Lecture with Amy Adams: Sacred Histories: Why Russian Leaders Tell Icon Tales
Members Free, Not-yet-members $15.
Limited to 80 seats, tickets at door if available
This talk uses the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan as a case study to highlight how Russia’s political leaders invoke the notion of “sacred” history as political discourse. Drawing on hundreds of years of icon tales (skazaniia) linked to the Kazanskaya icon from its “miraculous” appearance in 1579 in Kazan to the 2021 restoration of the church built on the site of its discovery, the talk considers its use by Ivan IV (“the Terrible”), Joseph Stalin, and Vladimir Putin to push national political agendas, especially in times of war.
Amy Adams is Professor of Russian Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. She received her B.A. in Russian Language and Literature at Dartmouth College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On the topic of Russian icons, she co-edited and contributed to the volume Framing Mary: The Mother of God in Modern, Revolutionary, and Post-Soviet Russia. She has also published articles and book chapters on the topic of icons in Russian literature.
Members Free, Not-yet-members $15.
Limited to 80 seats, tickets at door if available
This talk uses the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan as a case study to highlight how Russia’s political leaders invoke the notion of “sacred” history as political discourse. Drawing on hundreds of years of icon tales (skazaniia) linked to the Kazanskaya icon from its “miraculous” appearance in 1579 in Kazan to the 2021 restoration of the church built on the site of its discovery, the talk considers its use by Ivan IV (“the Terrible”), Joseph Stalin, and Vladimir Putin to push national political agendas, especially in times of war.
Amy Adams is Professor of Russian Studies at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. She received her B.A. in Russian Language and Literature at Dartmouth College, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. On the topic of Russian icons, she co-edited and contributed to the volume Framing Mary: The Mother of God in Modern, Revolutionary, and Post-Soviet Russia. She has also published articles and book chapters on the topic of icons in Russian literature.