| Unit name | Engineers of the Human Soul: Soviet Culture and Politics 1917 - 1941 |
|---|---|
| Unit code | RUSS20060 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Connor Doak |
| Open unit status | Open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Russian |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Sweeping to power in the revolution of October 1917, the Soviets aimed to transform not only politics and society, but also culture, including literature, film, visual art, and music. For Soviet leaders, culture was not merely a form of entertainment, but rather a tool to forge the New Soviet Man and Woman. Writers and artists were expected to become, in a popular phrase of the day, ‘engineers of the human soul’. We begin by considering competing ideas about the function of art in a socialist state after the Revolution. The 1920s saw a lively debate about what type of art would be appropriate for the Soviet Union, as well as a wave of experimentation in all of the arts. However, by the early 1930s, Socialist Realism had become established as the only acceptable art form in the Soviet Union, and those who did not comply were repressed.
This unit aims to familiarize students with the relationship between culture and politics in the Soviet Union between 1917 and 1941. Students will become familiar with the key figures in Soviet cultural policy in the period (Lenin, Lunacharskii, Trotskii, Stalin), as well as major writers (who might include Akhmatova, Bulgakov, Gorkii, Kataev, Maiakovskii) and filmmakers (e.g. Eisenstein, Vertov). We pay attention both to canonical Soviet figures and dissidents who used culture to challenge the regime. Students will evaluate the competing ideas about art in a socialist society, as well as looking in detail at key works from the time.
On successful completion of this unit, a student will be able to:
1) identify major writers and filmmakers in the Soviet Union of the 1920s and 30s, and explain the key differences between their ideologies and approach to their craft;
2) analyze primary texts from the period, including imaginative literature, film, manifestos and political writings, particularly with an eye to their ideological context;
3) evaluate the function of art in early Soviet Russia, as well as how the mutual relationship between culture and politics played out in that society;
4) demonstrate skills of group working, presentation and research skills at a standard appropriate to level I.
1 weekly lecture
1 weekly seminar
Katerina Clark, The Soviet Novel: History as Ritual, 3rd ed (Bloomington, IN: Indiana UP, 2000)
Katerina Clark and Evgeny Dobrenko, Soviet Culture and Power: A History in Documents, 1917–1953 (New Haven, CT: Yale UP, 2007)
Victor Erlich, Modernism and Revolution: Russian Literature in Transition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1994)
David C. Gillespie, Early Soviet Cinema: Innovation, Ideology and Propaganda (London: Wallflower Press, 2000)
Robert A. Maguire, Red Virgin Soil: Soviet Literature in the 1920s (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1968)
Richard Stites, Revolutionary Dreams: Utopian Vision and Experimental Life in the Russian Revolution
(Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989)
