In 1956 Khrushchev brought the “thaw” to the Soviet Union. The thaw was a policy of de-Stalinization which relaxed censorship and released millions of prisoners from the Gulag labor camps. In the following year Khrushchev asserted the importance of art remaining in line with the Soviet realist style in his article, “For a Close Tie between …
Continue reading Everybody’s a critic: Khrushchev’s thoughts on art
During the period of Stalinism theatre, and other arts were largely homogenized to express Soviet Realism, (see my post on the renowned artist Deyneka) However, at the beginning of destalinization the ice of homogeneity began to melt. By the mid 1950s there was an obvious struggle against conformity in the arts. The theater, free … Continue reading The Theatre Thaw(?) →
After the end of World War Two, the everyday life conditions of Europe changed vastly. World War Two affected all of the world in a variety of different ways. The reconstruction of Europe was the great challenge that each country was faced with resolving. They were also faced with the question of how territory would …
Last week, I discussed the return of soldiers back into the normalcy of everyday life in Russia. More specifically, the troubles they had to regain that normalcy that they lost by going into war. This week I was interested in exploring another avenue of people returning to society. That being prisoners of the Soviet Union … Continue reading “Prisoners of War and “de-Stalinization””
On this March 6th, a radio announcer begins, “Dearest Comrades and friends.” He begins knowing that the lives of all those who listened were about to be changed forever. And those poets who listened would somehow know their art could never be the same. The relationship between the Soviet citizens and Stalin is one of …
