Month: April 2020

Transcript
Hello, Comrades! This is our video for Week 10, Day 2. Today we’re continuing our exploration of the Brezhnev Era, and our teaching assistant is [cat.] I have been behind schedule this week and am posting this video rather late on Thursday, so I don’t expect you to respond by Friday at 5. Go ahead and take the weekend, if you need it.

The only announcement I have for you today is that you should continue to think about your final papers. It would be a good idea to choose your topic this week and start thinking about the argument you want to make. Remember that your one-paragraph introduction and your outline for the paper will be due on Sunday, April 19.

Today, we’re discussing Natalya Baranskaya’s novella A Week Like Any Other, which was first published in the literary journal Novyi Mir in 1969. Novyi Mir was the a highly respected journal. Its editors were known for pushing the boundaries of acceptable literature. For example, that in 1962 Novyi Mir published Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s novel One Day In the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the first account of the Stalinist Gulag to appear in an official publication. Readers looked to Novyi mir to lead the way on cultural questions. The fact that Baranskaya’s novella was published there meant that it was widely read and discussed in Soviet society.

Natalya Baranskaya was a relatively new voice in Soviet literature in the 1960s, but she was not young, herself. She was born in 1908, almost the same year as Dmitrii Shostakovich (whose Seventh Symphony we listened to before Spring Break). She spent her career working in literary museums and only began writing fiction after she retired. Most of her short stories and novellas deal with the lives and concerns of Soviet women. A Week Like Any Other is by far her most famous work. After it appeared in Novyi Mir, it generated international interest was translated and published in other countries, including the US. It’s interesting to consider that while this is not a particularly flattering portrayal of Soviet life, it was officially approved for both domestic and international publication. You might also consider that communication across the “Iron Curtain” was strong enough at this point that American editors were reading Soviet publications and looking for material to translate for their own audiences. As you read, you might consider what this reveals about the situation for Soviet writers in the Brezhnev Era.

I also encourage you to compare this novella to Ostrovsky’s How the Steel Was Tempered and Sholokhov’s Fate of a Man. Consider whether A Week Like Any Other can be called Socialist Realism and how Soviet literature has evolved over the decades.

Leah’s Discussion Questions

1. The main character of this novella, Olga, is meant to be a typical Soviet woman, living a typical Soviet life under Brezhnev’s developed socialism. How would you characterize her life? What possibilities are open to her? What limitations hold her back? What expectations do the people in her life place on her shoulders? What expectations does she place on her own shoulders? What insights does her story give us into the “double shift” or “double burden” of Soviet women’s lives?

2. The novella opens with Olga rushing into work fifteen minutes late and getting yelled at by her boss, Yakov Petrovich. Soon we notice that all of the researchers in Olga’s lab are women, while the supervisor is a man. What do you make of this gender disparity? What factors make it difficult for women to rise to the level of supervisor? How does the conversation between Yakov Petrovich and Olga on pp. 1-2 (including the things she thinks but does not say out loud) help us understand the reasons behind this gender disparity and how women like Olga are expected to behave? Is this a particularly Soviet problem, or do we see aspects of it in our society as well?

3. A recurring theme in this novella is the questionnaire, which the women in the lab have been asked to fill out. Find the passages where the questionnaire is described and discussed. What sorts of questions does it ask? What assumptions about women’s lives do these questions imply? Why do the women in Olga’s lab find it both ridiculous and frustrating? If we think of the questionnaire as a literary device, what purpose does it serve for Baranskaya? In other words, how does it help her tell this story?

4. The questionnaire prompts the women in Olga’s lab to talk about the issue of having children. They feel pressured by the government and by their partners to have at least two children a piece. But most of them resist having multiple children, and Dark Lusya has even had an abortion to avoid it. Why are they resistant to having more children? What factors are part of this choice? How does their conversation on pp.19-21 help us think through the complexities of their decision-making? How does this relate to Olga’s feeling that missing 78 workdays makes her a bad citizen, even though all of those days have been spent taking care of her children?

5. Note that at the end of this passage, Olga mocks official rhetoric in an effort to wrap up the conversation (p.21). Does this make her an anti-Soviet person? How does her comfort making this kind of joke in front of her colleagues at work help us understand the relationship between citizens and the state in the Brezhnev Era?

6. It seems clear that official pressure is not working on these women. If the Soviet state really wants them to have more children, what other steps could it take to encourage them that might be more effective? Or do you think that women will always have to choose between ambitious careers and having children, no matter what system they live in?

7. Consider the situation of Dark Lusya’s abortion on pp.47-48. Why does she make this decision? How does her story compare to the story of Lyuda in the film Bed and Sofa, which we watched back in Week 3? Consider how Lyuda’s situation in the 1920s compares to Dark Lusya’s in the 1960s. What does this comparison reveal about the development of Soviet society? What does it reveal about changes, or lack of changes, in Soviet women’s lives?

8. One thing that keeps Olga going through all her stress is the strong friendships among the women at her lab. We might conceptualize this as a form of emotional labor that they perform in addition to their other duties. Is this labor part of their obligation as workers, as women, or both? Would Pasha Angelina recognize the relationships among the women researchers? Would Eugenia Ginzburg recognize them? Do these relationships represent continuity or change in life of Soviet women?

9. Olga remarks several times that she is lucky to be living in one of the new housing complexes that began to appear in the Khrushchev Era. Based on her description, would you consider her apartment luxurious? What infrastructural problems make it hard for her to do things like grocery shopping and commuting to work? How does this shed light on the “good life” the Soviet Union was providing to its citizens at this point?

10. Olga’s relationship with Dima is also an important part of this novella. The women in the lab consistently praise Dima as a good husband. Yet we often see him sitting by while Olga does the shopping, cooking, cleaning, and the majority of the childcare. How do you analyze their relationship? How does it compare to relationships among American couples in the late 1960s (you might ask your parents or grandparents for help with this)? If Dima is considered a good husband, what does that reveal about relationships between men and women in the Brezhnev Era? What would Alexandra Kollontai think of all this?

11. Consider Olga and Dima’s relationship, as well as the other factors we’ve discussed today. In light of all of this, why do you think she is so resistant to quitting her job, as Dima suggests? What reasons does she give explicitly? What reasons does she leave unsaid? Do you think she is right to hold on to her job, despite everything? Why or why not?

Transcript
Hello Comrades! This is our video for Week 10, Day 1. Our subject is Brezhnev’s Stagnation, and our teaching assistant is Maggie. Like all cats, she is a big fan of stagnation.

Let’s start with announcements. Thank you for your good work on the blog these past two weeks. I think we are managing to have good conversations there, despite our difficult circumstances. There are a couple of you who haven’t yet made any posts. If that applies to you, then you probably got an email from me at the end of last week. If I wrote to you individually, please respond. You don’t need to do you blog posts before you write back to me. My main concern is to find out whether you are okay, or you are having difficulties. So please write back and let me know what your situation is.

Now that we’re in Week 10, it’s time to start thinking about your final papers. I know, it feels quick and we’ve just started to get our bearings with remote learning. But the end of the semester is coming up, so we need to start working on our final projects. I sent out the assignment to you by email on Sunday, and you can find it on the course website under Assignments, too. In this paper, I am asking you to build a historical argument by putting multiple primary sources on context with each other. I’ve given you five topics to choose from. They are meant to be broad and open-ended, so that you can develop your own, unique argument based on your interests. As part of that breadth, the prompts are fairly long. The question you must be sure to answer is the question in bold. Everything else in the prompt is there to help you think through your ideas. You don’t need to respond directly to anything other than the bold question.

I’ve scaffolded this assignment into a few different steps, to make it more manageable. Your first deadline is in on Sunday, April 19 at 5pm. That is the due date for your Introduction + Outline. Please review the assignment sheet for details. And remember to carefully read the HIS 240 Writing Handout, which you can find under Writing Resources on the course website.

After you have submitted you Intro + Outline, I will meet with each of you individually on April 23 or 24 to talk through your materials. I will create a sign-up sheet as a shared document, so keep an eye out for my email sharing it with you soon. If you’re not able to do a video meeting on Teams, you should still sign up, but let me know your situation. We can do your meeting by phone. If you have any questions about the final paper assignment, please let me know!

That’s all for announcements. Now let’s talk about the Brezhnev Era. As I told you last week and you read in Russia’s Long Twentieth Century, by the early 1960s Nikita Khrushchev was becoming increasingly erratic in his behavior. In 1964, the Politburo decided to force him into retirement. It’s notable that Khrushchev was the only Soviet leader who did not die in the saddle. Leonid Brezhnev soon took full power, and he remained in office until his death in 1982.

As your textbook note, Brezhnev was vain, but he didn’t command a lot of respect. Soviet citizens saw him more as a peacock than a great man. That gave rise to many jokes about him. The textbook quote several of them, and I’ll give you one more: They say that Brezhnev died during an operation to expand his chest, which was necessary to accommodate all the medals he had awarded himself.

Part of the reason Brezhnev didn’t command much respect is that while he was in office, the Soviet economy was losing momentum, and he didn’t do much to stop it. Unlike Khrushchev, Brezhnev was not a reformer. He was a stabilizer. And in the Soviet Union’s case, stability was not enough. True, the standard of living had improved: people made more money, lived in their own apartments, and had more consumer goods. But there still weren’t enough goods available for people to buy with the money they now had. And, true, you could often get what you wanted by using blat or buying it on the ever-growing black market. But the black market grew at the expense of the official market, and having to use these methods further undermined people’s faith in their government and its planned economy. In the Khrushchev Era, people wanted for things, but they had Khrushchev’s bold rhetoric about “catching up and overtaking the West” and building communism by 1980 to fire their souls. The Brezhnev Era was more stable, but it was also more disappointing. Not only were Khrushchev’s promises walked back, but few new promises were made to take their place. Now, it’s important to clarify that when I say people felt disappointed, I do not mean that they were stating to doubt the value of socialism or communism. For the most part, Soviet citizens still believed in their form of government. But they were increasingly doubtful that Brezhnev and his bevy of aging bureaucrats could carry the country forward, and there seemed no end to his premiership in sight.

Your textbook gives you a good overview of this ins and outs of the Soviet economy in this era. One thing I’ll add is that the Cold War arms race was a major drain on resources, alongside aid to developing nations. This actually had a positive effect in terms of boosting the policy of détente. Under Brezhnev, the Soviet  Union led the way in seeking arms limitation and reduction treaties. During the 1970s, the US was amenable to these ideas, though that would change in the 1980s. One of the most insidious effects of the underperformance of the Soviet economy was that as factory equipment aged and became out of date, it often was not replaced, for lack of funds. That had a knock-on effect of slowing things down even more, creating a negative cycle. As a result, the Soviet Union increasingly relied on revenue from export of raw materials, particularly oil, which jumped in price on the global markets during the 1973 oil crisis.

Brezhnev’s military adventures in this era were also deeply shocking and disillusioning to Soviet citizens. When Khrushchev sent Warsaw Pact tanks in to crush the Hungarian Revolt in 1956, de-Stalinization had just started. Soviet citizens had little information about the Hungarians’ demands and they were still in the habit of not questioning the leader’s moves. But when Brezhnev sent Warsaw Pact troops to crush the Prague Spring in 1968, it had a much deeper effect. After more than a decade of the Thaw, and with more access to information about the situation in Czechoslovakia, many Soviet citizens were deeply  upset by Brezhnev’s actions and by the Brezhnev Doctrine. Indeed, some thought the reforms proposed in Czechoslovakia—the creation of “socialism with a human face,” as Czech leaders framed it—looked promising and hoped the Soviet Union would learn from them, not crush them. The Afghan War (1979-1989) had a different and ultimately more detrimental effect on Soviet society. In this case, thousands of young men were conscripted and catastrophically injured or killed in a war that it seemed to most people the Soviet Union didn’t need to be involved in. Your textbook invokes the parallel of the US’s involvement in the Vietnam War. This is as accurate for the societal effects of the Soviet-Afghan War as it is for the military and political aspects.

It was not all dark times under Brezhnev, though. We’re going to talk about dissidents next week. For now, I’ll mention that the arts in the Soviet Union were quite vibrant during this period, though almost entirely in the underground scene. Your textbook points to the development of the underground rock and roll scene, which drew on many of the same unofficial sources of inspiration and information as the jazz-loving stiliagi a generation before. A great deal of new literature was also being produced in the underground, including memoirs written by those who had survived the Stalin Era Gulag. For example, Eugenia Ginzburg’s memoir Into the Whirlwind, which we read a few weeks ago, was first published in this underground scene. Last but not least, visual artists were creating work that defied the norms of socialist realism and playfully mocked official Soviet symbols. They were inspired in part by the abstract art that had been displayed at the Sixth International Festival of Youth and Students in 1957. Because this art could not be exhibited in official venues, artists created their own exhibitions in their apartments or even in public parks. So, when we look to the arts, we find another area in which many things are developing below the surface of Soviet society.

Leah’s Discussion Questions

1. The big question about this period in Soviet history is, should we continue to classify the Brezhnev Era as a period of stagnation? Taking into account everything you’ve read and the points I’ve brought up with you in this video, would you say that, on the whole, stagnation is still the most accurate characterization of this era, or would you use a different term? If you would use a different term, what would it be? Be sure to use specific information to back up your answer.

2. In discussing Brezhnev’s decision to crush the Prague Spring in 1968, our authors note the similarities between the Brezhnev Doctrine and the Truman Doctrine, which US president Harry Truman had articulated in the late 1940s. As a thought experiment, put yourself in Brezhnev’s shoes. Consider the fact that the US had already demonstrated its willingness to use military force to combat the spread of communism through its interventions in the Korean War (1950-1953) and the Vietnam War (1955-1975), which was still ongoing. Given the high stakes of the Cold War at this point, would you also have intervened in Czechoslovakia? If not, how would you have justified your lack of action?

Did Brezhnev’s military intervention result in greater security and stability for the Soviet Union or not? You can answer this question for the Soviet-Afghan War, as well.

3. Consider the case of Lily Golden’s husband, Abdulla Hanga, whose story is recounted on p. 199. How does this story help us understand the role of the Soviet Union in shaping decolonization struggles in the developing world?

4. The Soviet underground economy grew fast in the Brezhnev Era. Its “entrepreneurs” were motivated and highly productive. Should we understand the vibrance of this economy as evidence for or against overall stagnation in this era?

5. We will talk about dissidents more next week, but your textbook already raises an important question about them. Does the existence of the dissident movement serve as evidence that Soviet society was still thriving, albeit in different areas than before? Or does the fact that it remained a small movement, which the government was eventually able to suppress, render it irrelevant?

6. As our authors note, there is an ongoing historiographical debate about the phenomenon of the underground Soviet rock and roll scene. Some scholars see it as evidence of popular resistance against the state. Others see it as just another form of fun, which Soviet young people could enjoy while still believing in communism. Look carefully at the two sides of this debate on p.208. Which side do you agree with and why?

7. An important issue raised in this chapter is the issue of freedom. The underground rock and roll and art scenes existed because Soviet citizens didn’t have free speech. If they wanted to listen to music or express a message with which the government did not agree, they had to do it out of sight. On the other hand, part of what made these scenes so vibrant is that their members didn’t have to worry about commercial success. They all had day jobs, housing, and health care guaranteed by the state. Looking back after the Soviet Union’s collapse, many artist and fans felt nostalgic for the safeguards of the Soviet Era. Which form of freedom do you think is more important? Would you trade freedom of speech for freedom from want? Why or why not?

Transcript
Hello Comrades! This is our second video for Week 9, and our subject today is the Thaw Era film I Walk Around Moscow. I’m afraid me don’t have a furry teaching assistant today, because the cats are on strike for better pay. I also don’t have any new announcements for you, except to say: Thanks for your thoughtful comments on the blog and keep up the good work!

The historical background information that you read in our textbook and that I gave you in the previous video pretty much covers the context for this film. The main characters are all members of the “Thaw generation,” which came of age while Nikita Khrushchev was the leader of the Soviet Union. Notably, they are also all members of the working class. Kolya is a construction worker on the Moscow Metro, Volodya is a fitter at a construction site in Siberia, Alyona works in a shop, and Sasha is an army recruit. Their jobs let us know that they are all upstanding Soviet citizens, honest workers helping to build communism.

I Walk Around Moscow was made in 1964, and it was quite revolutionary for its time. Its director, Georgii Daneliia, had a long career as a director of Soviet comedies, but this was certainly his most famous film. It was also the debut film of Nikita Mikhalkov, the actor who plays Kolya, who went on to become a major star in the Soviet Union and remains one in Russia today. I Walk Around Moscow is considered revolutionary for a few different reasons. The storyline departs significantly from those of Stalin Era films, which focused on the glories of industry and agriculture and on the exploits of Soviet military heroes. The style of the film is also a departure. In making it, Daneliia drew heavily on the French New Wave.

I Walk Around Moscow premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1964. It won a prize there, which Khrushchev was happy to tout as evidence of Soviet superiority in the Cold War competition over culture. It was also extremely popular with Soviet young people, and the theme song became a hit on its own.

I hope you enjoyed watching it! This is one of my favorite Soviet films.

Leah’s Discussion Questions
1. Consider the main characters, particularly Kolya. What specific characteristics and actions mark them as children of the Thaw Era? What are their tastes and values? How do they express those values through their behavior? Are their values entirely new, or are some of them familiar from the prewar Soviet Union?

Watch the first minute of the film, the scene where Volodya arrives and talks to the happy young woman at the airport. How does this scene set up the film’s main values?

2. How would you describe the atmosphere or “feel” of this film? How does it compare to How the Steel Was Tempered? Consider the storyline. Is this an example of Socialist Realism? Be sure to justify your answer with specifics.

3. Our textbook authors explained that Soviet young people were hungry for more “sincerity” in the arts. They wanted more realistic portrayals of love and conflict and how people really live. Does this film answer that demand? What do you make of the fact that love is a central theme of this film, yet we never see Alyona and Volodya kiss?

4. The love story in this film is really a love triangle. Kolya likes Alyona, but she prefers Volodya. Consider the two male leads: why do you think the director has Alyona choose Volodya? What values are expressed in this choice? Do you agree with Alyona’s preference, or would you choose Kolya instead?

Compare this love triangle to the one we saw in Bed and Sofa. How does the difference in the two storylines help us understand how Soviet society has evolved from the 1920s to the 1960s. Think about this both in terms of morals and how the characters live.

5. The second scene (from 0:1:15 to 0:2:45) shows detailed footage of Kolya’s crew at work on the Metro. Shortly after (from 0:3:00-0:4:45), we see aerial shots and ground-level shots of Moscow in all its glory and hustle-bustle. In addition, throughout the film we get tidbits of Moscow’s history. What are these scenes doing in the film? What are they meant to convey, both to a domestic audience and a foreign audience?

6. Foreign languages also play a role in this film. In the scene at Volodya’s place, which runs roughly from 0:10:00-0:16:30, the café worker listens to English lessons and an English pop song on his record player. Soon after, when Kolya and Volodya encounter the taxi driver (0:20:00-0:22:30), they use German and English to communicate with the Japanese tourist. Why bring foreign languages into the picture? What does it signal about our heroes that they have interest and ability in speaking English? Given that they have this ability, why is it so limited? What might the director be trying to balance here?

7. Volodya is a pipe fitter, but he’s also an aspiring writer. In the scene from 0:33:00-0:40:00, he and Kolya visit Comrade Voronov, a man with an established literary career who has read Volodya’s first story and taken an interest in him. Volodya has an intense argument with a man he thinks is Voronov, who quotes Stalin (“Writers are the engineers of human souls”!) and tells him his story isn’t true to life. It turns out this guy is a janitor. But when the real Voronov turns up, he barely gets one line. Can you unpack this scene? In your analysis, what is the subtext?

8. The difference in generations comes up several times in this film, mostly when the older generation is trying to put the younger generation in their place. For example, the recruitment officer tells Sasha he’s too young to get married, the Metro conductor yells at Kolya for singing, and it’s a middle aged man who accuses Volodya of being up to no good at the park. What is the film’s take on this generational conflict? Is it serious or harmless? Which generation comes out looking better? Can each generation learn from the other? If so, how?

9. Kolya is a good friend. He helps Volodya throughout the film and even saves him from being arrested after the chase in Gorky Park. He also helps hotheaded Sasha get past his fight with his fiancée and get married. But Kolya ends up alone, back at work in the metro, while the others find love and Volodya finds his calling as a writer. What do you make of Kolya’s ending? Is there something particularly Soviet about it, or could you imagine the same thing happening in an American film?

10. In the final scene, Kolya heads through the empty Metro station singing the film’s theme song. We’ve heard the music several times at this point, but this is the first time we hear the words. What is this song really about? How does it express the values and outlook of the Thaw generation? Why do you think it became a popular hit?