The problem of identity was in Russia at the centre of attention throughout the nineteenth century in the form of Slavophile ideology: the idea that Russia could solve the ills of the European civilization. In the twentieth century, we see the shift from the Slavophile messianism to a principle identified by the so-called Eurasians - namely, that a special civilization would emerge in the territory of the Russian State based on synthesis of the European and Asian cultures aspects.
Vladimir Sorokin's works reflect this problém in a notable way.