Russian Point of View on German Rossievedenie

Abstract

This review deals with the chapter about modern Russian Studies in Germany in the collective monograph “Izuchenie Rossii sovremennymi istorikami Zapada i Vostoka”, recently published under the editorship of N. V. Trubnikova. Its authors, the Tomsk historians V. V. Ageeva and M. A. Shtanko, have set a promising goal for their research: to approach the German rossievedenie in their overview covering the period from 1975 until 2014 with theoretical-methodological criteria instead of the more common in such cases political ones. In order to realize this project, they proposed to divide modern German historiography into three periods, with the latter one which covers the years 2005–2014 being a no less important innovation. However, it fell short of the reader’s expectations. Unfortunately, the chapter “Sovremennoe nemetskoe rossievedenie: spetsifika diskursa, tematicheskie polia i protsess institucionalizacii” is a mere compilation of superficially adapted facts, conclusions and ideas mostly taken from other works. V. V. Ageeva and M. A. Shtanko do not seem to have paid attention to the fact that some of the data they draw on have already lost its actuality. Statistical material serves largely to confirm their own postulates, and most references to German historians and their studies are inaccurate and misspelled, which does not enhance comprehension. Overall, the reader gets the impression that the authors were due to finish their work under some time pressure. This probably would explain why they chose “to take the easy way out” — in the end, the welcoming innovative theses expressed at the beginning of the chapter are abandoned, whereas outdated clichés — confirmed.