arts and culture: control Flashcards
Argument for Unchanged Restrictions
arts and culture -> ignore
Evidence/Examples
Lenin’s Era
art and culture
Art and culture were expected to serve the political, social, and economic goals of the Soviet government.
Stalin’s Era
art and cultrue
All art and culture had to follow Socialist Realism, which meant showing an idealized view of life under socialism as propaganda.
Khrushchev’s Era
arts and culture
Artists and writers were still expected to follow the government’s official ideas. He banned Boris Pasternak’s book Dr. Zhivago for its anti-Revolution content.
Brezhnev’s Era - cont crackdown
arts and culture
The government continued to crack down on art and culture that didn’t fit the official line. Examples include the trials of Joseph Brodsky (1964) and Andrei Sinyavsky (1966), and the forced removal of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1974).
Andropov’s Era
arts and culture
The government tightened its control over popular culture by checking rock groups before they could perform and limiting songs to those written by official Soviet composers.
Argument for Changed Restrictions
Evidence/Examples
Lenin’s Era - relax
arts and culture
Some artistic and cultural freedom was allowed, like the “fellow traveller” artists (Rodchenkok, Lissinzky) (those key constructivists, those who had close relation with gov, sympathetic to rev. may not have strictly been totally proletarian - slight deviation from ppparty line) , the diverse activities of Proletkult, and the support for new and experimental art.
Late Stalin Era
relaxation of official rules - art and culture
There was a slight loosening of official rules towards the end, with Boris Pasternak and Anna Akhmatova giving public readings of their non-traditional poetry in 1946.
Khrushchev’s Era
arts and culture - relax
The period of “Destalinization” led to more artistic nonconformity. Khrushchev allowed the publication of previously banned books by authors like Isaac Babel and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Brezhnev & Andropov Eras
arts and culture : less control
The government couldn’t stop the influence of popular music on young people. The guitar-poet Vladimir Vysotsky became popular, and cassette recorders made it easier to share music.
arts and culture - summary lenin
Prolekult - art made by working people for working peopke reflecting the concerns and experiences - Lunacharsky, new Peoples commisar of enlightenment establ.
Agitprop - dep of agitation propaganda
lenin arts and culture - success - prolekult
Prolekult
Significant engagement + reach among the working class over 300 studios with 80,000 participants by 1920.
By 1920 publish Gorn (Furnace) monthly mag. Which showcase work of proletarian artists
lenin arts and culture - success - aventgarde
avant -garde
there was support for new forms of art using new styles ad techniques to create new revolutionary art i,e ‘Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge”. Artists like Alexander Rodchenko also collaborated with the government, producing posters -> through photomontage
lenin arts and culture - success - agitprop
Agitprop
-avnt-garde artists working for the government.
-successful collaboration - for propaganda
- innovative artistic styles used to support & promote Soviet government’s messages.
- agit-trains and Agit-steamers traveled across Russia 1919 early 20s using art, performances, and printed materials to spread the Bolshevik message directly to the population across Russia, and remoter areas
lenin arts and culture failure - prolekult
Prolekult - was seen as independent of Party control -> oct 1920 became part of Commissariat of education & funding cut and diverted to traditional ats
Lenin was critical -> he believed the best art universal not bourgeois nor proletarian
Kazimir
Malevich, for example, sent his most radical paintings to
Germany in 1927
lenin arts and culture failure - avantgarde
Avant-garde - too difficult for peasants to understand + party tig
lenin arts and culture - change
Shift from Tsarist to Revolutionary Influence: After the October Revolution of 1917, the old Imperial Academy of Arts lost its authority, and new institutions influenced by revolutionary ideology began to emerge.
lenin arts and culture - ontinuity e
Figures like Lunacharsky, even in their early support of avant-garde, emphasized that art should ultimately serve the goals of the working class and the revolution – a guiding principle that would be amplified later.
stalins - arts and culture - summary
Stalin’s rule saw the establishment of absolute state control over art and culture through the rigid enforcement of Socialist Realism and powerful controlling organizations. Art became a direct tool of propaganda, with severe consequences for those who deviated.
Social realism -> ‘true reflection of reality’ aimed to participate in the buildin of socialism
stalins - arts and culture - success
-Socialist Realism as Total Control
- Strong Organizations for Control:.
- Art as Pure Propaganda:
Socialist Realism as Total Control :
: Union of soviet writers (USW - 1932)
Strong Organizations for Control:.
- The Union of Soviet Composers
- dictated what kind of music was acceptable, often
- criticizing composers like Dmitri Shostakovich when their work was seen as too complex or dissonant (e.g., the criticism of his opera “Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk”).
Art as Pure Propaganda:
- -Films like “The Fall of Berlin” (1949) directly glorified Stalin’s role in World War II.
- Sculptures of Stalin were erected in cities across the Soviet Union.
stalins - arts and culture - failure
Underground Resistance: Some writers like Mikhail Bulgakov, though facing censorship, continued to write works that didn’t fully conform (e.g., “The Master and Margarita,” though published much later in full).
stalins - arts and culture - xhange
he 1930s marked a decisive shift towards complete state control over artistic expression, moving away from the relative freedom of the 1920s.
stalins - arts and culture - continuity
The idea that art must serve the Party’s goals became the unwavering principle.
Khrushchev - arts and culture - summary
- partial relaxation of the strict control of Stalin’s time,
- allowing for some exploration of new themes and styles.
- However, the Party still maintained the ultimate authority to define what was acceptable, and
- outright dissent was still frowned upon.
Khrushchev - arts and culture success
The “Thaw” (mid-1950s to early 1960s):
- Ilya Ehrenburg’s novel “The Thaw” publication (1954) symbolized this period.
- Writers began to explore ^ personal & critical themes.
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” (1962), which depicted life in a labor camp, was published with Khrushchev’s approval.
- Limited Rehabilitation: Some artists who had been suppressed under Stalin were partially rehabilitated
Khrushchev - arts and culture - failure
- emergence of “Non-conformist” Art:
- Artists started experimenting with more abstract styles.
- Khrushchev famously criticized a 1962 art exhibition featuring such works, calling them “dog poop.” - manege affair
- Poets like Yevgeny Yevtushenko sometimes pushed boundaries with their themes.
Khrushchev - arts and culture - change #
- Control became less overtly brutal
- more focused on ideological guidance,
- disapproval from the top could still have negative consequences for artists -Manege Affair (public condemnation
Khrushchev - arts and culture - ontinuity#
hrushchev still believed that art should ultimately serve the Party’s aims, even if he allowed for a slightly wider range of expression as long as it wasn’t overtly “anti-Soviet.”
Brezhnevs - arts and culture - summary
- a reassertion of state control over art and culture.
- extreme terror of Stalin’s time wasn’t repeated
- government actively suppressed dissenting voices
- promoted art that conformed to traditional Soviet themes and Socialist Realism
- leading to a significant underground cultural scene.
Brezhnev - arts and culture - uccess
Crackdown on Dissent:
- The Sinyavsky-Daniel trial in 1965, where writers were imprisoned for publishing abroad, sent a clear message that the limits of artistic freedom had been reached.
- Emphasis on Traditional Soviet Art: Films that focused on heroic portrayals of World War II or idealized Soviet workers were heavily promoted. - “Libration”
Brezhnev - arts and culture - failure
Growth of Underground Culture: The Moscow Conceptualists in the 1970s and 1980s, like Ilya Kabakov, created art that often subtly critiqued Soviet life, even if it wasn’t officially recognized. Unofficial art exhibitions in apartments became a phenomenon.
Brezhnev - arts and culture - change
There was a shift back towards a more restrictive cultural policy after the relative openness of the Khrushchev years.
Brezhnev - arts and culture continuity
The Party’s belief in its right and duty to control culture for the good of the Soviet people remained firm.
example of avantgarde
- “Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge” (1918) is powerful and expressive poster that served the aims of the Red Army during the Civil War.
- aimed to encourage support for new regime
