Staff in the Department of Russian
Ms Anna Hurina
Contact Ms Anna Hurina (email at anna.hurina@durham.ac.uk)
Research Profile
My PhD project Representation of Urban Space and its Transformations in Soviet Cinema is aimed at exploring the formation of the new 'Soviet' urban space, its construction and representation in the Soviet films. The research focuses on changing image of the city in two broad periods: a) from 1917 to 1953; and b) the late Soviet period (from 1953 to the Perestroika of the 1980s). It aims for the first time to combine the methodologies of visual studies and urban, charting the transformation of the image of the city in Soviet cinema in parallel with the transformation of the Soviet urban space. Among others the points of my inquiry include the application of the concept of 'dispositif' to the construction of the new Soviet urbanism; the problem of building new mass living spaces in the first two five-year plans; the gender aspect of urban construction; visual strategies used in representation of Soviet railway and Moscow underground.
Membership of the Visual and Performance research group as well as seminar teaching of Introduction to Russian Culture (RUSS1151) and Popular Music in Modern Russia (RUSS 1041) modules is particularly valuable for developing my research interests.