Closer to the masses : Stalinist culture, social revolution, and Soviet newspapers / Matthew Lenoe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lenoe, Matthew E. (Matthew Edward)

Series:

Russian Research Center studies ; 95.

Russian Research Center studies ; 95

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Press and propaganda--Soviet Union--History.

Press and propaganda.

Communism and culture--Soviet Union--History.

Communism and culture.

Socialist realism--Soviet Union--History.

Socialist realism.

Physical Description:

viii, 315 p. : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In this provocative book, Matthew Lenoe traces the origins of Stalinist mass culture to newspaper journalism in the late 1920s. In examining the transformation of Soviet newspapers during the New Economic Policy and the First Five Year Plan, Lenoe tells a dramatic story of purges, political intrigues, and social upheaval. Under pressure from the party leadership to mobilize society for the monumental task of industrialization, journalists shaped a master narrative for Soviet history and helped create a Bolshevik identity for millions of new communists. Everyday labor became an epic battle to modernize the USSR, a fight not only against imperialists from outside, but against shirkers and saboteurs within. Soviet newspapermen mobilized party activists by providing them with an identity as warrior heroes battling for socialism. Yet within the framework of propaganda directives, the rank-and-file journalists improvised in ways that ultimately contributed to the creation of a culture. The images and metaphors crafted by Soviet journalists became the core of Stalinist culture in the mid-1930's, and influenced the development of socialist realism. Deeply researched and lucidly written, this book is a major contribution to the literature on Soviet culture and society.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Introduction

I SOVIET NEWSPAPERS IN THE 1920S

1 Agitation, Propaganda, and the NEP Mass Enlightenment Project

2 Newspaper Distribution and the Emergence of Soviet Information Rationing

3 Reader Response and Its Impact on the Press

II THE CREATION OF MASS JOURNALISM AND SOCIALIST REALISM

4 The Creation of Mass Journalism

5 Mass Journalists, "Cultural Revolution," and the Retargeting of Soviet Newspapers

6 The Central Committee and Self-Criticism, 1928-1929

7 Mass Journalism, "Soviet Sensations," and Socialist Realism

Conclusion

Appendix: Notes to Tables

Archival Sources

Notes

Acknowledgments

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-302) and index.

ISBN:

9780674040083

0674040082

OCLC:

923116929