Russia as Adolescent: A Metaphor for National Psychology

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Anna Geifman  

The paper addresses the “enigma of Russia” by likening its national character to the archetypal adolescent personality. The multifaceted allegory illuminates a tradition of erratic, illogical, and exceedingly destructive perceptions, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior patterns which over the centuries have become part and parcel of the cultural mainstream in Russia, be it imperial, Soviet, or post-Soviet. An unformed and stumped national identity has been the key issue in the country’s development, as it often is for an adolescent. The paper demonstrates that as key characteristics of juvenile psychology, identity ambivalence and confusion are at the core of the country’s cultural and sociopolitical predicament, a lingering adolescent state.