Soviet Indologists and the Institute of Oriental Studies: Works on Contemporary India in the Soviet Union

1983 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 323-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nisha Sahai-Achuthan
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Academic Training ◽  
Organizational Growth ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Oriental Studies

In this article the author studies the main trends in the evolution of modern Soviet Indology in the context of developments in Soviet Oriental studies and examines the extent to which both these were conditioned in turn by shifts in Soviet ideology. The development of Soviet Indology is further examined within the context of the organizational growth of the Institute of Oriental Studies (IVAN) and the evolving expertise of Soviet Indologists on contemporary India (along with a study of patterns in the academic training of these scholars). The author thus investigates both the intellectual and organizational bases contributing to the growth of Soviet Indology in an integrated and interconnected manner.

Emancipation and Domesticity: Decoding Personal Manuscript Cookbooks from the Soviet Union

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 111-126
Author(s):  
Anastasia Lakhtikova
Keyword(s):  
Family History ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Gender Roles ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
The Cost

A product of their time and of the internalized Soviet ideology that to a great extent shaped women's gendered self-fashioning as women and mothers, Soviet manuscript cookbooks became popular among Soviet women in the late 1960s. Based on the semiotic reading of two personal manuscript cookbooks in the author's family, this article explores what these cookbooks, in combination with the author's family history, tell about how Soviet women used and reshaped the gender roles available to them in late Soviet everyday life. The author also asks questions about the cost of emancipation in a society that could not truly support such progress socially or economically.

The Theme of Repatriation of Jews from the USSR in the Soviet Media as a Manifestation of Media Propaganda in the 1970s (the Сase of the Izvestiya)

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 135-148
Author(s):  
Strovsky Dmitry L. ◽  
◽  
Antoshin Alexey V. ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Editorial Policy ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Mass Consciousness ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Empirical Material

This article analyzes the substantive approaches used by the Soviet press when reflecting the topic of the repatriation of Jews from the USSR to Israel in the 1970s. This period is of particular importance in the course of studying information propaganda as an independent socio-political activity aimed at the formation of a certain type of mass consciousness. During this period, information propaganda of the Soviet mass media was perceived as an essential basis for strengthening ideological and political positions of the Soviet Union by leveling the complexities of its daily life. The study of how exactly these media promoted the topic of repatriation seems to be new in the study of the information space. The disclosure of this topic through the use of extensive empirical material enables to see the patterns of development of this space at the final stage of the Soviet period, which in turn, determines the relevance of the study in modern conditions, when manipulative priorities anew have become noticeable in the practice of the Russian media. The authors envisage the editorial policy of such an influential central newspaper as Izvestia. This publication, like all the other Soviet media, was attached to propaganda priorities, which predetermined manipulative approaches when covering the topic of repatriation. In order to determine the main trends of manipulative influence, we used structural-functional and systemic methods, as well as a method of content analysis, which together afford to see the patterns of development of the Soviet print media in the disclosure of the topic presented in the title of this article. The results of the research are not only theoretically but practically oriented, since they provide understanding of effective methods of influencing the audience and using them in everyday media practice. Keywords: media, Soviet ideology, propaganda, manipulation, class approach, Zionism, Jews

On Bakhtin, Philosophy, and Philology: Two Essays

PMLA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 130 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. L. Gasparov ◽  
Michael Wachtel
Keyword(s):  
Probability Theory ◽  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Literary Study ◽  
Exact Science ◽  
Humanities Education ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Verse Form

Mikhail Leonovich Gasparov (1935-2005) was one of the greatest and most prolific russian literary scholars of the twentieth century.Though associated with the Moscow-Tartu school of semiotics, Gasparov's writings were so diverse and multifaceted—and his scholarly personality so distinct—as to elude categorization.Gasparov's accomplishments are all the more remarkable when measured against the rigid Marxist-Leninist paradigms that ruled humanities education and scholarship in the Soviet Union. A philologist with a special interest in verse form, he managed to sidestep the procrustean bed of Soviet ideology, building instead on the barely tolerated work of the Russian formalists and structuralists. He embraced and developed their goal of turning literary study into an exact science by applying statistical analysis and probability theory to poetics. Gasparov's scholarship was based on unprecedented amounts of data, which he painstakingly compiled in the precomputer era. However, he was never satisfied with the data as such; he used them to reach profound and unexpected conclusions.

scholarly journals The Great Patriotic War of 1941 and the Soviet Man: A Kafkaesque Expression of Soviet Ideology in Andrey Kurkov‟s The Bickford Fuse

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. 2688-2692
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Nikita Khrushchev ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Great Patriotic War ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Narrative Mode ◽  
Unconscious Mind

Andrey Kurkov, in The Bickford Fuse, opens up an uncanny nightmarish world embroiled in war that ravaged it for years on end, making it nothing short of an episode taken right out of a Kafka novel. Kurkov’s narrative mode does not stray much from the Kafkaesque realm when he employs techniques such as psychological explorations, surrealism, dream sequences and nihilism to tell the story of the wandering Soviet man in the days of the former Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev. The Soviet man represents the distraught Soviet population who was ambushed by the Great Patriotic war of 1941and the disillusionment and nihilism it brought with it. The minds of multiple personae in the novel reveal a struggle between the forces of Thanatos and Eros and a psychological oppression unleashed by the Great Patriotic War. This study chronicles the transformation of the Soviet mentality and the failure of the socialist ideology, through the parallel journeys of Kharitonov, the searchlight operators, Andrey and the occupant of the airship, who stands for Nikita Khrushchev. This paper also aims to establish that surrealism is employed to give voice to the unconscious mind of the Soviet man as in the works of Kafka. The objective of this study will be to probe the Kafkaesque elements in the novel which encodes in it the myriad faces of the Soviet man of Khrushchev’s days.

Distributing condoms on the factory floor: Communists and sexual health in the Netherlands

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (20) ◽  
pp. 45-78
Author(s):  
Elke Weesjes
Keyword(s):  
Family Planning ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Family ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Heterosexual Sex ◽  
The Cold War

Dutch communists were remarkably progressive in their views on (heterosexual) sex, sex education, contraception and family planning. Many were active members of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Sexuele Hervorming ('Dutch League for Sexual Reform' or NVSH), and were passionate advocates of sexual health, and promoted the use of contraceptives and the legalisation of abortion. This progressive stance on sexuality and contraception was not led by the Dutch Communist Party (CPN). In fact, from the 1940s until the late 1960s, topics related to birth control, sex education and family planning had been given a wide berth in the CPN and its organisations. The CPN seemingly followed the example set by the Soviet Union, where, after a very brief moment of sexual liberation in the early post-revolution years, conservative views about sexuality, the family and household organisation had prevailed. Considering the Dutch party's refusal to address sex education and family planning, it is quite remarkable that so many of its members were such passionate advocates of sexual health. Based on a series of interviews with twenty-five cradle communists, communist archives, and a wide range of other sources, this article explores communists' stance on sexual health, and discusses their roles in the NVSH and the abortion rights movement during the Cold War. It argues that in regard to sexuality and sex education, the ideas of Dutch communists were much more in line with utopian socialist traditions that predated the Russian revolution as well as anarchist traditions carried through to communists, than with the Soviet ideology.

scholarly journals Tangut (Xi Xia) Studies in the Soviet Union: Quinta Essentia of Russian Oriental Studies

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 178-196
Author(s):  
Sergey Dmitriev
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Saint Petersburg ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Long Time ◽  
History Of ◽  
Post War ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Oriental Studies ◽  
Almost All

Grace to the famous discovery of Piotr Kozlov’s expedition, a very rich collection of various Tangut books in a mausoleum in the dead city of Khara-Khoto was found in 1908, and almost all the texts in the Tangut language were then assembled in Saint-Petersburg. Because of this situation Russian Tangutology became one of the most important in the world very fast, and Russian specialists, especially Alexej Ivanov, did the first steps to understanding the Tangut language and history, which had for a very long time been hidden from humanity.This tradition persisted in the Soviet Union. Nikolaj Nevskij in 1929 returned to Russia from Japan, where he had stayed after 1917, mainly to continue his Tangut researches. But in 1937, during Stalin’s Purge, he was arrested and executed, Ivanov too. The line of tradition was broken for almost twenty years, and only the 1960s saw the rebirth of Russian Tangutology. The post-War generation did a gigantic work, raising Tangut Studies to a new level. Unfortunately, they almost had no students or successors.The dramatic history of Tangut Studies in Russia could be viewed like a real quinta essentia of the fate of Oriental Studies in Russia – but all the changes and tendencies are much more demonstrative of this example.Mongolian Journal of International Affairs Vol.19 2014: 178-196

scholarly journals Transformation of Soviet Ideological Attitudes in the Works of A.N. Yakovlev in 1985-1991

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 468-482
Author(s):  
Anatoly N. Sivov
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Committee ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Legal Structure ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
Ideological Attitudes ◽  
Party Congress

The present article studies the views of the godfather of Glasnost, CPSU Central Committee Secretary Alexander N. Yakovlev (1923-2005), and how they evolved during the Perestroika period in the second half of the 1980s. The author analyzes Yakovlev's positions on issues of Soviet ideology at the beginning of Perestroika, arguing that at that time his statements on the need for radical improvement of ideological work did not differ from the views of other party leaders. Yakovlev's personal biography shaped his interpretation of important events of twentieth-century Russian history; he had fought in the Great Patriotic war and participated in the work of the 20th Party Congress and in the Commission of the CPSU Central Committee for the rehabilitation of victims of political repression. Yakovlev became the target of critique from the leaders of the newly created Communist party of the RSFSR, as well as from conservative CPSU members, in particular during the XVIII Party Congress in the summer of 1990; they criticized Yakovlev's work in the Central Committee of the CPSU and the extent of his influence on M.S. Gorbachev. The article traces changes in Yakovlev's assessments of the socialist formation, of Marxism, and of the political and legal structure of the CPSU. The author identifies a direct link between the problems of social and political life in the Soviet Union and changes in Yakovlev's public statements. This analysis leads to the conclusion that Yakovlev's influence on the President of the USSR, M.S. Gorbachev, was not as big as sometimes assumed. Since the beginning of 1991, Yakovlev's influence was gradually declining, and on the eve of the August putsch it reached its lowest point. The article is based on Yakovlev's published articles and public speeches as well as on archival materials from his personal fund that is preserved in the State Archive of the Russian Federation.

The Postcolonial Nature of the Post-Soviet Space: a reading of the cultural condition of Albania

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-385
Author(s):  
Soham Mukherjee ◽  
Madhumita Roy
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Direct Consequence ◽  
Colonial Power ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Cultural Conditions ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Post Soviet Space

Postcolonialism has always concerned itself with the conditions in former colonies of European maritime empires. However, based on current frameworks defining imperialism and the post-colonial condition, the erstwhile Soviet Union could be classified as a colonial power. Its aggressive annexation of nations and paranoid control of information and education systems are reflective of colonial practices. Nevertheless, the Eurocentrism inherent in the culture of its former members prevents them from acknowledging their postcoloniality. Albania is one such nation. Not only was it a province of the Ottoman Empire for centuries but also a satellite state of the Soviet Union. Although Albania broke away from the USSR in the 1960s, it remained under the aegis of Soviet ideology as its nationalist dictator Enver Hoxha was a staunch Stalinist. This created unique cultural conditions which eminent Albanian writers like Ismail Kadare could not help but represent in their works. The post-Soviet space, including Albania, shows a number of symptoms of postcoloniality which are a direct consequence of Soviet imperialism. This paper will explore the postcoloniality of the post-Soviet space and analyse its symptoms in Stalinist Albania. In this context, it will also briefly examine the orientalist frameworks often employed by the West in its dealings with the ambiguous Europeanness of East and Central European nations.

Galaksija: Representation of science in Yugoslavia’s socialist-era popular science magazine

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mićo Tatalović
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Popular Science ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The World ◽  
The Media ◽  
Communist Leader ◽  
Soviet Ideology ◽  
East West ◽  
Science Magazine

Popular science coverage in Soviet countries was often determined by the ideological function of the media. But this was not always the case, especially on the periphery of the Soviet Union. I analyse science coverage in a cult popular science magazine published at the edges of the communist East, socialist Yugoslavia, in the mid-1970s at the height of the magazine’s circulation and during the reign of the country’s communist leader Josip Broz Tito. This analysis shows that at least some Yugoslav media rose above the East/West ideological divide, freeing science from the shackles of US and Soviet ideology, while imparting a unique Yugoslav ideological vision of the world to media science coverage.

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