David MacFadyen

is professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at UCLA. His publications include Russian Culture in Uzbekistan: One Language in the Middle of Nowhere, London: Routledge Curzon 2005; Yellow Crocodiles and Blue Oranges: Russian Animated Film since World War II, Montreal, London, Ithaca: McGill-Queen’s University Press 2005; and Songs for Fat People: Affect, Emotion and Celebrity in the Soviet Popular Song, 1900 to 1955, Montreal, London, Ithaca: McGill-Queen’s University Press 2002.

Articles

Can you hear me now?

Mobile technology in rural Russia

With Siberia and the Urals close on the heels of Moscow in mobile phone ownership, Russia’s expanses are rapidly seeming less vast. The latest broadcasting and telecommunications technology, above all mobcasting, is “leapfrogging” conventional handheld usage and challenging the monopoly of state-owned media. What’s more, international copyright law, a requirement for Russia’s membership in the WTO, is increasingly difficult to keep track of in the farthest reaches of the Russian media landscape.

Valentin's cards

Refereeing the dirtiest match in World Cup history

Holland v. Portugal during the World Cup 2006 was the dirtiest match in tournament history, with sixteen yellow cards and four reds. Russian referee Valentin Ivanov’s “Soviet school of refereeing” clashed with players’ increasing defensiveness. But in Russia, Ivanov’s refereeing was cause for celebration; so what does this says about the nation’s attitude to rules?