This course serves as a short survey of Soviet literature, art, and film after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. We will explore the works of avant-garde authors and artists, official writers and painters, authors who wrote “for the desk drawer,” and those whose creative works were circulated in the underground. In our analysis of Soviet artistic production, we will focus on major cultural topics in and around the increasing pressures of shifting political landscapes, ideology, propaganda, the publishing market, and the role of the writer in Russian society.

We will investigate the structure and aesthetics of ideology, propaganda, and dissident movements. We will ask: Is ideology a static backdrop throughout the Soviet period? How does ideology inform works that are either published or considered dissident literature? What makes a work of art successful in this historical context? What makes a work publishable? What kind of audience are these works of art attempting to reach? Is there a unifying theme in Soviet representation across various media? How did writers balance individual creativity and the demands of ideology and the market?
Instruction Mode: Hybrid: In-Person and Remote
Class Meeting Dates and Times: Monday, Thursday 1:10-2:30
Remote details: Some real-time/synchronous participation required.