Soviet Science Fiction between Adventures and Detective Stories: Thematic Management, Economic Plans, and Lobby Groups in the 'Molodaia Gvardia' Publishing House, 1957-1974

• In Event: "More Than Sci-Fi": The Models of Society in Late Soviet and Post-Soviet Speculative Fiction

Abstract

The emergence of new trends in Soviet science fiction was a significant cultural event during the “Thaw” of the 1950s-1960s. The editorial board of science fiction, travel, and adventure literature, established in 1957 at the publishing house “Molodaia Gvardia” (Young Guard), played a central role in this development. From 1957 to 1974, Sergei Zhemaitis (1908-1987), a science fiction writer, headed the editorial board. He established several annual anthologies and book series and successfully attracted various science fiction writers, including Arkadii and Boris Strugatsky, to collaborate with the publishing house.

This paper analyzes Zhemaitis’ approach to balancing science fiction with other literary genres within in the editorial office, drawing on archival documents and published books. First, it focuses on the dynamics of the demands from the “Molodaia Gvardia” administration, which ranged from the criticizing of the “excess” of detective literature and pointing out the need of science fiction books in 1959 to requesting for a “Leninist theme” in travel literature in 1963. Secondly, this paper examines Zhemaitis’ strategies of making annual thematic and economic plans and organizing the work of the editorial office, including the cases of conflict and plan disruption. Finally, it analyzes various lobby groups that influenced the editorial board operation and cultural agenda, from the science fiction writers’ section of the Soviet Writers’ Union to numerous informal networks of writers from different genres (geographic literature, detectives, adventures, and science fiction). This provides a new perspective on the institutional history of science fiction and cultural production in the USSR.

Author

• Maksim Lukin, U of Pennsylvania