Guardians of Our Heritage
Journal: Cornell University Press eBooks
Year: 2019

This chapter focuses on the role of heritage objects as props in the performance of national identity. It draws on participant observation work at local festivals and commemorative ceremonies to expose the way heritage objects have been incorporated into new rituals and traditions in the Putin era. These cultural practices reflect an increasingly chauvinistic understanding of the local and national self. The chapter details in particular the initiative led by the ultranationalist critic and writ