Professional Affiliation

Professor of History, Johns Hopkins University

Wilson Center Project

The Course of Two International Cultural Movements in the Former Soviet Union: Commercial Popular Culture and Aesthetic Modernism

Project Summary

aesthetic modernism and commercial popular culture 1890-1932: the role of cultural stars, demands for aesthetic autonomy and expressions of irreverence for authority, cosmopolitanism and international ties, and the related issues of eroticism and an emphasis on personal satisfaction in both the popular and elite arts. The Stalin era, 1932-53: suppression and mockery of modern art and music, as well as the efforts to establish national formulaic genres in literature and film, such as historical fiction, the spy story, and narratives associated with socialist realism. revival of modernism and popular commercial culture after Stalin’s death.