“Heir”, ‘mask’, ‘troublemaker’, images of politicians of the perestroika period in the USSR 1985-1991, on the pages of the foreign press from the collection of N. I. Ryzhkov in RGASPI

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-1-136-153

For citation

Nikiforov, Yury S. (2025). “Heir”, ‘mask’, ‘troublemaker’, images of politicians of the perestroika period in the USSR 1985-1991, on the pages of the foreign press from the collection of N. I. Ryzhkov in RGASPI, Herald of an Archivist, № 1, pp. 136-153, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2025-1-136-153

Nikiforov, Yury S., K. K. Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University, Yaroslavl, Russia

“Heir”, ‘mask’, ‘troublemaker’, images of politicians of the perestroika period in the USSR 1985-1991, on the pages of the foreign press from the collection of N. I. Ryzhkov in RGASPI

Abstract

The article deals with the personal dimension of the latest national history - the perestroika era in the USSR in the light of archival documents. The analyzed archival document is an abstract of two articles in foreign periodicals, translated into Russian. On the one hand, excerpts from the French socio-political magazine Express for 1989 are presented. On the other hand, there are excerpts from the article “Watch out for Ryzhkov” published in the English newspaper “Forin Report” (September 14, 1989). The study utilizes such methods of historical science as narrative, comparative-historical and historical-typological. The theoretical and methodological basis of the publication is the “biographical turn” in historiography and the “new biographical history” (“new biography”), which is actively developing in modern domestic and foreign historiography. The article analyzes the images of political figures of the perestroika period in the USSR, presented in the assessments of foreign observers and analysts of the English and French press. The focus is on analytical descriptions of such important politicians of the Gorbachev era as Y. N. Afanasyev, B. N. Yeltsin, V. A. Kryuchkov, E. K. Ligachev, A. I. Lukyanov, N. I. Ryzhkov, A. N. Yakovlev and others. Fragments of the French and English articles have been translated into Russian for N. I. Ryzhkov's personal familiarization. The studied archival document, which is being introduced into the scientific turnover for the first time, was deposited in the fonds of the former Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers N. I. Ryzhkov (F. 653) of the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI). It was revealed that foreign observers and analysts were extremely biased in their assessment of Soviet statesmen on the eve of the collapse of the USSR. The images of Soviet politicians are constructed in the analyzed source through the use of original artistic means, including metaphors, personifications, epithets, allegories, and historical analogies. It was found that against the background of other political figures, N. I. Ryzhkov received the most positive assessments. Foreign observers and analysts are characterized by a publicistic manner of presenting the images of Soviet political figures. The subjectivity and originality of assessments and descriptions of foreign observers presented in the analyzed source are stated. The value of the document lies in the possibility of using the original source to build a historical and biographical study of historical figures of the late Soviet era.

Keywords

USSR, N. I. Ryzhkov, M. S. Gorbachev, A. N. Yakovlev, CPSU, perestroika in Soviet Russia, Y. N. Afanasyev, B. N. Yeltsin, V. A. Kryuchkov, E. K. Ligachev, A. I. Lukyanov, British and French press about perestroika in the USSR, Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI), historical sources.

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About authors

Nikiforov Yuri S., PhD in History, K. K. Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University, Department of National History, Associate Professor, Yaroslavl, Russia, +7-920-115-99-15, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The article was received in the editorial office on 17.07.2024, recommended for publication on 20.12.2024