Architecture of Oblivion

Despite attempts to promote the aesthetics of ruins in Russia-from Catherine the Great#x19;s construction of fake ruins in imperial parks to Josef Brodsky#x19;s elegiac meditations-ruins have never achieved the status they enjoy in Western Europe. While the Soviet Union was notorious for leveling churches, post-Soviet Russia has only intensified the practice of massive destruction and reconstruction. Architecture of Oblivionexamines the role of ruins in the development of Russia#x19;s historical consciousness from the 18th century to the present. Investigating the meaning and functions ruins have acquired in Russian culture, Sch#xF6;nle looks at ideological reasons for the current disregard for the value of ruins and historical buildings, in particular by political authorities, and reveals how ruins have often become a site of resistance to official ideology and an invitation to map out alternative visions of history and of statehood. An interdisciplinary study of Russia#x19;s response to ruins has never been attempted, although the topic of ruins has garnered considerable interest in Western Europe and in the U.S. This original work from a leading authority on the subject will appeal to historians of Russian culture and thought, literature and art scholars, and general readers interested in ruins.