In Conversation with Lucy Birge - The Use of the Soviet Past in the Present

Frances Shalom SPEAKS TO Lucy Birge about the Use of The Soviet Past in the Present and her research exploring Russia’s Outward Projection Strategy via its international Broadcasting outlet, sputnik

Lucy Birge

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Soviet history has played a significant role in informing Russian national identity and uniting the nation. On Thursday, 8 October 2020 we will be hosting an event with Issy Sawkins, Allyson Edwards, and Lucy Birge on The Use of the Soviet Past in the Present. This discussion will engage with the instrumentalization of this memory during the Yeltsin and Putin era. The presenters will briefly introduce themselves and their topics, drawing on their expertise in memory of the Second World War during the 1990s, and memory of the 1917 Russian revolution and Holocaust memory in contemporary Russia. They will discuss the chosen narratives and their implications, which are closely linked with the recent constitutional amendments. There will then be a more general discussion with the audience about these developments, with the opportunity for a Q&A session. The discussion will be chaired by Dr Kristin Roth-Ey of UCL.

Ahead of this event, we sat down with Lucy Birge to hear more about her research, her interest in Russia, and her favourite memories from her travels across the country. Lucy is a third year PhD Candidate in Russian Studies at the University of Manchester. She holds a degree in Russian Studies from the University of Sheffield (2012) and an MPhil in European Literature and Culture from the University of Cambridge (2014). She has studied and lived in Yaroslavl and St Petersburg, Russia. Lucy’s research explores Russia’s outward projection strategy via its international broadcasting outlet, Sputnik. Her PhD is fully funded under the auspices of the University of Manchester AHRC project, Reframing Russia.

Frances Shalom (Pushkin House): Hi Lucy, thank you so much for sitting down with me. Could you tell me a little bit about yourself and your research?

Lucy Birge: I was born and raised in London but have since studied/lived in Sheffield; Yaroslavl; St Petersburg: Cambridge and Berlin. Now in my third year of a PhD at University of Manchester in Russian and East European Studies, my research explores Russia’s outward projection strategy via its international broadcasting outlet, Sputnik. Before embarking on my PhD, I was working as an interpreter and translator of Russian to English in St Petersburg and London while dabbling in the odd bit of journalism. My research is interdisciplinary and is situated at the intersection of Politics, International Relations, Media Studies and Russian Studies. Funnily enough, I had never studied any Social Sciences before my PhD, but they embody the various elements of Russia that interest me most.

Frances: How is it that you first became interested in Russia and the Post-Soviet space? Is there something unique about this area of the world that you were specifically drawn to?

Lucy: My route into Russia is probably fairly untypical. At school my favourite subjects were Languages and History and I had a French teacher of Russian origin who became a sort of mentor figure and so learning Russian seemed like a logical move. I started with the Russian language and once I went to study in Russia my interest in the wider culture and place was fully cemented. I am definitely the imposter among the panel insofar as I am not a historian. However, I have always been struck by how Russians view their rather tumultuous history. I think the frequency and intensity of turbulent events over the past century is something unique to a country of such size, wealth and significance. Russian history is littered with concerted attempts to break cleanly with the epoch preceding it, though as it also shows, it never quite works out that way. Yet, reconciling the major historical events with the present is also far from simple.

Frances: You mentioned that you have lived in Yaroslav and St. Petersburg, is there anything you were surprised by when you moved over there? Is there anything you wished more people understood about Russia?

Lucy: I first went to Russia on a school trip in 2003 but it was when I went on my year abroad to Yaroslavl and St Petersburg in 2010 and then worked in St Petersburg four years later that I really got to know the place well. There is a common misconception about the people and their attitudes, although I can’t say that really surprised me. Generally, though, Russians are far more open and tolerant than people give them credit. Also, the Russian people are made up of many other cultures and ethnicities than the predominant Slavic/Orthodox one, it would be good if that was recognised more widely in the West. I really love being in Russia and feel a gaping hole when I haven’t been for a while.

Frances: I feel exactly the same! There is something so energising about being there. What are some of your favourite travel memories?

Lucy: Too many to recount. But to cite a few: a visit from the Russian Police; time spent at Russian dachas; being on roof tops in central St Petersburg; attending a Chinese/Russian wedding; tons of odd, perilous and amusing situations with Russian taxi drivers.

Frances: How fantastic and bizarre! Heading out to the countryside to a dacha was definitely one of my favourite experiences too. What would your top tips for a newbie travelling in Russia?

Lucy: Overall, I’d say be open to talking to locals. As you will find, most Russians really like talking to foreigners. If you’re in Moscow, make sure you have some kind of plan as the city can feel quite impenetrable and you need to know where you’re going -but definitely use the Moscow Metro to get around as it’s quite the marvel as well as being the fastest mode of transport. If you’re in St Petersburg, walk around without a plan, go on a boat ride to see the city from another angle, go on a rooftop tour for yet another and drop into one of its many embankment bars. For me the banya and the dacha are the gems of Russian culture - try to experience at least one of these or even both at the same time!

The Use of Soviet Past in the Present will take place on Thursday, 8th October from 6pm till 7:30pm via Zoom.

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Frances Shalom is a Young Pushkin volunteer for Pushkin House and is a recent graduate of King’s College, London. Following completion of her History degree, she is currently applying to publish her thesis on the use of monetary policy as a tool of the Cold War.

Read Frances’s interviews with the other ‘The Use of the Soviet Past’ panelists Issy Sawkins and Allyson Edwards.