Socialist Realism Flashcards
Socialist Realism- What was it?
Art that presented idealised images of life under socialism to inspire the population towards its achievement.
What was RAPP replaced by in 1932?
A new union of Soviet Writers
What did Stalin call writers and artists?
Engineers of the human soul
What were writers/ artists used for?
To release materials that would promote socialist life& show people the benefits of it.
Why were the Union of soviet writers set up?
To police the material that was being released by artists. Those who conformed were rewarded, those who didn’t were punished
Why was the ‘genre of silence’ used?
It was a passive aggressive form of protest where some stopped writing completely.
Art- What did it involve?
No avant-garde styles/ experimentation, ideal images of life under the 5-Year Plans e.g. worker and peasant working for socialism, vast statues of Stalin
Literature- Standard Plot
The standard plot if novels in the 1839s was a hero from the people guided by the Party to greater things.
‘Lowbrow’ literature
Concerned with heroes from Russian history, war stories or detective novels where a police agent stops evil capitalists
Why did ‘Lowbrow’ literature spread?
Low price of the books, tenfold growth in library acquisition meant population had easy access.
Music- What happened at Lady Macbeth of Mstensk? (1935)
Stalin walked out, blaming discordant notes. Real reason was his shock at bedroom scene when trombones covered what happened
Why was the saxophone banned in the 1940s?
The government were concerned over the decadent associations of jazz.
Architecture- What was the style?
‘Stalinist baroque’ / ‘wedding cake’ architecture, which made use of classical lines.
Architecture- Building built in this style
Moscow University, the Moscow Metro (decorated with elaborate murals showing the endeavours of the workers)
Films- How were they used by the government?
The achievements of the revolution were conveyed
