Most Russians I know would agree that there's something along those lines in the Russian psyche, although I'm not sure "bleakness" is the right word. Fatalism, perhaps?
It would be really hard to find the psyche you're talking about in everyday artistic content.
As for high art, like Tarkovksy, I saw the same tragic content in arthouse movies from Westrn Europe.
Westerners look at pictures of non-smiling Russians and think they are angry or serious or sad.
There is a picture floating around with three astronauts, an American, a Russian, and an Italian: Big Smile, Soul Piercing Death Stare, Big Smile.
If you are in any way familiar with russians, you understand why, but a lot of westerners just aren't, and completely misread it.
Please stop. If you ever bothered to look at regular people walking on the street you would find exactly the same proportion of smiling or neutral (mostly neutral) faces. When I first came to Toronto I actually paid attention just to that expecting to see this myth - bunch of people walking on the street and smiling. Did not happen. And if you ever bothered to punch "Russian astronauts group" into Google search you will find plenty of smiling faces except when those were taken during some highly official situation.
So yes I am "in any way familiar with Russians" and from that perspective you are at least simply misinformed or a victim of how Western (totally unbiased and objective of course) media represents Russian.
It's not people in the street perhaps that is the big contrast, but in social interaction.
The americans pretty much always smile when they greet you regardless of whether you've met, and do the whole fake "how are you" routine. I've never encountered russians doing that. It's not that they never smile, but that the reasons for smiling aren't quite the same.
It may be a generational thing as well. Russia is a lot less isolated from the west today, so these cultural clashes may be fading away.
I know that can be tough when sensitive places are being prodded, but I don't think anyone is being nasty here. Also, as a bonus, it will make your comments more persuasive.
(One irony, btw, of threads where people argue about national characteristics is that often the arguments turn out to be between people of that background themselves, typically without realizing it. Of course that doesn't give anyone a pass to break the rules, but it does change the frame.)
I do not think I've made any personal attacks here. As for name calling - the post I responded to is way more fitting.
>"Also, as a bonus, it will make your comments more persuasive"
Maybe. I just said what I think about the statement. I do not really care if my opinion persuades anyone.
Please follow the rules if you want to post here.
Why Russians do not smile (2002) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27317859 - May 2021 (481 comments)
What a Russian Smile Means - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17445108 - July 2018 (67 comments)
What a Russian Smile Means - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17381975 - June 2018 (1 comment)
What a Russian Smile Means - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17376212 - June 2018 (1 comment)
Do Russians smile at each other? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7491944 - March 2014 (1 comment)
Why do Russians smile so little (and Americans so much?) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2375633 - March 2011 (105 comments)
The thing is, if I remember correctly, the habit of smiling in the photos appeared in the 20th century in the US. So it's still not here.
As for public interactions, among Russians the difference is that you have to look at the eyebrows and the forehead, which indicate the person being attentive and welcoming, or relaxed, or tense.
When Russians see Americans have smile with lips and cheeks, but forehead and eyebrows relaxed or tense, they probably can't realize it, but perceive this as "fake".
The funny thing is, in Scandinavia, especially Iceland people tend to show even less signs of being "open" in public interaction. At least, I felt unease at first.
I was recently told that I only smile when I'm talking to a particular person at work. It wasn't hostile, but it did imply that I don't smile "enough" and that I haven't noticed other people smiling more.
Russia has both a culture and an environment.
Do words like родина or отечество have a connotation of an intimate relationship between the people and the land, though?
In English, one synonym for indigenous is autochthonous, supposed to stem from Greek for literally "people arising out of the earth".
When you live in a country for extended period of time and deal with the locals every day on different levels maybe by then you will have grasped it.