Stalinist values: the cultural norms of Soviet modernity, 1917-1941

Abstract

David L. Hoffmann. Values. The Cultural Norms of Soviet Modernity, 1917-1941. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2003. xiii, 247 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. $47.50, cloth. $18.95, paper.In one of the first evaluations of Stalinism, Nicholas Timasheff cited the year 1934-when Stalin declared that socialism had been attained-as the beginning of from the ideas and methods of the Russian Revolution. David Hoffmann revisits the revolution-retreat paradigm proposed by Timasheff and argues that remained dedicated to socialist ideology and progress toward communism. He also asserts that Stalinera policies were part of larger modernization project.A multitude of interpretations of have been developed since The Great Retreat debuted in 1946. While many of these surface throughout Values, only Timasheff, Robert Conquest and Moshe Lewin are afforded textual reference in the brief introductory historiographie overview that Hoffmann provides. Rigorous engagement with the broader scholarship would have more clearly distinguished the thesis Hoffmann presents from arguments made by the numerous social and cultural historians upon whose research he draws extensively to illustrate his points. In but one example, Hoffmann's emphasis on the Enlightenment principals inherent in Stalinist directly conjures up the notion of Stalinism as civilization delineated by Stephen Kotkin.Indeed, Hoffmann demonstrates consistent Soviet preoccupation with reshaping society through scientific and aesthetic norms, and social interventionism. He evokes Enlightenment values, however, with the express purpose of positioning the Soviet Union within the broader context of interwar Europe. At the same time, while highlighting convergences with Europe, Hoffmann aptly portrays Soviet modernization as distinct in its anti-capitalist, collectivist orientation, and the resurrection or invention of traditions that could be reconciled with the revolutionary heritage for the purpose of mass mobilization. For Hoffmann, Stalinist culture-the official norms, values and practices that embodied the Soviet response to the ambitions and challenges of the modern world-comprised a particular Soviet incarnation of modern mass culture (p. 10).The declining birth rate was one concern of the interwar period shared by European countries and the Soviet Union, which similarly instituted policies aimed at revitalizing the traditional institution of the family. However, as Hoffmann indicates, while glorified images of mothers were ubiquitous, unlike their European counterparts, Soviet women were encouraged to continue working throughout pregnancy and then return to work after birth. He thereby refutes the assertion that legislation aimed at fortifying the family was regressive; he also presents the family in service to the modernizing state, which displaced the autonomous Patriarch. …