Ukraine/The Ukraine

[Eliot Borenstein]

1) Of course Russians suffered unspeakably under Stalin, but (unless one subscribes to one of a whole host of conspiracy theories that I’m leaving unnamed) they were not targeted as Russians (that is, as a group that is somehow different and lower than the majority).

2) The Soviet experience with censorship understandably makes many people from the post-Soviet space averse to anything that even vaguely resembles it.  This makes perfect sense (see—empathy! Imagining a subject position not one’s own! It can work sometimes!).  But just as much of our discussion is about the relative appropriateness of various analogies, I submit that the “thoughtcrime” analogy often trotted out by the American Right is a blunt instrument used against a set of much subtler discursive phenomena.

3) One more thing that looks like censorship, but doesn’t have to be:  the Internet is notorious for helping people put their worst foot forward.  I have never seen a list more in need of a moderator than SEELANGS.


Eliot Borenstein
Collegiate Professor
Professor, Russian & Slavic Studies
Director of Graduate Study for R&SS
Provostial Fellow
New York University           
19 University Place, Room 210
New York, NY 10003
(212) 998-8676 (office)
212-995-4163 (fax)
 
Editor, All the Russias
The Jordan Center for the Advanced Study of Russia
jordanrussiacenter.org
 
Blog:
jordanrussiacenter.org/all-the-russias/


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