender, sexualities, sports, politics and nation building through two discourses pertaining to Russian popular culture - glamour and nostalgia.

 The third part of the course discusses the new landscapes of Russian popular culture asking the question of whether and how cultural practices could be a tool for resistance. More specifically, I focus on three different cases: the representations of migrants in the popular sketch comedies and films, the Do-It-Yourself performance by Pussy Riot, and the recently emerged protesting practices of Russian ‘creative class’ as an element of popular culture.

The course is organized in cooperation with Aleksanteri Institute's Russian and East European Master's School.