The nature of Russia’s identity: the theme of “Russia and the West” in post-Soviet culture

The aim of this paper is to present a brief overview of the treatment in post-Soviet culture and the media, especially in literature, film and publitsistika on historical themes, of certain aspects of the perennial debate about ‘Russia and the West’. I will ask whether the West is still regarded as Russia’s ‘Other’, or whether, in a period when Russia has been more open to the West than ever before, and Western and Russian tastes in historical and other fiction appear to be converging, such a polar opposition can now be seen as fundamentally outdated.