Soviet space mythologies : public images, private memories, and the making of a cultural identity / Slava Gerovitch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gerovitch, Slava, author.

Series:

Series in Russian and East European studies

Pitt series in Russian and East European studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Astronautics and state--Soviet Union--History--20th century.

Astronautics and state.

Astronautics--Soviet Union--History--20th century.

Astronautics.

Propaganda, Soviet--History--20th century.

Propaganda, Soviet.

History.

Soviet Union.

Physical Description:

xviii, 232 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2015]

Summary:

"From the start, the Soviet human space program had an identity crisis. Were cosmonauts heroic pilots steering their craft through the dangers of space, or were they mere passengers riding safely aboard fully automated machines? Tensions between Soviet cosmonauts and space engineers were reflected not only in the internal development of the space program but also in Soviet propaganda that wavered between praising daring heroes and flawless technologies. Soviet Space Mythologies explores the history of the Soviet human space program within a political and cultural context, giving particular attention to the two professional groups--space engineers and cosmonauts--who secretly built and publicly represented the program. Drawing on recent scholarship on memory and identity formation, this book shows how both the myths of Soviet official history and privately circulating counter-myths have served as instruments of collective memory and professional identity. These practices shaped the evolving cultural image of the space age in popular Soviet imagination. Soviet Space Mythologies provides a valuable resource for scholars and students of space history, history of technology, and Soviet (and post-Soviet) history"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 "Why Are We Telling Lies?": The Construction of Soviet Space History Myths 1

2 Stalin's Rocket Designers' Leap into Space: The Technical Intelligentsia Faces the Thaw 27

3 "New Soviet Man" inside Machine: Human Engineering, Spacecraft Design, and the Construction of Communism 48

4 The Human in the Arms of Technology: Gagarin's Flight in Documents and Stories 68

5 Human-Machine Issues, the Cosmonaut Profession, and Competing Visions of Spaceflight 98

5 The Human inside a Propaganda Machine: The Public Image and Professional Identity of Soviet Cosmonauts 128

7 Remembering the Soviet Space Age: Myth and Identity in Post-Soviet Culture 155.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780822963639

0822963639

OCLC:

898158784