Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture (Midland Book) [Paperback]

Joanna Hubbs (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0253208424 | ISBN-13: 978-0253208422 | Publication Date: September 22, 1993

"Joanna Hubbs has found the trace of Baba Yaga and the rusalki and Moist Mother Earth and other fascinating feminine myths in Russian culture, and has added richly to the growing interest in popular culture." —New York Times Book Review

"... brave... fascinating... immensely enjoyable... " —Times Higher Education Supplement

"... a stimulating and original study... vivid and readable." —Russian Review

"An immensely stimulating, beautifully written work of scholarship." —Francine du Plessix Gray

"Joanna Hubbs has provided scholars... with a wealth of significant interpretive material to inform if not reform views of both Russian and women's cultures." —Journal of American Folklore

A ground-breaking interpretation of Russian culture from prehistory to the present, dealing with the feminine myth as a central cultural force.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Indiana University Press (September 22, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0253208424
• ISBN-13: 978-0253208422
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #324,429 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but has some alarming errors... Not sure what to think, June 13, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture (Midland Book) (Paperback)

I am interested in world mythology, and Slavic is one of my favorites. It is a shame that there is so few good books in English on the subject, so when I saw this one I was very excited. However, I am on page 30 right now, and already I noticed some glaring mythological errors. Among them was a statement that Thor hung from Yggdrasil on p.19 (it was Odin, not Thor, that hung from Yggdrasil), that Dazhdbog is Svarog's father on p.17 (it is the other way around!), and that Adonis is Cybele's lover on p.29 (Cybele's lover was Attis, and though the story of Aphrodite & Adonis is similar to that of Cybele & Attis, they come from different cultures and feature different characters).

At first I wondered if she was writing about some obscure versions of these myths that I never encountered, then I thought perhaps the errors about Mediterranean and Norse mythology could be due to her specialty in Slavic myth, but when she got even Slavic myth wrong I could not come up with any excuses. Because of this I am not sure how reliable the rest of her information is. Nevertheless it is a valuable resource since there are few books on Slavic myth out there - just read with a grain of salt...

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but error- filled, November 29, 2006

By 

rachaelf (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture (Hardcover)

I got this book to learn about the pagan cults of Russia prior to the Christian conversion. While the basic information is interesting-- who the gods were and what their associations were, the book is filled with opinions that are not substantiated with any footnotes to back them up. (She does have some footnotes, but a LOT of conjecture.) She has a clear feminist slant, which is not particularly a bad thing, but it seems ahistorical particularly in the context of the 10th century-- can we really say that at the time the chuch was seen as misogynistic when we consider how society was set up? That seems like a modern construct being written into history...
It is often unclear if she is referring to medieval or modern concepts or rituals with certain gods/ goddesses and her discussion of the Vladimir Icon is erronious: the Vladimir Icon is NOT the same as the Kazanskaja for starters.
This all being said, take it with a grain of salt and only read it for the absolute basics. Anything beyond that is probably unsubstantiated opinion or ahistorical re-writing of history.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent resource for Mother goddess/Russian myth studies, April 21, 2003

By 

Katheryn otto (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mother Russia: The Feminine Myth in Russian Culture (Midland Book) (Paperback)

I found Joanna Hubb's text to be very informative and enlightening. Its contents are academic, prolific and detailed down to the definitions of Russian origins. The chapter on Baba Yaga has the greatest, most factual collection of resources available on the subject. Anyone interested in Russian mythology, the foundation of the Russian goddess religions, and the critical analysis of the female divinities, this is a must for your collection.