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Poslední úprava: Mgr. Alena Marková, Ph.D. (02.10.2020)
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Poslední úprava: Mgr. Alena Marková, Ph.D. (02.10.2020)
Course Objectives: Students are expected to answer to the following questions: What is soviet „anecdote“? Why could one describe it rather as anti-communist or anti-Soviet? What is the reason that made it (or them) so special? What role do they play in the totalitarian regime? What place do they have in our understanding of the history of totalitarian regimes and the everyday life of an ordinary citizens of the Soviet bloc? |
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Poslední úprava: Mgr. Alena Marková, Ph.D. (11.09.2022)
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Poslední úprava: Mgr. Alena Marková, Ph.D. (15.10.2023)
Course Requirements: Students are expected to take an active part in discussions during classes. Students have to attend classes regularly (two unexplained absence are tolerated) Terms of passing the course: final essay or presentation (ppt) Deadline: January 25, 2024 Final essay (1 950 – 2 200 words long) on a pre-agreed topic needs to contain exact references and to state all their sources (including e-sources). The essay has to contain a bibliography. Clear, precise, and comprehensive citations and references are absolutely essential. Student’s critical observations, experience and critical reflections are very welcomed. List of topics for final paper (comparison with American, European or your national history is welcomed): 1. State propaganda: tasks, historical context, channels of distribution and examples (from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean). Could you “invent“ you own propaganda’s goals, subject and target group? For what (historical) purpose and why? 2. The image of the East in the Western (pop)culture during the Cold War and nowadays (movies (Bond movies, dr. Strangelove), graphic novels etc.) 3. Rock, rock-n-roll and punk music: protest or fashion? 4. Politically incorrect and inappropriate jokes: do they have right to exist? 5. Repression, censorship and self-censorship in the Soviet bloc (in the country and time-period of your choice). 6. So called “blat”, mutual favors and connections in the Soviet bloc: do we have their analogues in the Western societies in the past and today? How is that possible? 7. Sport and propaganda: together forever? (controversies surrounding the Moscow and Los Angeles Olympic games, hockey world cups and other examples) 8. Hippies subculture: fashion or protest? 9. Collective memory and historical consciousness. Historical myths in the history (from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean). Should we deconstruct historical myths? Students may offer their own topics. However, new pre-agreed topics have to be confirmed by a teacher.
OR: 2. Students can prepare and deliver a ppt. presentation (20 min) on a pre-agreed topic during semester instead of a final essay. The number of slots for presentation is limited!
Evaluation Method: Grades will be based on active participation in discussions (25%), and a final essay (or a final presentation) (75%) |
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Poslední úprava: Mgr. Alena Marková, Ph.D. (11.09.2022)
Syllabus: Topics Covered During Class: Lecture 1. Introduction. Methodology. What is political history (goals, approach to studied topics, examples of main questions to focus on)? What is social and cultural history (what does social and cultural history study, it’s goals, approach to studied topics, examples of main questions to focus on)? What is soviet „anecdote“? Why could one describe it rather as anti-communist or anti-Soviet? What is the reason that made it (or them) so special? What role do they play in the totalitarian regime? What place do they have in our understanding of the history of totalitarian regimes and the everyday life of an ordinary citizens of the Soviet bloc? Which topics or objects of derision could one not find in official humor magazines of the USSR and the Soviet bloc? Why? What is the main difference between official communist and people’s anti-communist humor? Recommended Readings: Ben Lewis, Hammer & Tickle. A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008, Chapter 5, The Golden Age of Communist Jokes, pp. 147-203.
Lecture 2. Jokes, Red Terror and Repressions. Person and Totalitarian Authorities. Terror, censorship and self-censorship were an essential part of communist regime. Is it still possible to make a jokes about them? Do politically incorrect and inappropriate jokes have right to exist? During the lecture we will focus on communist purges, red terror, repressions and their ideological substantiation, i.e. the idea of classes and the Bolshevik system of class-divided society as an instrument of communist (Bolshevik) repression. Recommended Reading: Catriona Kelly, Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero, Granta Books, 2005, Introduction, Death in the Taiga.
Lecture 3. Soviet Propaganda or How Important is to have “an Enemy”. Is it important to have “an enemy” in a totalitarian (soviet, communist, post-communist and post-soviet) regime? Why? How can one create the image of “an enemy” and describe it? How not to be fooled by propaganda in mass media? The lecture will deal with soviet mass media and the mechanism of the soviet propaganda: its tasks, goals, channels of distribution, target groups, historical context and concrete examples.
Lecture 4. Shortages and the Phenomenon of “Blat”: Social (In)Equality? Planned economy was probably the most significant feature of socialism and the communist model of economy. The main feature of the administrative command economy of socialist bloc was the significance of centralized hierarchical decision-making in the absence of popular control over the economy. Shortages were essential part of soviet economic system. What is “blat” and what did “blat” mean in soviet economy and everyday life of soviet citizens or citizens of socialist bloc? We will study the main mechanism and the main principle of distribution of socialistic society of shortage, the phenomenon of so called «blat» as a network of mutual favorable interactions between individuals. Recommended Reading: Alena Ledeneva, Russia's Economy of Favours: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange, New York, 1998, Chapter 4, 104-138 pp.
Lectures 5-6. Fashion and Lifestyle in the Socialist Bloc Despite of all commonly maintained convictions and at the same time despite all the communistic ideas of modesty and equality the phenomenon of luxury and luxurious goods did exist during the socialistic period. How was it possible? We will discuss socialist fashion and luxurious lifestyle, at the same time we will discuss the system of distribution of luxurious goods. We will acquaint ourselves with the for the general public inaccessible V.I.P. socialistic Czechoslovakian department store with luxurious goods called “Tuzex”. Recommended Reading: Larissa Zakharova, “Dior in Moscow: A Taste for Luxury in Soviet Fashion Under Khrushchev”, in: David Crowley, Susan Reid, Pleasures in Socialism: Leisure and Luxury in the East Bloc, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2010, pp. 95-119.
Lectures 7-8. Subcultures in Soviet Bloc We will be dealing with everyday activities of the members of contemporary subcultures. Examples such as hippies, the so-called “stiliagi” and others will shed light on the more or less openly pronounced culture of protest. We will also study the image of such subcultures in the only officially published Soviet humoristic magazine “Krokodil”. Our leading question will be: from what direction did the authorities try to satirize these subcultures? Recommended Reading: Paul Wilson, “What’s it Like Making Rock’n’Roll in a Police State?”, in: Martin Machovec (ed.), Views from the inside: Czech underground literature and culture (1948-1989): manifestoes - testimonies – documents, Praha: Ústav české literatury a literární vědy, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2006, pp. 33-48.
Lecture 9. Protest Movement in Soviet Bloc During the classes, we will study the protest movement that existed during the socialistic period in Eastern and Central Europe. We will acquaint ourselves with the crucial role of the Charter 77, with activities of Czech and Russian dissidents, protest groups and organizations. Which role in the protest culture did music bands play (on the example of The Plastic People of Universe and others)? Recommended Reading: Václav Havel, “The power of the powerless”, in: Václav Havel, John Keane (eds.), The power of the powerless: citizens against the state in central - eastern Europe, London: Hutchinson, 1985, pp. 23-97. or: http://www.vaclavhavel.cz/index.php?sec=6&id=2&kat&from=6&setln=2
Lecture 10. Sports and Propaganda: Together Forever? We will be dealing with soviet sport (mass sport and professional sport) in the Soviet bloc and propaganda, which is often connected to the soviet sport. During the classes, we will focus our attention on some ideological aspects of the Spartakiades (Spartakiáda) in Czechoslovakia and mass gymnastics under the communism and socialism. Yet we will study the Czechoslovak Hockey Riots at the beginning of 1969 and Olympic games in Moscow in 1980. Recommended Reading: Petr Roubal, “Politics of Gymnastics. Mass gymnastic displays under communism in Central and Eastern Europe“, in: Body and Society 9, no. 2 (2003), s. 1-25. Petr Roubal, «Mass Gymnastic Performances under Communism: The Case of Czechoslovak Spartakiads », in Balazs Apor, Peter Apor (eds.), The Sovietization of Eastern Europe. New Perspectives on the Postwar Period, Washington, New Academia Publishing, 2008, pp. 171-180.
Lecture 11. Church and Religious in a Socialistic Bloc Our point of departure will be anti-church propaganda in the contemporary magazines, most notably in the satirical multi-million issue “Krokodil”. What was the relationship between the church (or churches – Orthodox, Catholic and others) and the communist regime? We will be devoting a large section of the class to the study of communist persecution of priests and religious organizations (socialistic propaganda and priest Toufar’s case). Recommended Reading: Paul Froese, The plot to kill God: findings from the Soviet experiment in secularization, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008, Chapter The Atheist Crusade.
Lecture 12. Final Discussion. Presentations. |
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Poslední úprava: Mgr. Alena Marková, Ph.D. (02.10.2020)
Recommended Reading: Natalya Chernyshova, Soviet consumer culture in the Brezhnev era, New York: Routledge, 2013. David Crowley, Susan Reid, Pleasures in Socialism: Leisure and Luxury in the East Bloc, Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2010. Paul Froese, The plot to kill God: findings from the Soviet experiment in secularization, Berkeley: University of California Press, 2008. Václav Havel, “The power of the powerless”, in: Václav Havel, John Keane (eds.), The power of the powerless: citizens against the state in central - eastern Europe, London: Hutchinson, 1985. Hana Havelková, Libora Oates-Indruchová (eds.), The politics of gender culture under state socialism: an expropriated voice, London: Routledge, 2014. Catriona Kelly, Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero, Granta Books, 2005. Alena Ledeneva, Russia's Economy of Favours: Blat, Networking and Informal Exchange, New York, 1998. Ben Lewis, Hammer & Tickle. A History of Communism Told Through Communist Jokes, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2008. Martin Machovec (ed.), Views from the inside: Czech underground literature and culture (1948-1989): manifestoes - testimonies – documents, Praha: Ústav české literatury a literární vědy, Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, 2006. James Scott, Domination and the Arts of Resistance. Hidden Transcripts, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1990. Sheila Fitzpatrick (eds.), Sedition: everyday resistance in the Soviet Union under Khrushchev and Brezhnev, New Haven: Yale University Press, 2011. James R. Millar (ed.), Politics, Work, and Daily Life in the USSR. A Survey of Former Soviet Citizens, Cambridge, New York, New Roghelle, Melbourne, Sydney: Cambrige University Press, 1987. Katarina Katz, Gender, Work and Wages in the Soviet Union A Legacy of Discrimination, Basingstoke, New York: Palgrave Publishers, 2001. Jonathan Bolton, Worlds of Dissent. Charter 77, The Plastic People of the Universe, and Czech Culture under Communism, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2012. Christopher Marsh, Religion and the State in Russia and China, London and New York: Continuum, 2011. Anne Gorsuch, Diane P. Koenker, The Socialist Sixties: Crossing Borders in the Second World, Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2013. Sheila Fitzpatrick, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s, Oxford University Press, USA, 1999. |