Remembering the Soviet Past: Oral History, Mass Culture, Literature, and Cultural Politics

Session Submission Type: Panel

Brief Description

This panel brings together papers on various memory modes of the Soviet past in different former regions of the Soviet Union. The first paper focuses on Soviet aesthetics in the North Caucasus and the role of mass culture in shaping collective memory. The second paper examines memory politics in the Baltics and Ukraine, focusing on the "threat of Russian history" and its implications for monuments. The third paper analyses Vladimir Sorokin's novels and his portrayal of Soviet socialist realism, focusing on mass culture and nostalgia. The fourth paper explores the oral history of the Soviet era in contemporary Moldova, concentrating on diverse perceptions across different generations and regions. These papers give an understanding of the complex nature of Soviet memory and its lasting impact on post-Soviet areas.

Sub Unit

• Anthropology, Cultural Studies

Chair

• Elena Vasileva, U of Toronto (Canada)

Papers

• The Soviet Past and Historical Memory in the Popular Culture of the North Caucasus - Amira Khalid

• Conceptualism, Nostalgia, and the Soviet Project: Vladimir Sorokin’s Roman and Day of the Oprichnik - Kirsten Tarves, U of Toronto (Canada)

• Twists of Memory: Oral History of the Soviet Past in Contemporary Moldova - Anna Vichkitova, Harvard U

Discussant

• Donna Tussing Orwin, U of Toronto (Canada)