[Lia K]

How extensively did Stalin transform Soviet society and culture?

[Chiara C]

Stalin’s Culture
As Stalin’s rule became more controlling, the definition of culture
started to change. Artistic and creative activities were now
controlled and based upon Stalin and his ‘personality cult’.

5-Year Plan
1st 5-Year Plan (1928-1932)
2nd 5-Year Plan (1833-1937)
3rd 5-Year Plan (1938-1941)
§ Five-Year Plan(s) was Stalin’s way of increasing Russia’s industrial output, primarily in steel production
§ In order to promote this scheme, Stalin transformed culture into a form of propaganda
§ Literature and art were changed to portray a united and strong Russia whilst subconsciously persuading the people to fall in line with the rest of the workers
§ Movies were made to support the Russian Revolution and to convey Lenin as a hero
§ All forms of art had to undertake the strict restrictions of Socialist Realism…

Socialist Realism in Art
§ 1932 all independent literary groups and artists to following the new ideas and criteria of Socialist Realism
§ Socialist Realism was the portrayal of Soviet reality from the viewpoint of the Communist Party
§ Paintings had to portray a rich and prosperous Russia
§ Very simple paintings so that they could be enjoyed and understood by the whole Russian population
§ Conveys a universal dream and utopia of the Russian people
§ Underneath it all, was just a way of undermining the Soviet population into believing that they were actually working and living for something decent

Art
§ Stalin used art as a way of capturing the people’s acceptance and respect
§ When Lenin died, Stalin had paintings made of him and the former leader seen as great and trusted friends
• Mainly used as a form of propaganda
• Always depicted Stalin as a great figure of authority – was usually the patron
• Many paintings depicted many of the ideals and accomplishments of the communist party
• Any paintings of old leaders or enemies were banned and even destroyed
• Professional painters were hired by Stalin to paint a wealthy and prosperous Russia
• Paintings were painted following ‘Socialist Realism’

Socialist Realism in Literature
§ Literary groups were replaced by a single Union of Writers
§ Journals and independent publishing houses also disappeared
§ First Congress of Soviet Writers was held in 1934
§ Announced that Socialist Realism was the only acceptable method and style of writing
§ Remained this way for the next 50 years
§ Exemplary writer of Socialist Realism was Maksim Gorky
§ Due to the harsh boundaries many writers were forced to retreat from the passion

Russian Literature
§ Revolution and Civil War in Russia left their culture in chaos and confusion
§ Many well established and famous writers had to leave the country
- Merezhkovsky, Kuprin, Bunin, Andreyev
§ A wave of new young writers were born writing about the revolution and communist ideals
§ Groups such as the RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers) and the Union of Writers were created
§ Aim: to create a proletarian culture for the new working class
§ Gov. wasn’t ready though – 1920’s still very broad allowances in lit. However….
§ …1930’s gov. stated that writers had to promote communist way of life

The Fellow Travellers
§ Group of young writers who accepted the rev. but weren’t Communist writers
§ Created some of the most innovated and valued pieces in Russia and the literary world
§ Many works discussed the hardships of changing from one gov. form to another and the differences in life after the 1917 Revolution
§ Evgeny Zamiatin – created brilliant short stories and best known for his novel, My (1924)
§ Isaac Babel – wrote about the violence of the Rev. using irony and harsh imagery
§ Yury Olesha – famously known for his work Zavist’ (1927), talking about the new life in post-revolutionary Russia

Poetry
§ Many poets who treasured before the rev., suffered with the restrictions on literature, and even suffered severe consequences
- Akhmatova and Mandelstam
§ Akhmatova had to stop writing poetic works in the 1930’s due to the harsh restrictions
§ Mandelstam was arrested (1938) and died shortly after in a prison camp
§ Other poets, such as Vladimir Mayakovsky, launched themselves in the service of the Communist regime
§ Mayakovsky created many poetic pieces concerning lack of love and contradiction this with hidden propaganda supporting the new regime
- Also well known for his two plays, Klop (1929, The Bedbug) and Bania (1965, The Bathhouse), both pieces discussing the matter of Soviet bureaucracy
§ Boris Pasternak was/is one of Russia’s greatest literary figures
- Most famous collection is Sestra Moia Zhiz’ (1922, My Sister Life), talking about love and nature
- Wrote in a v. colloquial way and his works were always rich of shocking imagery
- Recognized as one of the greatest talents, however never embraced the regime so ceased writing until the outbreak of WWII
- After the war, he withdrew again, and concentrated on writing his major novel, DoktorZhivago (1957, Doctor Zhivago)

Émigré Literature
§ Many writers fled Russia to set up and write freely in other European countries – their literary works became known as Émigré Literature
§ Paris was the main centre of this cultural era, followed by Berlin
§ Many of the writers continued writing in their traditional manner for which they had been banned for
§ Vladimir Nabokov became one of the most respected and talented writers
- Broke away from the traditional way of writing and explored ideas about art and even philosophical ideas
- Dar (1937-1938, The Gift): explored the nature of art and creation
- Priglashenie Na Kazn’ (1938, Invitation to a Beheading): surrealistic novel dealing with the complexity of difference between the lack of consciousness of a hero and that of a writer
- Went to the United States in 1940 becoming one of their greatest writers
The Thaw
§ After Stalin’s death many of the restrictions of literature were eased – however later ‘freezes’ came back
§ Nikita Khrushchev, in his attempt to side away Stalin’s legacy, tried expanding the limits of what people were allowed to say and encouraged writers to write in the form of ‘free expression’ (1956 and 1961)
§ Writer started asking questions about the Soviet regime that a few years earlier would have been banned
- Ottepel (1954, The Thaw) by Ilya Ehrenburg
- Ne Khelbom Edinym (1956, Not by Bread Alone)
§ Literary works that had been banned during Stalin’s power were restored
§ 1960’s: writers turned from the heroic socialist realist way of writing to a style using personal experiences in novels and poetry
§ Many works also celebrated the everyday way of life
§ However… some works still struggled as they were still not allowed to be published – were either circulated as manuscripts (samizdat: self-publishing) or published outside the Soviet Union

This post has been edited by Chiara C: 20 September 2004 - 08:47 AM

[Chiara C]

How extensively did Stalin transform Soviet culture and society?

During Stalin’s rule over the Soviet Union, many conditions changed for the Russian people. Apart from the more discussed political changes, the Soviets underwent continuous changes in their culture and society, whether they were conscious or hidden by Stalin. The most visible changes in the culture were seen in the art and literature, and how they were transformed to match Stalin’s controlled criteria. Art became a manifestation of the communist party, just as all literature prior to Stalin’s rule was banned. With society, the changes were more crucial and even more painful for much of the population. Education however was an area which Stalin managed to greatly change. Religion was also largely affected as religions were banned and groups were born to attack religion as a whole. Family life also suffered major changes initially giving women many more rights and freedom, and then changed drastically to a more conventional and traditional style. Stalin created many changes for the Russian population, however it is also necessary to note that many of these changes were simply transformations of what already existed.

The two main cultural areas that were intensely transformed by Stalin were those of art and literature. Both areas had to follow a strict set of guidelines, decided by Stalin. Art was used in Stalin’s Five-Year Plans, as a form of propaganda, influencing and promising the Soviet people of a better and prosperous Russia. In order to achieve this, paintings and art in general all had to follow the newborn style of ‘Socialist Realism’, which always showed a hardworking yet successful and thriving Russia. Stalin also became the subject of many of the paintings, and any disapproving figures were banned. Many previous paintings and artworks were destroyed. Literature suffered the same treatment. Any past works disrespectful of the communist party were banned and ruined. All new works had to be controlled by the RAPP (Russian Association of Proletarian Writers, later to be changed to the Union of Writers), and likewise had to follow the Socialist Realist style, depicting a wonderful and advanced Soviet Union.
It is evident that many changes happened to art and literature, affected the culture of Russia. However, many of these changes were enforced evolutions of what was already in existence, even since the reign of Tsar Nicholas II. Paintings had always been dedicated to leaders and Lenin and even the Tsar before him were generally the main subjects of the paintings. Professional painters were similarly hired by the Royal Court whilst still in rule, to paint Russia as a beautiful and particular country. What Stalin created was his own rule of these already existing, yet calm ideas.

Stalin’s most significant changes however, can be seen in the changes he created in the Russian society. Unlike the cultural aspect, many of these changes were very positive as well as very beneficial, principally noting the rise education. Lenin had always thought that an educated soldier was a better soldier, because he could understand things. Once in rule, Stalin focused largely on creating education for the masses. Children were obliged to attend school if under a certain age, they were given a range of subjects to study, even if the lessons did return to more traditional forms with most attention was given to history, in particular the studies of Marx. By 1933, there were 166,275 school set up around the nation, hosting a total of 9.7 million students. Even though the number of universities and continuation of studies were not as high as the initial figures, Stalin still reached a great achievement in the Russian society by having managed to educate to some extent, a vast amount of people.

Stalin did manage to change certain areas of Russia into better results, however, it is important to remember that Stalin was a dictator, and like many dictators, many of the changes that he imposed caused great sorrow and sufferance for many people. Religion was one of the areas where Stalin continually changed his ideas. As soon as in dictatorship, Stalin made a complete ban on religion and conversions, continuing one of Lenin’s fundamental ideas of communism. Anti-religious groups such as the League of Godless and OGPU were set up, who did certain acts including destroying religious places and religious items.
The deterioration of religion was a harsh change set upon the Russians. Up until Stalin, there had been no severe on ban on religions or any relating matters. Eventually with the breakout of the war, Stalin was forced to re-introduce religion, as he needed a communal point for Soviet Patriotism.

Family life was probably the area that undertook the most changes, especially for women. Abortion and divorce were made more accessible for them by giving them the right to divorce their husbands, and also by making it much less expensive. Women were also given several more advantages in the working environment. They were given the same jobs and responsibilities as the men, and were even given the same amount of pay. However, much like religion, after some time, Stalin change the policies once again.
By 1935, it once again became more difficult for women to obtain divorces, and the prices had augmented considerably. By 1936, abortions were made illegal. The drastic changes even affected literature. Nothing sexually related was allowed mentioning novels and other written material. Russian life had taken a step backwards into the traditional life.

So, did Stalin change Soviet culture and society? As a simplified answer, yes. However, this answer is not true. It is vital to realize that Stalin did not just make his own changes. He often changed back to the original and traditional ways that had been since years before him. So while Stalin did change the society and the culture of the Soviet Union, he did not always maintain these changes.



Lee, Stephen J., Stalin and the Soviet Union, Routledge, 1999

Lynch, Michael, Stalin and Khrushchev: The USSR 1924-64, Hodder &Stoughton, 2001