Africa in Russian Imperial Culture: Race, Empire, and Representation (1850-1917) - cover image

Copyright

Anita Frison

Published On

2026-02-19

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-766-7
Hardback978-1-80511-767-4
PDF978-1-80511-768-1
HTML978-1-80511-770-4
EPUB978-1-80511-769-8

Language

  • English

Print Length

364 pages (xii+352)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 25 x 234 mm(6.14" x 0.98" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 29 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.14" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback690g (24.34oz)
Hardback870g (30.69oz)

Media

Illustrations20

THEMA

  • NHH
  • 3MN
  • NHTB
  • NHTQ

BISAC

  • HIS032020
  • HIS001000
  • HIS054000
  • HIS035000

Keywords

  • Russian Imperial Culture
  • Africa
  • National identity
  • Representation
  • Postcolonial Studies

Africa in Russian Imperial Culture

Race, Empire, and Representation (1850-1917)

  • Anita Frison (author)
This volume uncovers how Sub-Saharan Africa was imagined in Russian culture from 1850 to 1917. Drawing on travelogues, ethnographic studies, fiction, and museum collections, Anita Frison reveals how Russia—though lacking formal colonies in Africa—nonetheless engaged deeply with Western colonial discourse.

Organized around themes of Strangers, Lands, Bodies, Collectors, and Disguises, the book explores how Russians represented African peoples, landscapes, and artifacts to negotiate questions of race, empire, and national identity. Challenging the notion of Russian ‘exceptionalism’, this book demonstrates that imperial attitudes toward Africa often prefigured Soviet anticolonial rhetoric, whilst simultaneously relying on the colonial paradigm.

Richly documented and interdisciplinary, this study offers fresh insights for scholars of history, literature, and postcolonial studies, while remaining accessible to curious general readers.

Endorsements

Its depth of detailed narrative and analysis about Russian travelers to Africa, the purpose and provenance of resulting literature and ethnographic collections, and the emergence of related museums makes this book uniquely valuable for specialists, while its quality of writing also renders accessible to curious nonspecialists its main story line regarding how Russian Imperial culture compared with its Western counterparts regarding Black Africa.

Allison Blakely

Professor of European and Comparative History Emeritus, Boston University

Additional Resources

[document]EPUB Accessibility Report

Contents

Introduction

(pp. 1–10)
  • Anita Frison

1. Strangers. Russians Discover Black Africa

(pp. 11–64)
  • Anita Frison

2. Lands. Towards a Virtual Appropriation of the Continent

(pp. 65–112)
  • Anita Frison

3. Bodies. Black People under Russian Scrutiny

(pp. 113–186)
  • Anita Frison

4. Collectors. African Material Culture on Display

(pp. 187–244)
  • Anita Frison

5. Disguises. Black Africa at the Service of the Arts

(pp. 245–300)
  • Anita Frison

Conclusion

(pp. 301–306)
  • Anita Frison

Contributors

Anita Frison

(author)
PI of a Stars@Unipd at University of Padua

Anita Frison holds a PhD in Linguistic, Philological and Literary Studies from the University of Padua. She has since taught Russian literature at the universities of Urbino, Macerata, Venice and Padua, publishing scientific articles and edited volumes As the PI of a Stars@Unipd grant (https://www.unipd.it/en/stars), she led the project ‘AfTeR – The African Text: Representing Africa in Imperial Russia (1850-1917)’. Her research interests include Russian literature and culture (19th-early 20th century), Russo-African relations, the Russian Empire and its entanglements, Semiotics, Postcolonial Theory, and Cultural Studies. She is the co-editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal eSamizdat (www.esamizdat.it). Orcid id: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1712-3341