La cultura russa e il Caucaso. Il caso armeno

Abstract

Russian Culture and the Caucasus. The Armenian Case

The author focuses on the need to integrate Russian studies with those concerning other cultures of the Imperial, and then Soviet space. Such a topic requires a critical approach which is neither russocentric nor russophobic. As far as the Caucasus is concerned, the Armenian case can be considered relevant to this approach. Armenian-Russian cultural relations should be studied beyond contrasting, and not always convincing ideological categories such as “the progressive role of Russian culture” or Russian “colonial” attitude. In fact, the insertion in the Russian Empire has given Eastern Armenians the chance of receiving modern, European culture through the Russian mediation. At the same time, this relation was not a “cultural monologue”, since the Armenians were able to actively participate in the cultural and socio-economical life of the Empire. Therefore, Armenian-Russian relations represent a remarkable case study in the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural structure of the Russian Empire.