Revising Russian history

This article examines the production of new history textbooks that appeared after the breakup of the Soviet Union. It is argued that the radical revis ions in official history in this context are shaped by the Bakhtinian proce ss of "hidden dialogicality," whereby new, post-Soviet narratives respond t o earlier Soviet narratives in various ways. It is argued that different fo rms of hidden dialogicality are employed to revise official accounts of the Russian Civil War and World War II. In the former case, new texts respond to their Soviet precursors through processes of "re-emplotment," whereas in the case of World War II, the plot is left largely unchanged, but the main characters are changed. Although many political, cultural, and economic fo rces play a role in the revision of any official history, if is argued that the importance of hidden dialogicality between narrative forms needs to be taken into account as well.