'Cancel culture' targets Russian history amid war in Ukraine, but to what effect?

Nations and businesses alike have united to impose strict sanctions against Russia, but some institutions have gone a step further, erasing Russian historical figures from events in reaction to President Vladimir Putin's war and to show support for a sovereign Ukraine.

The Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra, a nonprofessional orchestra in Wales, announced in early March it would pull music by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky from an upcoming program, asserting that performing the Romantic-era music would be "inappropriate at this time."

The orchestra had programmed Tchaikovsky pieces such as the "1812 Overture," which celebrated Russia's military prowess against the French during the War of 1812, and "Symphony No. 2," which is nicknamed the "Little Russian" – a term often used to disparage Ukraine.

The nonprofit Space Foundation renamed its annual "Yuri's Night," celebrating Russian cosmonaut and first man in space Yuri Gagarin, as “A Celebration of Space: Discover What’s Next." In Luxembourg, a bust of Gagarin was covered.

In Italy, the University of Milano-Bicocca said it would cancel a course about the work of Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky, but it backtracked on that decision after backlash.

Though critics swiftly latched on to the decisions as evidence of “cancel culture,” sparking outrage online, international relations experts said that’s really all the cultural sanctions are good for: outrage. Still, Putin took the bait as an opportunity to further spread propaganda that the West is out to cancel Russia as a whole.

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The groups all provided explanations for their decisions.

The orchestra attributed its choice to both the music's context and a symphony member's family ties to the conflict. The mayor of Mondorf-les-Bains in Luxembourg said covering the bust was a compromise for those looking to have it removed, and it protected the statue from potential vandalism.

The Space Foundation said in a statement it wanted to "ensure the focus of the evening remained on our goals" and told USA TODAY that its decision was in part due to “derogatory and anti-Russia” comments on its social media. The University of Milano-Bicocca said its decision was "to avoid any controversy, especially internally, during a time of strong tensions," according to Newsweek.

That didn’t stop Putin from spinning a narrative of “cancel culture.” In a videoconference for Russia’s Cultural Workers Day, Russia’s president claimed Friday that the West seeks to destroy Russian culture in a manner akin to Nazis burning books during the Second World War.

“Today they are trying to cancel an entire 1,000-year-old country, our people. ...Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Rachmaninov are excluded from concert posters, Russian writers and their books are banned,” Putin said.

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Igor Lukes, a professor of history and international relations at Boston University, told USA TODAY that snubbing figures such as Tchaikovsky, Gagarin and Dostoevsky “plays directly into the hands of Vladimir Putin and his war rhetoric.”

Putin has aimed for years to advance the view that Russia is surrounded by a Russophobic, or anti-Russia, world – whose attacks mainly stem from the West. The U.S. State Department lists Russia's claims of xenophobic Russophobia as one of the nation's top five "persistent disinformation narratives."

Affronting prominent figures in Russia's history adds fuel to the fire, Lukes said.

“This creature called ‘the Russians’ doesn't really exist … but they all share one thing, and that is that they are really proud of their culture," Lukes said, listing a number of Russian figures and achievements, such as the first man, woman and dog in space.

"I think that undoubtedly, this could serve as a confirmation of the Kremlin line that the West has gone berserk in its Russophobia, which, of course, would result in a sense of unity among everyone in Russia that would make it much more difficult to protest against the current wall," he said.

Ted Gerber, director of University of Wisconsin's Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia, told USA TODAY that ostracizing historical figures doesn't really help or hinder the situation in Ukraine either way.

“To some extent, it’s what we’d call performative in today’s language," he said. "It seems like it's a way that some people can demonstrate to others their support for Ukraine, but I don't think it actually has any tangible consequences.”

That doesn’t mean the cultural sanctions are all for naught.

“It probably has a marginal effect, but to the extent that Putin basks in the reflected glory of major Russian cultural stars, whether current or historical, this is one more way to stick it to him," Harvard historian Fredrik Logevall told USA TODAY. "It’s part of the spectrum of sanctions, if a minor part – part of the effort to deny him entry onto any international stage that serves to normalize his government.”

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Similar examples in Israel, US

It's not the first time that countries or groups have rebuffed prominent figures or cultures in light of current events.

In Israel, an unofficial ban still exists on live performances of Richard Wagner, a 19th-century German composer whose epic operas were marred by his reputation as an antisemite and his idolization by Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, the Daily Beast reported.

In 2003, U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., suggested renaming french fries as "freedom fries" to protest France's opposition to a proposed U.S.-led military action in Iraq, according to The Washington Post.

Today's repudiations are uniquely modern, falling in line with cultural trends of protest such as cancel culture, Gerber said.

"It's become part of the modern repertoire of expressing one's disagreement, trying to 'cancel' or trying to silence, as it were, people with whom one disagrees," Gerber said, though the term is "overused" by his measure. "Social media has clearly helped diffuse that model of demonstrating one's dissatisfaction with the situation.”

The actions are more of a "sideshow," he said.

“I just don’t see dictators in the future fearing to start a war because 17th-century musicians or 18th-century authors from their culture are going to be shunned or canceled," Gerber said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russian culture snubbed as groups around globe show Ukraine support