Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades by Karen Petrone

Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades by Karen Petrone

Offers an investigation of the official and unofficial meanings of Stalinist celebrations.

"[T]his rich book makes a significant contribution to the historiography of the Stalin era. . .as I read about the celebrations of Arctic explorers, the pages seemed to turn themselves. The book deserves a broad audience of specialists in Russian and Soviet history, as well as those interested in cultural transformation, popular culture, and state-society relations.46 2012"—Canadian American Slavic Studies
"This is a sophisticated and accessible study of the use of mass celebrations by the Stalin Regime in the mid to late 1930s. These celebrations followed the massive disruptions and privations of the First Five-Year Plan and peaked at the height of the Stalin purges. Some celebrations were designed to mobilize the masses and engage them in Soviet popular culture (New Year's fir tree, parades); other celebrations focused on high culture and politics and were directed more to the intelligentsia and the Party (the Pushkin Centennial, The Stalin Constitution). Petrone looks not only at the discourse and goals of the celebrations, but at how they actually played out. She contrasts their impact in Moscow and the provinces, urban and rural areas, and among the Russians and the non-Russian nationalities. To what extent, she asks, did fear generated by the purges help or hinder the cadre in organizing and carrying out orders from the center? To what degree did the discourse of celebration awaken political consciousness among the masses and allow for subtle dissent? This book is based on extensive archival research and a rich collection of published primary and secondary sources. Recommended for college, university, research, and public libraries.July 2001"—E. M. Despalatovic, Connecticut College

Karen Petrone is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Kentucky.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780253337689
ISBN 10	0253337682
Title	Life Has Become More Joyous, Comrades
Author	Karen Petrone
Series	Indiana-Michigan Series In Russian And East European Studies
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Indiana University Press
Year published	2000-11-22
Number of pages	280
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.