For this week’s object lesson, a nod to what the Russian Universe blog calls ‘klyukvification’, defined as: ‘a process of creating a stereotypical narrative using Russian cultural objects and concepts in a certain manner’, for instance ‘bears playing balalaikas in the winter streets of a ‘typical’ Russian city.’ This includes what Russian Universe calls ‘native klyukva which is made by Russian creators (and/or with a Western partnership) for the Western market to monetize existing Russian stereotypes.’ Here, therefore, is a dancing bear merry-go-round toy which I picked up at the Izmailovo flea market.
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