Abstract

The article examines the period preceding the creation of the discipline of Russian studies on the basis of Slavic studies in the post-war USA. The transition from descriptive Slavic studies, which focused on philology, to rigorous scholarship of regional studies evolved in the difficult circumstances of the World War, the search for a new configuration of the world order, and the transition from the allied relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States to their acute confrontation. Against this background, the initial plans for cooperation with the USSR in the emerging discipline of Russian studies were revised, which, however, did not affect its content as much as might have been expected. This was facilitated by the fact that at the outbreak of the World War II Slavic studies were a very advanced academic discipline with clear principles, which included, alongside objectivity and impartiality, a love of the country under study and not involving politics. An important factor was the activity of Russian émigrés in the United States. The Russian Review, which they established in 1941, actively promoted mutual understanding and created a positive (“real”) image of Russia, while paying attention to an objective and scientific (as opposed to propagandistic) representation of its history. The analysis of publications on Russian history between 1941 and 1947 demonstrates that American discourse on Russia had a sufficient number of formulas and images aimed at bringing the two countries closer together. The Soviet Union also had some potential in this regard, but the transition to sharp confrontation with the West occurred very quickly in a context of increased internal repression. In the US, despite the Cold War, Russian studies steadily developed towards professionalization.

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