Table Of ContentDuelling, the Russian Cultural
Imagination, and Masculinity
in Crisis
This book, written from a feminist perspective, uses the focus of duelling to
discuss the nature of masculinity in Russia. It traces the development of duelling
and masculinity historically from the time of Peter the Great onwards, considers
how duelling and masculinity have been represented in both literature and film
and assesses the high emphasis given in Soviet times to gender equality, arguing
that this was a failed experiment that ran counter to Russian tradition. It examines
how duelling continues to be a feature of life in contemporary Russia and relates
the situation in Russia to wider scholarship on the nature of masculinity more
generally. Overall, the book contends that Russia’s valuing of a strong, militaristic
form of masculinity is a major problem.
Amanda DiGioia is a graduate student at the School of Slavonic and East
European Studies, University College London.
Routledge Studies in the History of Russia and Eastern Europe
26 The Russian Liberals and the Revolution of 1905
Peter Enticott
27 The Politics of Culture in Soviet Azerbaijan, 1920–40
Audrey L Altstadt
28 Women’s Experiences of Repression in the Soviet Union and Eastern
Europe
Kelly Hignett, Melanie Ilic, Dalia Leinarte and Corina Snitar
29 Leadership and Nationalism in Azerbaijan
Ali Mardan bey Topchibashov, Founder and Creator
Jamil Hasanli
30 Everyday Soviet Utopias
The Planning, Design and the Aesthetics of Developed Socialism
Anna Alekseyeva
31 Tourism and Travel during the Cold War
Negotiating Tourist Experiences across the Iron Curtain
Sune Bechmann Pedersen and Christian Noack
32 Soviet Women- Everyday Lives
Melanie Ilic
33 Late Tsarist Russia, 1881–1913
Williams Beryl
34 Duelling, the Russian Cultural Imagination, and Masculinity in Crisis
Amanda DiGioia
For a full list of available titles please visit: www.routledge.com/Routledge-
Studies-in-the-History-of-Russia-and-Eastern-Europe/book-series/SE0329
Duelling, the Russian Cultural
Imagination, and Masculinity
in Crisis
Amanda DiGioia
First published 2021
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
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© 2021 Amanda DiGioia
The right of Amanda DiGioia to be identified as author of this work
has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
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without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
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ISBN: 978-0-367-27965-3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-33145-9 (ebk)
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This book is dedicated to:
Maria Sibiryakova, Dr Snejana Tempest, Irina Likhtina,
Oksana Rosenblum, and Katya Kesten, for helping to
teach me how to speak.
Jess Farr-Cox and Olga Livshin, for the red pen is
mightier than the pistol.
Lev Fridman, for being the ultimate academic
matchmaker, as well as for all your attempts to correct my
Russian pronunciation.
Peter Braga and Merlin Petrovich, for being my rocks and
sources of joy that pierce even the darkest nights of my life.
Last (but certainly not least), I would like to dedicate
this book to my second, Jennifer Altavilla: ‘Grab a
friend, that’s your second; your lieutenant when there’s
reckoning to be reckoned’ (Miranda, L. M., Lacamoire,
A. & Chernow, R., 2015. Hamilton: An American Musical.
Atlantic Recording Corporation). Jenny, we have been
friends for over a decade. You have sat by my side as
I babbled about Alexander Hamilton throughout high
school (2006 seems like yesterday). You have dried
my tears countless times, and cheered on my various
triumphs. You are not only Jane Austen to my Mary
Shelley; you inspire me every day to become a better
scholar, a better friend, and a better person. I cherish our
friendship. Jenny. You will always be my second. Thank
you for everything.
Contents
Foreword viii
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction: ‘I demand satisfaction’ 1
1 ‘A real muzhik’: toxic masculinity, duelling, and Russia 12
2 Gory, heinous, and crude: duelling in Russia from Peter
the Great onwards 41
3 A gendered reading of canonical texts: toxic masculinity,
Turgenev, and the Russian duel in the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries 70
4 ‘Cry on the inside’: analysis of The Duelist 120
5 ‘If it’s hostile, you kill it’: duelling in the Metro series 164
6 Conclusion: toxic masculinity re-loaded 204
Index 208
Foreword
The purpose of this publication is to shed light upon the connection between toxic
masculinity and duelling in Russia. Why is the duel coded as admirable, remark-
able, or noble? What is so magnificent about men who are unable to resolve con-
flict by means other than violence? The argument of this book is that duelling is a
symptom of masculinity, which has always been in crisis. By connecting duelling
to a crisis of Russian masculinity, as well as using both classic and contemporary
texts to explore legal, social, political, and historical aspects of Russian culture,
this book will fill a gap in the existing literature on Russian duelling, a topic that
is ripe for re-analysis via a feminist lens. By using a gender studies framework,
modern ideas and examples can be brought to bear on a supposedly archaic cul-
tural trope, arguing for its continued cultural relevance.
Amanda DiGioia is a PhD candidate at the University College London School
of Slavonic and East European Studies. Amanda received a master’s degree in
women’s & gender studies at Southern Connecticut State University. Amanda’s
first monograph, Childbirth and Parenting in Horror Texts: The Marginalized and
the Monstrous, was published in 2017 by Emerald Publishing Limited. Amanda
is also a co-editor of Multilingual Metal Music: Sociocultural, Linguistic and
Literary Perspectives on Heavy Metal Lyrics, an edited volume forthcoming in
2020 through Emerald Publishing Limited. Amanda has been published in Horror
Studies, Metal Music Studies, and Fan Phenomena: Game of Thrones. Amanda’s
research interests include feminist textual analysis, gender studies, and media
studies.
Acknowledgements
This book is based on research I conducted around my diagnosis with grey zone
lymphoma, a cancer that is so rare that there is no standard of treatment for it. Sub-
sequently, I was diagnosed with heart failure, a side effect of my chemotherapy
treatment, presenting me with a new set of challenges. I am eternally grateful to a
number of family members, friends, and colleagues who have encouraged me to
start this work, endure, and publish it.
At the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Stud-
ies, I would like to thank Dr Ben Noble, Maria Sibiryakova, Dr Snejana Tempest,
Dr Sarah Young, Dr Seth Graham, and Dr Mark Galeotti for their academic
advice, feedback, and support regarding this manuscript.
I must also especially thank both Maria Florutau and Peter Braga, who are also
from the University College London School of Slavonic and East European Stud-
ies, as they are the ones who encouraged me to write the proposal for this book
in the first place.
There are academics outside of the University College London School of Sla-
vonic and East European Studies who reviewed both my proposal and chapters
for this manuscript: Dr Elisabeth Schimpfössl, Graeme McGuire, and Slay Belle.
I am much obliged.
At Routledge, I would like to thank Peter Sowden, Editor, Asia and Russia and
Eastern Europe, for commissioning this book.
Lev Fridman’s support, advice, suggestions, and feedback were indispensable
to me, as well as this work.
I would also like to thank my personal editorial team, Jess Farr-Cox and Olga
Livshin, for all of their work on this manuscript. In the same vein, Oksana Rosen-
blum expertly translated any academic or media source in Russian that I could
not, which was greatly appreciated.
I would like to recognise the efforts of Dr Katelyn Dannheim MD, a pathologist
and friend, as well as the terminally delightful Dr Aimee Eckert PhD, who helped
me every step of the way during the diagnosis and treatment of my cancer.
Without the support of my countless friends, family, and colleagues during my
cancer treatment, I could not have made it. You know who you are. Thank you
to each and every one of you. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge my
