Authors

Anna Svetlova¹;  ¹ Jagiellonian University, Poland

Discussion

My presentation focuses on the way Russian popular culture (cinema and television) depicts Soviet Union, particularly the period of late socialism. Analysing selected films, TV-series, and TV programmes, I examine how these narratives are entangled in the state policies playing on mythologisation of the Soviet past, but also how some of them become an alternative response to social demand, due to various “tactics” used by either creators or recipients.

The trend of increasing popularity of  “Soviet-themed” texts can be considered a part of global culture: an unconscious desire for a quasi-return to the safe past idealized by previous generations due to the fear of progress and disbelief in a better tomorrow, as explained by Zygmunt Bauman (2018). However, in the case of Russian popular culture, it is most often considered a part of the co-called “post-Soviet nostalgia” (see e.g. Boym 2001). Most existing interpretations of Soviet-themed texts assume that the main reason for their emergence in media discourse is a result of deliberate government policies, driven by the Kremlin’s imperial ambitions. I favor a different approach, where interpretation of nostalgia for any bygone era is seen primarily as a reaction to the challenges of the present and an attempt by popular culture to compensate for its inadequacies. It is also important not to overlook the possibility of various interpretations of the texts by the audience and creators, as well as a variety of games and tactics used by them within the authorial structures, as described by Michel de Certeau (2008).


These subversive practices may seem insignificant at this historical moment when they appear to have been defeated by the official state discourse that had led to the disaster in the form of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of restrictions akin to wartime censorship within the Russia. However, there is no conclusive evidence that this particular outcome is a pre-determined result of the sequence of historical events, shaped by numerous diverse factors and actors. I believe, it is important to identify the untapped subversive potential of some texts and practices, in order to better understand the Russian society’s reactions to current foreign, domestic, and cultural policies, and to more effectively work with the Soviet past and cultural memory in the future. 

Literature: 

1. Bauman, Z. (2018) Retrotopia. Jak rządzi nami przeszłość? Translated by K. Lebek. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. 
2. Boym, S. (2001) The Future of Nostalgia. New York. 
3. de Certeau, M. (2008) Wynaleźć codzienność. Sztuki działania. Translated by K. Thiel-Jańczuk. Kraków: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.