Author Archives: isgray

Rock music in America was associated with escapism and rebellion. It shared many of these associations in the Soviet underground musical sphere, where Western rock filled a void left by the state-sanctioned bands and allowed for the envisioning of what … Continue reading →

In reading about the description of the kompaniya intellegentsii, I was struck by their similarity to the underground cadres and secret societies that made up the Decembrist movement. This similarity was noted even by the kompanii themselves, saying that their “central questions … Continue reading →

In reading Hadji Murat, I was struck by the diversity of people that were mentioned sitting around Vorontsov’s table at Tiflis. Georgian, Armenian, French, and Russian aristocracy wine and dine peacefully. While we have already noted the prevalence of French … Continue reading →