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"Let's go!" With that, the boyish, grinning Yuri Gagarin launched
into space on April 12, 1961, becoming the first human being to
exit Earth's orbit. The twenty-seven-year-old lieutenant colonel
departed for the stars from within the shadowy world of the Soviet
military-industrial complex. Barbed wires, no-entry placards, armed
guards, false identities, mendacious maps, and a myriad of secret
signs had hidden Gagarin from prying outsiders-not even his friends
or family knew what he had been up to. Coming less than four years
after the Russians launched Sputnik into orbit, Gagarin's voyage
was cause for another round of capitalist shock and Soviet
rejoicing. The Cosmonaut Who Couldn't Stop Smiling relates this
twentieth-century icon's remarkable life while exploring the
fascinating world of Soviet culture. Gagarin's flight brought him
massive international fame-in the early 1960s, he was possibly the
most photographed person in the world, flashing his trademark smile
while rubbing elbows with the varied likes of Nehru, Castro, Queen
Elizabeth II, and Italian sex symbol Gina Lollobrigida. Outside of
the spotlight, Andrew L. Jenks reveals, his tragic and mysterious
death in a jet crash became fodder for morality tales and
conspiracy theories in his home country, and, long after his
demise, his life continues to provide grist for the Russian
popular-culture mill. This is the story of a legend, both the
official one and the one of myth, which reflected the fantasies,
perversions, hopes and dreams of Gagarin's fellow Russians. With
this rich, lively chronicle of Gagarin's life and times, Jenks
recreates the elaborately secretive world of space-age Russia while
providing insights into Soviet history that will captivate a range
of readers.
What did it mean to be Russian as the imperial era gave way to
Soviet rule? Andrew Jenks turns to a unique art form produced in
the village of Palekh to investigate how artists and craftsmen
helped to reshape Russian national identity. Russia in a Box
follows the development of Palekh art over two centuries as it
adapted to dramatic changes in the Russian nation. As early as the
sixteenth century, the peasant "masters" of Palekh painted
religious icons. It was not until Russia's victory over Napoleon in
1814, however, that the village gained widespread recognition for
its artistic contributions. That same year, the poet Goethe's
discovery of the works of Palekh artists and craftsmen spurred
interest in preserving the sacred art. The religious icons produced
by Palekh masters in the nineteenth century became a source of
Russian national pride. By the 1880s, some artists began to foresee
their future as secular artists-a trend that was ensured by the
Bolshevik Revolution. Tolerated and sometimes even encouraged by
the new regime, the Palekh artists began to create finely decorated
lacquered boxes that portray themes from fairy tales and idealized
Russian history in exquisite miniatures. A new medium with new
subject matter, these lacquered boxes became a new symbol of
Russian identity during the 1920s. Palekh art endured varying
levels of acceptance, denial, state control, and reliance on
market-driven forces. What began as the art form of religious
iconic painting, enduring for more than two centuries, was abruptly
changed by the revolutionaries. Throughout the twentieth century
the fate of Palekh art remained in question as Russia's political
and cultural entities struggled for dominance. Ultimately
capitalism and the Palekhian masters were victorious, and the famed
lacquer boxes continue to be a source of Russian identity and
pride.
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