MACMILLAN Satire and Protest in Putin’s Russia

This book studies satirical protest in today’s Russia, addressing the complex questions of the limits of allowed humor, the oppressive mechanisms deployed by the State and pro-State agents as well as counterstrategies of cultural resistance. What forms of satirical protest are there? Is there State-sanctioned satire? Can satire be associated with propaganda? How is satire related to myth? Is satirical protest at all effective?―these are some of the questions the authors tackle in this book. The first part presents an overview of the evolution of satire on stage, on the Internet and on television on the background of the changing post-Soviet media landscape in the Putin era. Part Two consists of five studies of satirical protest in music, poetry and public protests. From the Back Cover This book studies satirical protest in today’s Russia, addressing the complex questions of the limits of allowed humor, the oppressive mechanisms deployed by the State and pro-State agents as well as counterstrategies of cultural resistance. What forms of satirical protest are there? Is there State-sanctioned satire? Can satire be associated with propaganda? How is satire related to myth? Is satirical protest at all effective?―these are some of the questions the authors tackle in this book. The first part presents an overview of the evolution of satire on stage, on the Internet and on television on the background of the changing post-Soviet media landscape in the Putin era. Part Two consists of five studies of satirical protest in music, poetry and public protests. Aleksei Semenenko is Associate Professor in Russian at Umeå University. He is the author of  The Texture of Culture: An Introduction to Yuri Lotman’s Semiotic Theory (2012),  Hamlet the Sign: Russian Translations of Hamlet and Literary Canon Formation (2007),  Aksenov and the Environs (coedited with Lars Kleberg; 2012) and other works on Russian culture, translation and semiotics. About the Author Aleksei Semenenko is Associate Professor in Russian at Umeå University. He is the author of The Texture of Culture: An Introduction to Yuri Lotman’s Semiotic Theory (2012), Hamlet the Sign: Russian Translations of Hamlet and Literary Canon Formation (2007), Aksenov and the Environs (coedited with Lars Kleberg; 2012) and other works on Russian culture, translation and semiotics.