Stalin's Ghosts: Gothic Themes in Early Soviet Literature by Muireann Maguire

by Muireann Maguire

Stalin’s Ghosts examines the impact of the Gothic-fantastic on Russian literature in the period 1920-1940. It shows how early Soviet-era authors, from well-known names including Fedor Gladkov, Mikhail Bulgakov, Andrei Platonov and Evgenii Zamiatin, to niche figures such as Sigizmund Krzhizhanovskii and Aleksandr Beliaev, exploited traditional archetypes of this the haunted castle, the deformed body, vampires, villains, madness and unnatural death. Complementing recent studies of Soviet culture by Eric Naiman and Lilya Kaganovsky, this book argues that Gothic-fantastic tropes functioned variously as a response to the traumas produced by revolution and civil war, as a vehicle for propaganda, and as a subtle mode of unwriting the cultural monolith of Socialist Realism.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Stephanie McGarrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would be a fine book for a Russian Literature course, but for bedtime reading, not so much. Its not overly academic and introduced a few new writers to me. The interesting thing about Gothic literature is its ambiguity. It is often difficult to discern what ideology they are condemning or praising. I would have liked a little more context of the times, which would have made some things clearer.

One interesting book that was recalled was The Keeper of Antiquities, which describes the exhumation of a two-thousand-year old Kazakh princess shrouded in gold, and an apparent haunting by a female Ukrainian anarchist killed in 1919, as well other more specifically Gothic motifs (such as a woman's quest to have her lover's ashes sculpted into a bust). A fine book for anyone interested in Gothic literature and/or Soviet literature.

[Lamprini · Rating 5 out of 5]

had many years to read such a good research.reminded me of A.Calmet