Svalbard on the (Post-)Soviet Screen

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.4993

Keywords:

Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Soviet cinema, Russian cinema, Norwegian cinema

Abstract

A selection of Soviet/Russian and Norwegian documentary and feature films about Svalbard is analysed to account for the recurrent issues raised in cinematic representations of the archipelago. Such issues primarily include Svalbard’s ownership and demilitarization, as well as the role that women – and Russia – play in the region. The subject of these representations’ verisimilitude is also discussed. The article concludes that both film groups show a mutually observed parallel reality.

Author Biography

Andrei Rogatchevski, UiT The Arctic University of Norway

PhD in Slavonic Languages and Literatures, Professor in Russian Literature and Culture, Department of Language and Culture, UiT the Arctic University of Norway. Latest major publication: A War of Songs: Popular Music and Recent Russia-Ukraine Relations (2019, co-authored with Hansen, Steinholt and Wickström).

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Published

2020-02-01

How to Cite

Rogatchevski, Andrei. 2020. “Svalbard on the (Post-)Soviet Screen”. Nordlit, no. 45 (February):150–174. https://doi.org/10.7557/13.4993.

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