Stephen Norris, assistant professor of history and director of the film studies program at Miami University, recently celebrated the publication of his new book and was able to present it at a conference just before Thanksgiving break.
The book, which is his first, is titled A War of Images: Russian Popular Prints, Wartime Culture and National Identity, 1812-1945. Based on his doctoral dissertation, it is a mixture of pictures and text that compares the relationship between artistic propaganda, in the form of posters, and Russian history between 1810 and 1945.
This book is the first in-depth study of how prints, such as the ones Norris studied, helped to create a sense of national identity over a period of more than a century in Russia.
Norris presented the book at a conference for the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, where he said the book was well received.
"The book was featured at the conference and sold well," Norris said.
Norris first became intrigued with Russian history, particularly the role played by propaganda, when he traveled to Russia in January 1992 as an undergraduate.
"Living and traveling as a student in St. Petersburg only months after the fall of the Berlin Wall was an incredibly exciting time,"Norris said.
Mary Kupiec Cayton, chair of the department of history, expressed excitement over the recent publication.
"This book should help to bring visibility to Russian studies at Miami University," Cayton said.
She added that the university offers an extensive array of classes in Russian history, ranging from Russian film, to history and politics.
Norris' book focuses primarily on conditions in Russia prior to the Bolshevik Revolution.
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According to Norris, many students and historians alike often mark the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 as the beginning of Russian history and the collapse of communism in the early 1990s as the end of Russian history. Norris set out to correct this misconception by revealing how poster propaganda helped to build the pre-Bolshevik Russian identity, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars.
Norris's book explains the roots of Russian nationalism that began forming during Napoleonic Wars and continued to thrive during Hitler's invasion of Russia during World War II. Moreover, by uncovering these connections, he suggests that the sentiments of Russian ideology, such as nationalism and communism, may have had their birth during the time before the Bolshevik Revolution.
Miami joined a handful of universities in the nation when it created the Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies, which is allied with the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies.
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