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SUMMARY:What Is Russian Orientalism? - Professor David Schimmelpenninck (B
 rock University\, Canada)
DTSTART:20111011T160000Z
DTEND:20111011T180000Z
UID:TALK33579@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Mel Bach
DESCRIPTION:This lecture examines the applicability of Edward Said’s the
 ories to Russia about “Orientalism” as a hegemonic device. The focus w
 ill be a painter and a composer whose works were created in the late ninet
 eenth century\, at a time of tsarist conquest in Central Asia. After a bri
 ef survey of how Russian Orientalism fits into the broader framework of Sa
 id’s ideas about culture and colonialism\, I will examine the war painte
 r Vasilli Vereshchagin’s “Turkestan Series\,” a group of canvases ex
 ecuted in the early 1870’s\, shortly after the artist participated in th
 e campaign against Samarkand. I will contrast Vareshchagin’s portrayal o
 f tsarist small wars against the Islamic khanates with Aleksandr Borodin
 ’s opera Prince Igor. While based on a thirteenth-century medieval epic 
 about an unsuccessful campaign against steppe nomads\, the opera can also 
 be read as a metaphor for the tsarist march into Turkestan. The lecture wi
 ll be accompanied by slides as well as musical clips.
LOCATION:Latimer Room\, Clare College
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