Russian Matryoshka Yes
You need to know at least two things about one of the classic symbols of Russia. First, the matryoshka (матрёшка) has only been made in Russia since the late nineteenth century (around 1890). There’s something Japanese in it too (some claim Chinese), and it was originally a children’s toy. Second, and take note, a matryoshka is a matryoshka.
Matryoshka ≠ Babushka
I get it, you’ll say, but not everyone understands or knows that. The matryoshka is often called a babushka – and really, it’s better to say nothing at all if you’re going to say that.
Difficult for Mrs. Bellinga, a tourist in Russia, and a fine example of Dutch people at their worst. “Babushka, that’s what they’re called.” Even the stress is wrong. Everything is wrong. Unfortunately, it wasn’t too bad for the Bellinga family, but watch In Russia, things didn’t go quite right if you’re in the mood for some frustration. A *%! is a *%! and a matryoshka is a matryoshka (not a grandma), period.
Layered
Whether its roots lie in the Far East or not, the matryoshka has become fully Russian in 130 years. Maybe it’s because it expresses something about the layers of the country, the people, and even their language. There’s always another surprise, which still fits perfectly.
Watch one video (by year), and then another will follow, until the end.
Nesting dolls. Russian Matryoshka
(Elena RuLena, 2020, 4 m)
Russian Souvenir: Matryoshka Nesting Doll
(Firebird Tours, 2018, 6 m)
“Наша история” Русская Матрёшка
(Телеканал АИСТ, 2018, 12 m)
Matryoshka: The Russian Nesting Doll
(The Art of Russia, 2017, 10 m)
Russian handicrafts: Matryoshka, the nesting doll
(Russia Beyond, 2017, 5 m)
Matreshka – Nesting Dolls
(Russian Souvenirs, 2016, 4 m)
How do they do it Russian Dolls
(Filming in Russia, 2016, 7 m)
More
See
- Russia 2018 Magazine: Inside famous Russian Dolls (FIFATV, 2018, 3 m)
- Пряничный домик. Русская матрешка (Телеканал Культура, 2018, 26 m)
- Slow Russian / Матрёшка / Russian nesting doll (Live Russian, 2018, 3 m)
- Matryoshka dolls are everywhere (TRT World, 2017, 3 m)
- Russian Dolls – Words of the World (wordsoftheworld, 2010, 5 m)
Read
- 7 facts about Matryoshka, the iconic Russian doll (Russia Beyond, 2020)
- Matryoshka – History of the Russian nesting doll (Meet Russia Online, 2019)
And then a song popped up!
And another.
And sure enough.
Beautiful, isn’t it.
More
Country
The Netherlands holds a unique place in the Russian imagination. This is how our country, and we, are viewed through Russian eyes.
An interview becomes legendary when it gets its own page on
Wikipedia. On February 6, 2024, Tucker Carlson spoke with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. The report (127 minutes) offers a good, or at least broad, opportunity to hear the Russian perspective on the war against Ukraine.
GOPNIK AND THE SLAV SQUAT
Country
What we would call ’tokkies’ or ‘gabbers’, and what elsewhere might be referred to as white trash or hooligans – in Russia, these are called gopniki. Folk culture in a tracksuit.
Since the age of sixteen, Игорь Мухин (1961) has been taking photographs. Armed with a
Смена-8М camera, he started his journey. So, when he found himself among artists and musicians in the 1980s, he already had a trained eye – and a better camera. Mukhin (sometimes Moukhin) witnessed major changes and began documenting them.
Freedom of speech is decreasing everywhere, though the reasons vary by region. Meanwhile, Big Tech’s power is growing, along with its interference. In this new era, a nearly forgotten Soviet answer is reemerging: samizdat, the underground DIY press and distribution network.
Every country has a flag and a coat of arms. The Netherlands has a lion, France has a rooster, New Zealand has a kiwi, and the United States has a bald eagle. In Russia, it’s an eagle with two heads and three crowns, and a man on a horse who has just killed a dragon with a spear.
