|
The Culture of the Soviet Union passed through several stages during the 70 year existence of the Soviet Union.
History
The Lenin years The main feature of communist attitudes towards the arts and artists in the years 1918-1929 was relative freedom and significant experimentation with several different styles in an effort to find a distinctive Soviet style of art. Lenin wanted art to be accessible to the Russian people.
At first artists and writers were given a fair amount of freedom but many fled Russia because of their opposition to the Bolshevik government. Lenin was a traditional man in art. He hated the new 'isms' (Futurism, Expressionism) and wanted art to be kept to traditional ways. Lenin showed his support to the art scene and wanted art to be accessible to the masses. He nationalised many private art collections and created the Museum of New Western Art in Moscow. Lenin wanted at the beginning to have full control of the art system and he appointed Izo-Narkompros to take control. The proletkult movement soon sprung up after the February Revolution. Its members wanted to make art more sympathetic to the masses and to encourage more participation in the arts. Many new art studios were set up in many cities. Its movement was progressive and its members pro-revolutionary. Futurism was a 20th century art movement. ...
The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893) which inspired 20th century Expressionists Portrait of Eduard Kosmack by Egon Schiele Rehe im Walde by Franz Marc Elbe Bridge I by Rolf Nesch On White II by Wassily Kandinsky, 1923. ...
Narkompros (ÐаркомпроÑ) is an abbreviation for the Peoples Commissariat for Enlightening (Ðародный комиÑÑариат проÑвещениÑ), the Soviet agency charged with the administration of public education and most of other issues related to culture. ...
Proletkult is an portmanteau of proletarskaya kultura (пролетарÑÐºÐ°Ñ ÐºÑƒÐ»ÑŒÑ‚ÑƒÑ€Ð°), Russian for proletarian culture. It was a movement active in the Soviet Union in 1917/1925 to provide the foundations for a truly proletarian art devoid of bourgeois influence. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
In many respects, the NEP period was a time of relative freedom and experimentation for the social and cultural life of the Soviet Union. The government tolerated a variety of trends in these fields, provided they were not overtly hostile to the regime. In art and literature, numerous schools, some traditional and others radically experimental, proliferated. Communist writers Maksim Gorky and Vladimir Mayakovsky were active during this time, but other authors, many of whose works were later repressed, published work lacking socialist political content. Film, as a means of influencing a largely illiterate society, received encouragement from the state; much of cinematographer Sergei Eisenstein's best work dates from this period. See also NEP. In Norse mythology, Nep was the father of Nanna. ...
Aleksei Maksimovich Peshkov (In Russian Алексей Максимович Пешков) (March 28; March 16 Old Style, 1868–June 14, 1936), better known as Maxim Gorky (Максим...
Portrait of Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (ВладиÌмир ВладиÌмирович МаÑкоÌвÑкий) (July 19 [O.S. July 7] 1893 – April 14, 1930) was a Russian poet, among the foremost representatives of early-20th century Futurism. ...
Sergei Mikhailovich Eisenstein (Russian: Сергей Михайлович Ðйзенштейн) (January 23, 1898 – February 11, 1948) was a revolutionary Soviet Russian film director and film theorist noted in particular for his silent films Strike, Battleship Potemkin and Oktober. ...
Education, under Commissar Anatolii Lunacharskii, entered a phase of experimentation based on progressive theories of learning. At the same time, the state expanded the primary and secondary school system and introduced night schools for working adults. The quality of higher education suffered, however, because admissions policies preferred entrants from the proletarian class over those of bourgeois backgrounds, regardless of the applicants' qualifications.
Under NEP the state eased its active persecution of religion begun during war communism but continued to agitate on behalf of atheism. The party supported the Living Church reform movement within the Russian Orthodox Church in hopes that it would undermine faith in the church, but the movement died out in the late 1920s.
In family life, attitudes generally became more permissive. The state legalized abortion, and it made divorce progressively easier to obtain. In general, traditional attitudes toward such institutions as marriage were slowly changed by the party's promotion of revolutionary ideals. Marriage is an interpersonal relationship with governmental, social, or religious recognition, usually intimate and sexual, and often created as a contract, or through civil process. ...
Stalin era Arts during the rule of Joseph Stalin were characterised by the rise and domination of the government-imposed style of Socialist realism, with all other trends being severely repressed, with rare exceptions (e.g., many notable Mikhail Bulgakov's works - however the full text of his The Master and Margarita was published only in 1966). Many writers were imprisoned and killed or died of starvation, examples being, Osip Mandelstam, Isaac Babel and Boris Pilnyak. Andrei Platonov worked as a caretaker and wasn't allowed to publish. After a short period of the renaissance of the Ukrainian literature more than 250 Soviet Ukrainian writers died during the Great Purge (e.g. Valeran Pidmohyl'nyi (1901-1937)) (so called The Executed Renaissance). Texts of imprisoned authors were confiscated by the NKVD and some of them were published later. Books were removed from libraries and destroyed. Josef Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili (Georgian: , Ioseb Besarionis Dze Jughashvili; Russian: , Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili) (December 18 [O.S. December 6] 1878[1] – March 5, 1953), better known by his adopted name, Joseph Stalin (alternatively transliterated Josef Stalin), was General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Unions Central Committee from...
Roses for Stalin, Boris Vladimirski, 1949 For other meanings of the term realism, see realism (disambiguation). ...
Mikhail Afanasievich Bulgakov (Russian: Михаил ÐфанаÑьевич Булгаков; May 15 [O.S. May 3] 1891, Kiev – March 10, 1940, Moscow) was a Russian novelist and playwright of the first half of the 20th century. ...
The Master and Margarita (Russian: ) is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, woven about the premise of a visit by the Devil to the fervently atheistic Soviet Union. ...
Osip Mandelstam Osip Emilyevich Mandelstam (also spelled Mandelshtam) (Russian: ) (January 15 [O.S. January 3] 1891 – December 27, 1938) was a Jewish Russian poet and essayist, one of the foremost members of the Acmeist school of poets. ...
Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel, Russian: ИÑаак Ðммануилович Бабель (13 July [O.S. 1 July] 1894 – January 27, 1940) was a Soviet journalist, playwright, and short story writer. ...
Boris Pilnyak (October 11, 1894–September 9, 1941) was a Russian author. ...
Andrei Platonov (Russian: Ðндрей ПлатоÌнов) (1899-1951) was the pen name of Andrei Platonovich Klimentov, a Russian writer of the Soviet period whose works anticipate existentialism. ...
The Great Purge (Russian: , transliterated Bolshaya chistka) refers collectively to several related campaigns of political repression and persecution in the Soviet Union orchestrated by Joseph Stalin during the 1930s, which removed all of his remaining opposition from power. ...
The NKVD (Narodny Komissariat Vnutrennikh Del ) (Russian: , ) or Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the leading secret police organization of the Soviet Union that was responsible for political repressions during Stalinism. ...
Late Soviet Union In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the Brezhnev era, a distinctive period of Soviet culture developed characterized by conformist public life and intense focus on personal life. In the late Soviet Union Soviet popular culture was characterized by fascination with American popular culture as exemplified by the blue jeans craze[citation needed]. // See also: Nikita Khrushchev After Stalin had died in March 1953, he was succeeded by Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and Georgi Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. ...
This article very generally discusses the customs and culture of the United States; for the culture of the United States, see arts and entertainment in the United States. ...
Blue Jeans Jeans are trousers traditionally made from denim, but may also be made from a variety of fabrics including cotton and corduroy. ...
In arts, the liberalisation of all aspects of life starting from the Khrushchev Thaw created a possibility for the evolution of various forms of non-formal, underground and dissident art; still repressed, but no longer under the immediate threat of Gulag labor camps. In Soviet history, Kruschevs Thaw or Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period between the end of 1950s and the beginning of 1960s, when repressions and censorship reached a low point. ...
Gulag ( , Russian: ) was the government body responsible for administering prison camps across the former Soviet Union. ...
A labor camp is a simplified detention facility where inmates are engaged in forced labor. ...
Greater experimentation in art forms became permissible in the 1970s, with the result that more sophisticated and subtly critical work began to be produced. The regime loosened the strictures of socialist realism; thus, for instance, many protagonists of the novels of author Iurii Trifonov concerned themselves with problems of daily life rather than with building socialism. In music, although the state continued to frown on such Western phenomena as jazz and rock, it began to permit Western musical ensembles specializing in these genres to make limited appearances. But the native balladeer Vladimir Vysotskii, widely popular in the Soviet Union, was denied official recognition because of his iconoclastic lyrics. Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Roses for Stalin, Boris Vladimirski, 1949 For other meanings of the term realism, see realism (disambiguation). ...
Yury Valentinovich Trifonov (Russian: Юрий Трифонов; 1925-1981) was a leading representative of the so-called Soviet urban prose, a 1970s movement inspired by the psychologically complicated works of Anton Chekhov and his 20th-century American followers. ...
For other uses, see Jazz (disambiguation). ...
Rock and roll (also spelled Rock n Roll, especially in its first decade), also called rock, is a form of popular music, usually featuring vocals (often with vocal harmony), electric guitars and a strong back beat; other instruments, such as the saxophone, are common in some styles. ...
Control over information Main articles: Printed media in the Soviet Union, Television in the Soviet Union, Radio in the Soviet Union. Printed media in the Soviet Union, i. ...
Television in the Soviet Union, like all other media, was owned by the state and was under its tight control and censorship. ...
Radio broadcasting in the Soviet Union, like all other media, was owned by the state and was under its tight control and censorship. ...
All media in the Soviet Union were controlled by the state including television and radio broadcasting, newspaper, magazine and book publishing. This was achieved by state ownership of all production facilities, thus making all those employed in media state employees. This extended to the fine arts including the theater, opera and ballet. Art and music was controlled by ownership of distribution and performance venues. This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
For other uses, see Book (disambiguation). ...
“Publisher†redirects here. ...
This article does not cite any references or sources. ...
Fine art is a term used to refer to fields traditionally considered to be artistic. ...
For other usages see Theatre (disambiguation) Theater (American English) or Theatre (British English and widespread usage among theatre professionals in the US) is that branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, music, dance, sound and spectacle —...
For other uses, see Opera (disambiguation). ...
For other uses, see Ballet (disambiguation). ...
This article is about the philosophical concept of Art. ...
For other uses, see Music (disambiguation). ...
Censorship was backed in cases where performances did not meet with the favor of the Soviet leadership with newspaper campaigns against offending material and sanctions applied though party controlled professional organizations. For other uses, see Censor. ...
In the case of book publishing a manuscript had to pass censorship and the decision of a state owned publishing house to publish and distribute the book. Books which met with official favor, for example, the collected speeches of Leonid Brezhnev were printed in vast quantities while less favored literary material might be published in limited numbers and not distributed widely. Popular escapist literature such as the popular best-sellers, mysteries and romances which form the bulk of Western publishing was nearly non-existent. Brezhnev redirects here. ...
Possession and use of copying machines was tightly controlled in order to hinder production and distribution of samizdat, illegal self-published books and magazines. Possession of even a single samizdat manuscript such as a book by Andrei Sinyavsky was a serious crime which might involve a visit from the KGB. Another outlet for works which did not find favor with the authorities was publishing abroad. A small, much-used Xerox copier in a high school library. ...
Samizdat, book published by Pathfinder Press containing a collection of forbidden Trotskyist Samizdat texts. ...
Self-publishing is the publishing of books or other media by those who have written them. ...
Andrei Sinyavsky Andrei Donatovich Sinyavsky (Russian language: Ðндрей Донатович СинÑвÑкий) (1925 - 1997) was a Russian writer, dissident, gulag survivor, emigrant, Professor of Sorbonne University, magazine founder and publisher. ...
This article is about the KGB of the Soviet Union. ...
It was the practice of libraries in the Soviet Union to restrict access to back issues of journals and newspapers more than 3 years old.
See also This articles details the demographics of the Soviet Union. ...
The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow was demolished by Soviet authorities in 1931 to make way for the Palace of Soviets. ...
// Dress Children dressed in the traditional outfits of Belarus Traditional Belarusian dress originated from the time of Kievian Rus, and continues to be worn today at special functions. ...
The culture of Russia is a hybrid one created from the cultures of the nationalities of this multinational state and the result of development over several distinct epochs. ...
A performance of a traditional Ukrainian dance by Virsky dance ensemble The Culture of Ukraine is a result of influence over millenia from the West and East, with an assortment of strong culturally-identified ethnic groups. ...
Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ...
Soviet cuisine, a common cuisine of Soviet Union, was formed by integration of various national cuisines of USSR, in the course of formation of the so called Soviet people. ...
The view of the Soviet family as the basic social unit in society evolved from revolutionary to conservative; the government of the Soviet Union first attempted to weaken the family and then to strengthen it. ...
References and further reading |
Feeds |
Contact