Russian History in Foreign Scientific Journals: Evolution of Approaches and Points of View

Abstract

The article examines the extent to which academic journals reflect and form the directions of Russian studies (Russian area studies) using the example of three scientific journals (The Russian Review, Slavic Review and Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History). Obviously, both earlier and now these three magazines are the leaders in the field of Russian area studies. Since it is not possible to analyze publications throughout Russia’s history in one article, the author focuses only on first decades of Soviet history. At the same time, only works on the political and social history of the USSR fall into the focus of attention. Such important spheres of life of the Soviet state and society as economics, culture, foreign policy, religion, national relations, etc. are not included in this research. What is the degree of evolution in the methodological approaches of the editorial offices of these journals, beginning with the era of the Cold War (the time of the creation of the first two journals)? The main attention is paid to the first 15 years of the 21st century, when the journal Kritika was recreated in a new format, which, in the author’s assessment, took the leading place in modern foreign Russian studies, largely determining the direction and methodology of modern research.