SOVIET HOUSES OF SCIENTISTS: PRACTICES OF CAPTURING THE SOVIET CULTURAL SPACE BY THE UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENTSIA OF THE 1920s–1930s

Abstract

The article considers the history of the first years in organizing and functioning of cultural institutions – Houses of Scientists – as a specific form of institutionalization of Soviet cultural traditions. The Houses of scientists from the moment of their creation were designed to cultivate the Soviet way of life. Attention is focused on creating new forms of leisure activities on weekdays and holidays. The activity of the Houses of Scientists was strictly regulated. The work of special cultural commissions, organization and holding Soviet holidays within the walls of the Houses of Scientists were supposed to contribute to the erasure of old traditions and the formation of new/Soviet ones. On the basis of archival sources and memoir literature, an attempt is made to study the reflection of the intelligentsia on the actions of the authorities. The specific position of the intelligentsia on the emergence of new cultural traditions is traced. A diverse palette of moods of the university intelligentsia is shown, which is based not only on the attitude to the new government, but on socio-psychological motivation as well. Various social practices of scientists and the degree of their influence on the formation and activity of newly created cultural institutions are considered. Using the example of the work carried out in the Houses of Scientists, the process and specifics of the “transition” of the universities intelligentsia to the Soviet norms and traditions are considered. The emphasis is placed on the peculiarities of functioning of the Houses of Scientists as a new cultural space in which the “Soviet” and pre-revolutionary traditions of the life and activities of the university intelligentsia collided and intertwined in a bizarre way. The place of the Houses of Scientists in the first post-revolutionary decades (1920s–1930s) was determined, which, as a result of the scientists’ activities, became centers not only and not so much ideological, but rather cultural and educational activities. The paper traces the direct connection between the policy of the Soviet government in the field of higher education and the transformation of the socio-cultural space of the university intelligentsia as a whole. The paper emphasizes a special influence of the socio-professional and cultural space on the formation of intelligentsia’s ideological positions in the 1920s–1930s. Ultimately, fundamental questions are raised about the place and the role of the university intelligentsia in the early Soviet period.