Russophone Cultures I

The course will address various aspects of the political and cultural history of the "long 1920s," that is, the period from the revolutionary year of 1917 until the radical change in Soviet cultural policy in 1932. Specific aspects of Russian and Soviet politics and culture during these fifteen years will be discussed: the political events from the February Revolution to the October Revolution; the establishment of the new Bolshevik government; the Constituent Assembly; Russia in the last year of World War I; the Red Terror and the monopolization of Bolshevik power; the civil war; war communism; the anti-Bolshevik uprisings; cultural and literary life after 1917; the art of the political poster; the New Economic Policy; the restructuring of the state; the consolidation of the Soviet regime; the struggle for power in the Communist Party after Lenin's death; the cultural situation in the 1920s; the main literary trends; the development of literature and art; Soviet cinema in the 1920s; the "Cultural Revolution" of 1928-1931.