'Duelling, the Russian Cultural Imagination, and Masculinity in Crisis' by Amanda DiGioia

Congratulations to Amanda DiGioia, PhD candidate, who has published a book with Routledge entitled 'Duelling, the Russian Cultural Imagination, and Masculinity in Crisis'. Written from a feminist perspective, Amanda’s book uses the focus of duelling to discuss the nature of masculinity in Russia. It traces the development of duelling and masculinity historically from the time of Peter the Great onwards, considers how duelling and masculinity have been represented in both literature and film and assesses the high emphasis given in Soviet times to gender equality, arguing that this was a failed experiment that ran counter to Russian tradition. It examines how duelling continues to be a feature of life in contemporary Russia and relates the situation in Russia to wider scholarship on the nature of masculinity more generally. Overall, the book contends that Russia’s valuing of a strong, militaristic form of masculinity is a major problem.