Bolshevik Festivals, 1917-1920

Bolshevik Festivals, 1917-1920
Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Total Pages : 352
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0520076907
ISBN-13 : 9780520076907
Rating : 4/5 (07 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Bolshevik Festivals, 1917-1920 by : James Von Geldern

Download or read book Bolshevik Festivals, 1917-1920 written by James Von Geldern and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the early years of the USSR, socialist festivals--events entailing enormous expense and the deployment of thousands of people--were inaugurated by the Bolsheviks. Avant-garde canvases decorated the streets, workers marched, and elaborate mass spectacles were staged. Why, with a civil war raging and an economy in ruins, did the regime sponsor such spectacles? In this first comprehensive investigation of the way festivals helped build a new political culture, James von Geldern examines the mass spectacles that captured the Bolsheviks' historical vision. Spectacle directors borrowed from a tradition that included tsarist pomp, avant-garde theater, and popular celebrations. They transformed the ideology of revolution into a mythologized sequence of events that provided new foundations for the Bolsheviks' claim to power. In the early years of the USSR, socialist festivals--events entailing enormous expense and the deployment of thousands of people--were inaugurated by the Bolsheviks. Avant-garde canvases decorated the streets, workers marched, and elaborate mass spectacles were staged. Why, with a civil war raging and an economy in ruins, did the regime sponsor such spectacles? In this first comprehensive investigation of the way festivals helped build a new political culture, James von Geldern examines the mass spectacles that captured the Bolsheviks' historical vision. Spectacle directors borrowed from a tradition that included tsarist pomp, avant-garde theater, and popular celebrations. They transformed the ideology of revolution into a mythologized sequence of events that provided new foundations for the Bolsheviks' claim to power.


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