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-1930s,
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.
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