Personification of Russia

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(Redirected from Mother Russia)
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

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

  • 1914 Russian poster depicting the Triple Entente – Britannia (right) and Marianne (left) in the company of Mother Russia.
    1914 Russian poster depicting the Triple EntenteBritannia (right) and Marianne (left) in the company of Mother Russia.
  • "For the Motherland!" on a 1965 Soviet stamp. The literal translation is "Motherland calls!"
    "For the Motherland!" on a 1965 Soviet stamp. The literal translation is "Motherland calls!"

Statues

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

See also

References

  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

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

External links