Stites, Chapter 4

Russian Popular Culture: Entertainment and Society since 1900
Richard Stites
Chapter 4: Holy war and cold war: 1941-53

Major wartime themes: heroism and love of country, hate and ridicule of the invader, military valor

War creates a myth and memory, sometimes embodied in great art, but more often in pop culture.

June 24, 1941: German legions attack Soviet territory. On the home front, major transitions were affecting society: mobilization, the evacuation of industries and populations, and the relocation of government offices and cultural establishments (like theaters and studios).

The production of popular culture during the war was a result of both voluntarism and mobilization, but the latter occurred to a degree undreamed of in other belligerent states, even Nazi Germany.

Folk culture rose to full magnitude during the war. Half of the concerts were performed at the front.

Radio had become a powerful cultural medium during the war, and not just in Soviet Russia; it grew in popularity all over the world. It became the primary cultural medium because many theaters, movies, and concert halls closed down.

In times of danger, people want to see high culture as a national treasure belonging to the masses. Of the 70 full-length movies produced in 1942-45, 48 were war movies, most of the rest were historical films. That made the films something of a national pastime that was already, and could become even more of, a treasure belonging to the masses.

Major postwar themes: flourish of Russian chauvinism and anti-cosmopolitanism, a re-tightening of ideological orthodoxy and control