RUSSIA Ravioli and Russian patriotism at school

In an effort to reread Russian history in the current war context, the case of a professor who turned to a culinary example has gone viral on Russian social networks. 'Better to prepare pelmeni than play with assault drones.'

Moscow () – One of the most important instruments of patriotic propaganda in Russia are school lessons, which are now given a meaning similar to that of Soviet schools, where teachers were entrusted with the task of “forming consciences.” ” of future generations. The commitment consisted of “maintaining a highly scientific and practical level, and at the same time theoretical and ideological”, according to a formulation recently reiterated by the instructions of the Ministry of Education. In particular, this refers to lessons on national history, which should not be limited to transmitting notions, but rather achieve an “educational effect” on students at all levels.

For this reason, a 1968 Soviet film, Let's Hold Out Until Monday, has become very topical in Russia, also due to the complete lack of foreign films. In it, the protagonist is the historian Ilya Mensikov, who teaches history at school according to the textbooks, presenting the heroic figure of “Lieutenant Šmidt”, a symbolic character of the great Soviet victories in the Great Patriotic War against the Nazis. During the interrogation, the student again proposes the soldier's exploits by repeating the 15 lines of the book from memory, but the teacher asks him for more, to see if he has understood the lieutenant's “main talent”: “that of having compassion for suffering.” of others rather than their own, because that is where revolutionaries and poets are born”, assigning heroism an added value that makes war a salvific act, like the one Russia is committing today in Ukraine for the good of the entire world.

This is precisely the content of a note delivered in recent days by Nina Gorjanova, a history teacher, to a sixth-grade student in the Russian region of Tjumen, in Siberia, whom she had asked to write an essay about “Aleksandr Nevsky”: commander, diplomat, Christian.” It was part of a series of tasks that continued with requests for comments on the medieval wars of Rus', the greatness of the rule of Ivan IV the Terrible, and other characteristics of the heroes of Russian history. The proposed topics were intended to awaken the passion of patriotism in adolescents, at the age most prone to being carried away by suggestions and emotions. And as in the Soviet film, the teacher expresses his regret for the pedantic answers, evidently compiled by generous parents or based on texts easily accessible on the Internet, perhaps through artificial intelligence applications.

Here, then, the Tjumen professor resorts to a much more concrete and experiential approach: the preparation of pelmeni, the Siberian ravioli that constitute one of the main dishes of Russian cuisine, with careful stretching of the dough and a fairly elaborate mixture. of meat, onion and fat, to obtain a true “main course” that adults accompany with generous portions of vodka. History is learned by putting the elements together to obtain the true product, the Russian soul that is tasted at the table, although not necessarily with liquor, by pouring frozen pelmeni on the windowsill into boiling water.

The Siberian teacher's initiative was criticized in several parent gatherings, but he received praise from the school management, to the point that the culinary experience was included in the program of all classes. In the words of historian Dmitry Volokhin, pro-rector for scientific research at the Razumovsky technical-scientific university (Mgutu), “how can you criticize such an approach? The professor tried to address the students not as ignorant youth, but as adults who “They need to practice life, better to prepare pelmeni than to play with assault drones.” Not all educators of “war patriotism” supported the initiative, but for the boys it was a much more attractive moment than the paramilitary drills, replacing bombs with ravioli and war with culinary art.