Automatic for the Masses - The Death of the Author and the Birth of Socialist Realism (Paperback)

At the end of the 1920s, the Modernist and avant-garde artistic programmes of the early Soviet Union were swept away by the rise of Stalinism and the dictates of Socialist Realism. Did this aesthetic transition also constitute a conceptual break, or were there unseen continuities between these two movements? In Automatic for the Masses, Petre M. Petrov offers a novel, theoretically informed account of that transition, tracing those connections through Modernist notions of agency and authorship. Reading the statements and manifestos of the Formalists, Constructivists, and other Soviet avant-garde artists, Petrov argues that Socialist Realism perpetuated in a new form the Modernist "death of the author." In interpreting this symbolic demise, he shows how the official culture of the 1930s can be seen as a perverted realization of modernism's unrealizable project. An insightful and challenging interpretation of the era, Automatic for the Masses will be required reading for those interested in understanding early Soviet culture.

General

Imprint:	University of Toronto Press
Country of origin:	Canada
Release date:	December 2020
Authors:	Petre M Petrov
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 25mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	328
ISBN-13:	978-1-4875-4041-8
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > The arts: general issues > General Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Literary studies > General Books > Humanities > History > European history > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social issues > General Books > History > European history > General
LSN:	1-4875-4041-8
Barcode:	9781487540418

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