Thread: Article: The Russian Mindset

Originally Posted by Suobig

I don't think it's aimed at creating negative image. It's just bunch of stamps and observations with no effort to verify or analyze. Hundreds of such articles exist, nothing interesting.

I don't understand that stamp about russians standing close to each other while speaking. This explanations "This may be a remnant from the Soviet past when people had to be very careful about what they said and always made sure that no one else was listening." is ridiculous. USSR was not Oceania from "1984". You could speak out loud anything that was not unethical or illegal. As well as in any other country. There were some ideological topics that should had been discussed with care. But danger of such things is greatly exaggerated.

We just don't understand what "personal space" is. Of course, I would not feel comfortable standing in front of someone who's not my girlfriends with our faces closer than lets say 50cm. But I don't have any special "lets talk" distance. Well, it would be a bit weird if I speak with someone who's 5m from me, if i can come closer.

It took me a long time to get used to Russian concepts of personal space. But I never once thought, "oh, yes, this must be a sign of the oppressive Soviet times." I think that is a very strange, and unfair, observation to make. It seems like a lot of westerners will try to psychoanalyze Russia, as if they need to have some time or place to explain what caused the people to behave a certain way. And maybe Russian history has a role in shaping Russian behavior, but if so, it certainly goes back much further than the comparable blink-of-an-eye that was Soviet times. Some cultural behaviors may be more a result of the intermix of different ethnicities in Russia, too. The vikings certainly brought their own culture with them, as did the mongols, and the turks, and other ethnic groups which became part of the Russian melting pot.

Originally Posted by Deborski

It took me a long time to get used to Russian concepts of personal space. But I never once thought, "oh, yes, this must be a sign of the oppressive Soviet times." I think that is a very strange, and unfair, observation to make. It seems like a lot of westerners will try to psychoanalyze Russia, as if they need to have some time or place to explain what caused the people to behave a certain way. And maybe Russian history has a role in shaping Russian behavior, but if so, it certainly goes back much further than the comparable blink-of-an-eye that was Soviet times. Some cultural behaviors may be more a result of the intermix of different ethnicities in Russia, too. The vikings certainly brought their own culture with them, as did the mongols, and the turks, and other ethnic groups which became part of the Russian melting pot.

The whole Russian history can and must be used to analyse social behaviour patterns. To speak only about 'Soviet times' (1920s - 1991) is not enough, it's 70 years of history, though their critical importance can by no means be denied. I would certainly say something about the 90s - Russia's sorry new history - which changed the social behaviour patterns in many ways.