| Date | Time | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Thursday, October 15, 2015 | 4:00PM - 6:00PM | Seminar Room 108N, Munk School of Global Affairs 1 Devonshire Place M5S 3K7 |
Traditional historiography of everyday life under Stalin in the 1930s long portrayed ordinary citizens as either brainwashed or terrified into silence; more recently, we have come to speak of ‘grey zones’ and blurred lines. Drawing on extensive archival research in Kyiv, Moscow and St Petersburg, this paper argues that we can add some colour and definition to those ‘grey zones’ by turning to the political humour people shared in these years and what it reveals about their perceptions, struggles, frames of reference, their values, and even perhaps a mental resistance to a regime which promised much and a reality which rarely delivered.
In this time of strict censorship and arbitrary arrests, the exchange of jokes, anekdoty and humorous poems was a vital means by which ordinary people could express their critical opinions about the Soviet regime and its policies (the appalling effects of collectivisation and the Five-Year Plans in Ukraine will be a particular focus in this paper). Moreover, when they shared this humour, they were taking a considerable risk, giving us insight into the making and breaking of trust bonds in this still-molten society.
In exploring this material, I pose the questions: was this ‘laughter through tears’ – i.e. a moderately successful coping mechanism? A ‘weapon of the weak’ eroding Soviet power at its foundations? Or was it something rather different?
I propose an intricate blend of popular acceptance and criticism or, rather, of acceptance through the process of criticism. By criticising the immutable, ordinary Soviet citizens could retain some agency of their own and shared these interpretive acts widely with those whom they trusted. These processes created a pathway to adaptation and simultaneously shaped a complex interaction between the population and official ideology. My research demonstrates neither outright rejection nor a hermetically sealed alternative worldview, but finds instead a popular desire that the system should live up to its claims, combined with a subtle, popular reclamation of official language which attempted to paper over the cracks between ideology and lived reality.
If you are attending a Munk School event and require accommodation(s), please email the event contact listed above to make appropriate arrangements.
Disclaimer: Please note that events posted on this website are considered to be public events – unless otherwise stated – and you are choosing to enter a space where your image and/or voice may be captured as part of event proceedings that may be made public as part of a broadcast, webcast, or publication (online and in print). We make every effort to ensure your personal information is kept and used in compliance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). If you have any questions please get in touch with our office at munkschool@utoronto.ca or 416-946-8900.