De « national-hipsters » aux supporters de l’État en guerre : la maison d’édition ‘Centurie Noire’ et la librairie Feuillage face à l’invasion à grande échelle de l’Ukraine par la Russie en 2022

Abstract

This article examines the transformation of the activity and the ideological agenda of the right-wing Russian publishing house ‘Black Centurion’ [Черная Сотня] and its associated bookshops, Foliage [Листва], in Moscow and St Petersburg, in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was created in the 2010s as a student project sought as reviving the image of nationalism by making it attractive to young people. Its editorial line aimed to glorify pre-revolutionary Russia and white Russian emigration, while being very critical about the USSR and adopting a skeptical stance towards today’s Russia. A second editorial line, which was more discreet at the time, consisted in hagiographies of the “independence fighters” of Donetsk and Luhansk. The associated bookshops, with their wider and more eclectic range, were places for socializing and debate that broadened the community, sometimes opening up a dialogue with left-wing thinkers. The war in Ukraine has upset the established balance: the hagiographic component has become the publishing house’s sole editorial line, while the bookshops, which have become less accessible to the public, now bring together a more radicalized community that supports the war in Ukraine, resulting in a recomposition of collaborations and networks.