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Strange love. Putin and Russians

Strange love. Putin and Russians

What makes people act the way they do? Questions such as this one are often loaded with doubt as to whether their behaviour is logical. ‘How can they be like this?’ is usually the real meaning behind this kind of questions. We often adopt this point of view when talking about contemporary Russia, its president, and millions of citizens who support – or even adore – Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

From our perspective, this level of support seems unreasonable, to say the least. After all, he’s an ex-KGB officer who puts restrictions on important democratic mechanisms, wages wars, and has questionable relationships with business oligarchy. But Russians seem not to notice it, or ignore it completely. What’s going on?

‘Scourge of all foes unclean’

Karolina Blecharczyk, a researcher in the field of Russian Studies and a PhD candidate at the JU Faculty of International and Political Studies, has spent a lot of time studying Vladimir Putin and his compatriots. It becomes evident when one reads her newest book, entitled ‘Miłość i władza. Rosjanie kochają Putina’ [Love and power. Russians love Putin] (2016, Libron). The publication features an extensive insightful commentary on Russia and its leader, including the ideological, sociological, and historical foundations of the Russian nation. The author writes about the influence of Orthodox Christianity, serfdom, propensity for alcohol abuse, and many other aspects related to Russianness. She provides a detailed account of Putin’s career (interesting fact: his grandfather was the cook of the father of Revolution himself – Vladimir Lenin), and moves on to phenomena such as teenage Putin supporters and artists publicly professing their admiration for Russia’s president. Blecharczyk also relays less known perspectives on Putin, such as a dream husband and lover or godly being to be worshipped.

‘He watches me from the screen / Vladimir Putin, our leader / Scourge of all foes unclean’ (editor’s translation) – this is how Ekaterina Koshkina, one of Blecharczyk’s many interviewees, has expressed her love for Putin. Such an extreme form of adoration is not uncommon. Putin is seen as fearsome, a ‘scourge’, but at the same time as a father figure gazing at his people ‘from the screens’ with care and confidence. This makes a lot of people want to follow him to the ends of the Earth.

But why? Do they dream of their country’s greatness? Do they think that Russia has always needed a strong leader (czar, leaders of Revolution) to prevent it from succumbing into chaos? There’s certainly a lot to that. But something else also needs to be taken into account. Putin, projecting himself (and seen as) a father of the nation fulfils an important psychological need of Russians. They don’t necessarily want a politician to give them a choice. Maybe removing the necessity to make choices and decisions is the best strategy of living in a state? It certainly makes life easier: why think, why deliberate, why participate? Someone (Putin, that is) will make things right. This way of thinking is strikingly similar to ones found in fringe cults, where even the tiniest aspects of their members’ lives are controlled by the leader.

It's also quite possible that Putin is viewed as a bit of a heroic, mythical figure. Let’s take a look at his private life, shrouded by scandal and wrapped in mystery. Children, wives, and mistresses, unexpected and unexplained disappearances – all of this gives the Russian president an aura of uniqueness. In an interview about the private life of aristocracy in Early Modern Europe, Katarzyna Kuraś gave the following description of French rulers in the late 18th century: ‘According to some historians, when king and queen focused on their private and family life, they no longer appeared special and inaccessible to their subjects and lost much of their majesty. Can it explain the ease with which the royal family was disposed of during the French Revolution? Maybe’. Couldn’t the same be said, at least in part, about today’s Russia?

Russian superhero

And what about Putin’s past in the KGB? Shouldn’t that tarnish his reputation? Not really. In Russia, a person that becomes a secret police agent is traditionally seen as a role model and true patriot. On 20 December, Russians celebrate the Day of the Members of the Security Services, informally known as the Chekists’ Day, to honour its intelligence services (the name Cheka is an acronym referring to the first of a succession of Soviet secret police organisations). The Russian language itself illustrates how Russians perceive this issue: the word shpion is a negatively loaded term used for members of foreign intelligence, while razvedchik is a positive term used for Russia’s own secret agents. Vladimir Putin, therefore, is a hero who devoted his entire life to protecting his homeland.

In her book, Karolina Blecharczyk shows both the big picture – grand strategies, geopolitical issues, power plays – and a ‘slideshow’ of everyday lives of ordinary Russians, full of interviews, examples from the media, and interesting facts.

There are many other reasons why Russians love their leader so much. He’s seen as a friend to all children, a superhero, an embodiment of fortitude (one of the leading Russian fitness instructors has even developed a set of exercises called ‘Putin’, which incorporates elements from various sports practiced by the president – judo, hockey etc.). Putin is also believed to be a friend of animals, though that doesn’t prevent him at all from being a successful hunter. In other words, he’s got something for everyone.

Blecharczyk’s book about Russian psychology and sociology raises one more interesting issue, one that would be worth a closer examination. How is Russians’ love for their president influenced by the fact that they’re the citizens of the largest country in the world, a country in which travelling by train from one border to the other lasts one week and involves passing through eight time zones? Do the images of this vast space make them think of Russia as a superpower in need of strong leadership? Do they think of themselves, just like the British in the times of Queen Victoria, as citizens of an empire on which the sun never sets?

Photographs of Vladimir Putin: en.kremlin.ru

Original text by Piotr Żabicki: www.nauka.uj.edu.pl

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