Radicalized Antiquity: How a Russian Far‑Right Military Proxy Uses Greco‑Roman Heritage
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RIS BIB ENDNOTEData publikacji: 29.06.2026
The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 2025, 21 (1/2025), s. 29-50
https://doi.org/10.4467/24506249PJ.25.014.23414Autorzy
Using conceptual frameworks from classical reception and fascism studies, this paper presents a case study of how the ultranationalist, Orthodox organization, the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), uses elements of Greco‑Roman and late antiquity to reinterpret the ‘Russia is the Third Rome’ trope to construct a palingenetic ultranationalist myth that grounds the group’s quasi‑mystical political ideology to attract supporters and recruit fighters to the war in Ukraine. After an overview of how the Kremlin refigures Greek and Roman material for the purposes of expansionist nation‑building and to legitimize its control of Crimea, as well as a brief consideration of Moscow’s adversarial relationship with its military proxies, this paper will undertake a critical reading of selections of RIM’s digital content, symbols, and language to consider how the group refigures, resignifies, and reenacts aspects of Greco‑Roman culture, focusing particularly on its reception of Christian Rome, and the ideological purposes each new appropriation serves.
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Informacje: The Polish Journal of the Arts and Culture. New Series, 2025, 21 (1/2025), s. 29-50
Typ artykułu: Oryginalny artykuł naukowy
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Publikacja: 29.06.2026
Status artykułu: Otwarte
Licencja: CC BY 4.0
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