Soviet Man PDF
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University of Victoria
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This document provides an overview of Soviet Man, focusing on the Serapion Brothers, Writers Guild, and the cultural context of the time. It examines artistic styles, social and political ideologies, and key figures like Zoshchenko and Akhmatova.
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Soviet Man Serapion Brothers, Writers Guild, “Art is above politics.” ○ Lead by Evgeny Zamiatin ○ Mastered Skaz, writing style in slang language from 1st person view Skaz writer Zoshchenko was accused of murdering the Russian language ○ Replied, “I had twisted anythi...
Soviet Man Serapion Brothers, Writers Guild, “Art is above politics.” ○ Lead by Evgeny Zamiatin ○ Mastered Skaz, writing style in slang language from 1st person view Skaz writer Zoshchenko was accused of murdering the Russian language ○ Replied, “I had twisted anything. I write the same language the man in the streets talks.” The Nep-man was doing well in 1930 and was viewed by the states as a capitalist It makes fun because they praise communism and are perfect but still have the same flaws, greed Zoshchenko said, “We all sacrificed for a better life; where?” Party policy: “State will not side with on-side on art.” 1934 has to be socialist realism 1946 Mikhail Zoshchenko and Anna Akhmatova were targeted by Andrei Zhdanov, mainly in “The Story of an Ape.” ○ The story is about an ape who escapes from the Leningrad Zoo and meets ordinary people. The objection was that people were “Objectivle has soviet citizens,” i.e. lazy grandma, someone sells the ape. ○ Andrei Zhdanov said, “Lack of reaction, literary bum,” and Mikhail Zoshchenko was kicked out of the guild. Homo Sovieticus ○ A new model of providing state-run laundry mending shops, house cleaning crews, and restaurants ○ Child care and cheap cafeterias in every school and workplace are the only ones that passed Along the same line of the Isreal kibbutz 1918-1920 Kollontai worked in the women's section of the communist party ○ Worked for prostitutes because there were so many, proposed not to make illegal, treated as any worker in need of re-training ○ Peasant women 1920-1940, more than 50 million adults become literate Rabfaki, university faculties allow only a tiny quota of students not from working-class families into higher education ○ 10-15% of workers in faculties were peasant women Kollontai stares, clashing with Lenin, dislikes NEP, 1922 11th party congress, Zinoviev, Stalin and Dzerzhinskii attempted to expel Kollontai, didn't expel them but was sent on diplomatic missions Kollontai was removed as Zhenotdel leader in 1922 and closed permanently in 1930 Anna Akhmatova, never associated with revolution, encouraged her to immigrate from all sides; she was also not a feminist, poet, or poetess Alexander Blok, leader of symbolism Maycovski, futurism Akhmatova wrote Evening 1911 and Rosary 1914 Acmeist was about precise language to describe Osip Mandelstam was arrested in 1934 for an unpublished poem making fun of Stalin's mustache, sentenced to exile, and detained in 1938 and sentenced to hard labour in a Siberian camp. Died in December 1938 ○ Freed because Pasternak said, “asking if another poet is great is if asking if wome if another is beautiful.” Akhmatova's poem Requiem is about waiting to help their son in prison Lev Gumilyov was the son in prison to control Akhmatova Andreu Zhdanov called her a “Half harlot half nun” and could not kick her out of the writers' union cause she never joined Nadezhda Krupskaia “Fish” cause she ugly 1869-1938 Lenin’s wife ○ Entrusted with the secret testament written by Lenin before his death, he warned about Stalin and advised him to be removed. Inessa Armand, Lenin’s mistress, was on the train. After the affair ended, she was still in his life. Until 1922, Lenin had been a Stalin supporter. ○ One theory is that the rift was caused by how Stalin treated Krupskaia and warned against his “crudeness and aggressiveness.” Lenin carefully prepared instructions; he thought it would be between Stalin and Trotsky, “Commander Stalin, having become general secretary, has unlimited power in his hands.” ○ “Commandrad Trotsky overbrims with self-confidence and is preoccupied with the admirative side.” ○ Lenin added another part to remove Stalin from the secretary. After Lenin's death, the Russian Institute of The Brain with 33,000 parts of his brain dissected to find his genius Stalin suppressed the Testament. Golden Age of Russian Film Lenin favoured film over other arts: “Above all the arts, film is the most important for us.” ○ Less expensive than theatre, mass illiteracy stopped books August 1919 Decree on the Nationalization of the Film Industry Lenin wanted the correct ratio of propaganda to entertainment Agitprop is Agtianonal Propagande ○ Ficitonal film caputes real life Dziga Vertoc (Denis Kaufman) Man with a Movie Camera ○ They started as a documentary filmmaker during the Civil War Kingo-glaz (Movie-eye) start by Dziga Vertoc Dmitry Shostakovich composed Man with a Movie Camera The Commissariat of Enlightenment (Lunacharsky and dept Krupskaie) ran state film 1918 film school at Moscow State University ○ Ran by Lev Kuleshov ○ Produced all top soviet directors 1925, Kuleshov graduates started making first-class material recognized in the west Film was the art of the revolution Sergei Einstien and Valdim Mayakofski worked in theater first Children's literature and film were safe writing Futurist art was prominent in film costumes and sets Queen of Mars by Yakov Protazanov 1924 was the first blockbuster film in Russia ○ Adventure, messages received by radio towers, soviets traced it to Mars, build a spaceship and fly into space, socialists save the Martian enslaved people Battleship Potemkin by Sergei Eisenstein 1925, one of the most influential films of all time ○ No one hero but a group of working-class, untrained heroes with attractive faces, ○ The notes step scene is one of the most studied montages in film history Sergei Eisenstein was the best at montage Montage, an editing film technique splicing two shots together, is used to “tell the story.” Kulshov Effect filmed an actor's face and showed it in a montage next to three shots. It seemed as if the actor's face had changed. Montage of attractions influenced by circus shows “Different shots shouldn't be linked together, set up between contrast, shock and jar” called the Film Fist. Montage was created due to no film stock, cut up old film and taped together. The Betrayal of the Revolution Hope against hope Two major people to take over after Lenin's death were Stalin and Trotsky Stalin, Lev Kamenev, Nikolai Bukharin, and Grigory Zinoviev accused Trotsky of having left-leaning views opposition in 1924 to destabilize him 1929, Trotsky is exiled from the Soviet Union Stalin expelled Zinoviev and Kamenev for being too right about Stalin's views. An internal passport shows that you are allowed to live in the city you are registered in 1956, The testimony is read aloud by Nikita Khrushchev 1929, the black year, the year of the great turning point by Stalin ○ Collection of the countryside (state-run farms) and have to sell less than market price to the state 1929, NEP ends Bori Pilnyak, Chairman of the Union of Writers of USSR (non-mandatory),1929 ○ Tale of the Unextinguished Moon (1926) 1932, Writers have to join the Writers Guild to be published Commander Mikhail Frunze, People’s Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs. He died on an operating table like the Moon. The ulcer had healed but reacted badly to 60mg of chloroform and 100g of something. Killed by KGB spy Mikhail Frunze's similarities to Pilnyak's story caused him to be attacked by the state This led to a campaign against Pilnyak and Zamyatin in 1929, who were accused of publishing abroad. Aimed to replace Pilnayk and Zamyatin with State loving writers 1936, publishing abroad or criticizing the party became an actual crime On April 14, 1930, Mayakovsky shot himself VAPP, the All-Union Association of Proletarian Writers First 5-year plan, 1929-1932: “We will turn the first 5-year plan into a 4-year plan!” Political opposition or not 100% with the 5-year plan was treason. This era is called “The War against the Nation” or “The Revolution from the Top.” Police chief Nicole Yezhov was killed by NKVD (secret police) in 1940 and then erased from photos. The Great Terror 1936-1948 The Shakhty Trail ○ Shakhty was a mining region; engineers were accused of sabotaging the mining, put in the press with links to foreign powers, and confessions were reported in the media. Stalin distrusted the peasants and the old Boshize. Collectivization, the state farms (Kolkhozes) worked for small salaries and sold all food for less than the market price. It began in 1928 ○ Stalin unleashed class war and blamed the Kulak (rich peasant), who was eliminated as a class and blamed everything on class enemies. ○ The effect of removing well-trained and successful from the industry caused them to suffer 1924, Trotsky vs Old Bolshevik (Karmenc, Zinoviev and Stalin) 1926-1927 Karmenc and Zinoviev vs. Stalin and Nikole Bukharin (Editior of Pravda) 1929 Stalin vs. Bukharin 1936 Kamenev and Zinoviev shot 1938 Bukharin shot 1938, the great purge Bukharin was for NEP and against grain requisition Grain fixed quota for collectivization Sergei Prokofiev was experimental music