Quote Originally Posted by Deborski View Post
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.