Soviet Symbols Research Articles

Avant-Garde Inspirations in the Art of Ukrainian Monumentalists of the 1960-70s:

The purpose of the research is to introduce into scientific circulation the results of documentary reconstruction and art analysis of the lost monumental panel, which was created by a tandem of talented artists in the Palace of Culture of the BilotserkivMAZ plant in Bila Tserkva. The research methods involve a combination of art analysis with methods of documentary reconstruction and interviews with the author of the studied artifacts. Scientific novelty consists in the introduction into scientific circulation of a previously undescribed and destroyed monument of monumental art – a panel in the Palace of Culture of the BilotserkivMAZ plant in Bila Tserkva. For the first time, the stylistics of the execution of an unexplored object of monumental and decorative art were analyzed. Through a personal interview with Oleg Yerzhikivskyi, a direct participant in the process, the circumstances of the order and execution of the work were recorded. For the first time, a photo from a private family archive was made public, and an attempt was made to reconstruct the panels based on individual photos. Conclusions. As a result of the artistic analysis of the work, the ideological inspirations that manifested themselves during the execution of the large-scale panel were established. Despite the isolation of the Soviet artistic environment from world artistic currents, the dosage of information coming from the West was enough for Ukrainian artists to create their own interpretations of seen foreign or banned domestic samples. Sensing this on an intuitive level rather than being in the full context of theoretical and art history discourse, the best representatives of the process managed to create a work of decent quality, the execution of which was financed by the state of that time. Despite the presence of Soviet symbols in the work (as a tribute to the totalitarian system for the opportunity to work in the field of art at all), the monumental panel is made at a high artistic level and is valuable for its innovative approach. As it follows from the results of the research, the effort to adapt samples of Western European art to the realities of the orders of the Art Fund of the Ukrainian SSR was not the least important in this process. This became possible thanks to the high level of specialized art education in higher educational institutions, as well as the personal self-improvement of each author-performer and his personal giftedness. In addition, the mentioned works were created by Ukrainian artists on Ukrainian territory and they are far from glorifying the regime.

The mouse, the snake, and the devil’s collar: Soviet symbols in the memory of Old Believers of the Upper Kama region

The Soviet project of creating the “new man” included the construction of a collective memory which was not only a legitimate version of the past, but also a repository of cultural values, and the background or space for celebrating Communist rituals. The project itself was rather uniform, but had multiple local incarnations that were determined mostly by the ethnic and religious identity of the local population. The Old Believers’ communities of the Russian North shared with the rest of the country symbols of the past, sites of memory, and commemorative rituals. Still, local perceptions of the Communist regime and its symbols depended in this milieu on a variety of factors: first, the high literacy rate of the deeply religious Old Believers, as well as their erudite knowledge of Christian, and specifically Old Russian literature; second, the very critical attitude toward Soviet power; and third, local beliefs. This article analyzes the process of adaptation of the Communist project to Old Believers’ persistent religious and cultural traditions and seeks to explain how Communist symbols symbiotically coexisted with hostile local attitudes and why they even survived the collapse of the regime. Mutual adjustment of the imposed Communist project and the local symbolic language took many decades, yet finally, by the end of the Soviet era, when three or four generations had seen no other reality than that they were surrounded by, the strong rejection of this reality was smoothed out, everyday tensions mostly disappeared, and the earlier alienation itself became part of collective memory on both family and community levels. The article is based on interviews with Old Believers of the Upper Kama region (Verkhokamie), conducted by the author in 2011 and 2013.

Образ Еревана в контексте постколониального дискурса в повести Юрия Карабчиевского «Тоска по Армении»

Armenia has been incorporated into Russia or under its “protectorate” for two centuries. Throughout this period, a substantial body of texts about Armenia has emerged in prose and poetry, highlighting the distinctive “Armenian text” as a metatext with In Russian literature. However, Yuri Karabchievsky’s novella “Longing for Armenia” (1978), which could not be published in Russia until the times of Perestroika, is considered the first work to explore Armenia's colonial status and contain key motifs of post-colonial text: loss of territories, loss of history and culture, language, etc. The impact of Armenization is evident, notably in the capital city, Yerevan, portrayed as a space marked by impermanence, foreignness, contradiction, and negligence. An analysis of the novella’s central themes, characters, thoughts, and emotions related to Yerevan leads to the conclusion that Yerevan is inherently “non-Armenian,” bearing a profound colonial imprint in organizational structure and spatial symbolism, primarily in its architectural aspect. Furthermore, this article places significant emphasis on Soviet symbols and presence in Yerevan, as well as the role of the Armenian language in the city’s culture and space. Yerevan emerges as a city harboring a melancholy for a lost and estranged ancient past, whose specifics remain elusive, partly due to the suppression of the language of that past. It also yearns for a present and future in which Armenia has not forfeited its culture and history. Despite Yerevan’s failure to conform to the status of the capital of an ancient nation, the changes occurring in the city during the protagonist's lifetime in Karabchievsky’s novella offer hope for the revival of such a Yerevan and Armenia – longed for by the novella’s main characters and cherished by many.

Technoheraldry of Donetsk region

The "Third Heraldic Reform" in the Donbass was purely commercial. The craze for collecting badges with coats of arms caused the development of "rural heraldry" in Donbass. At the end of 1995, all the cities of the Donetsk region already had coats of arms, each of them had a technical symbol. Villages, districts, urban-type settlements remained without coats of arms. During the "Second Heraldic Reform", the principles of building coats of arms were constantly violated. The emerging literature on heraldry led to the desire of novice heraldists to use classical heraldic techniques: division of the shield, enamel), heraldic figures, allegories, and historical roots. The implementation of the acquired knowledge was embodied in the creation of coats of arms of small settlements, taking into account the history, directions of economic development, and the search for symbols. reflecting these directions, etc. The problems associated with the lack of legislation allowing a city, town, village to have its coat of arms and the desire to preserve Soviet symbols were quickly overcome. In the industrial region, even villages are involved in industry - mining, energy, and this is reflected in the work of heraldists. The stories about some episodes, stages of this work have become the main content of this article.

Transformations of collective memory: images of the past in the cultural landscape of the Khobdinsky district

This article presents findings from field studies of sites of memory conducted in the Khobdinsky district of the Aktobe region. The study examines how Soviet-era images and patterns of collective memory are being reevaluated. It observes the interplay between mechanisms of preservation and forgetting when interpreting past events. The erasure of “heroic” Soviet symbols becomes evident in relation to certain monuments, which face the possibility of being excluded from the list of historically and culturally protected assets by the government. Conversely, the valorization of World War II figures, exemplified by Aliya Moldagulova, remains a widely propagated aspect of collective memory, spanning both regional and national dimensions. Moreover, the heroes of World War II, significant for regional memory and identity, are being placed into a wider context of the Kazakh people’s heroic history, whose main symbols are now such figures like Karakypshak Koblandy and Isatai Taymanuly. Alongside the hybridization of heroic imagery across pre-colonial, colonial, and Soviet epochs, the authors also chronicle instances where mosques evolve into pivotal elements of memory sites. Consequently, these sites become integral to the development of new public spaces in contemporary Kazakhstan.

Soviet Visual Symbols in Internet Memes

The article analyzes Soviet symbols that are present in Internet memes — an important, developing part of modern communication. Despite the fact that the Internet meme has many definitions, the article presents a clear, heuristic view that considers the Internet meme as an element of the emerging metalanguage. Such an understanding is possible due to the structure of an Internet meme, which contains an unchangeable part (language) and a changing part in every new picture (speech). This optics allows us to consider an Internet meme as a saying available for analysis.Using this provision, the article examines the existence and functioning of Soviet symbols in Internet memes. They are usually the subject of various studies of cultural and historical memory. Despite the great attention paid to the Soviet memory discourse, researchers mainly focus on the confrontation of positive and critical memory about the Soviet experience and on the construction of such memory. The author puts forward the thesis about the presence of Soviet symbols outside this discourse and its consolidation in cultural memory and everyday communication on the Internet. The involvement of Soviet symbols can be found outside the paradigm of memory construction and any explicit political discourses. At the same time, Soviet symbols regularly appear in new Internet memes, acting as a universal, understandable code of culture. Symbols such as the hammer and sickle, the red star, the May Day demonstration, figures of leaders and many others serve as a matrix of understanding for everyday communication, purified from purely historical discourses.Using various examples, the article demonstrates symbols, seemingly irrelevant to a young audience, which are successfully used in Internet memes that play out a variety of situations. This approach makes it possible to implement the interdisciplinary paradigm in the studies of cultural memory in the digital environment, using the methods of cultural theorists and the methods of media researchers.

Семиотические аспекты афганских татуировок

This article presents a semiotic analysis of Afghan tattoos done by Soviet soldiers in memory of their service in Afghanistan, when the Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces was deployed there (1979– 1989). As the material the author used photos of tattoos posted on six thematic websites. These tattoos were compared with similar sailor, prison and foreign military tattoos. The research found an essential difference between Afghan and prison tattoos and a strong influence of Western tattoo art on the former. At the same time, Afghan tattoos have unique forms of visual representation of the Soviet– Afghan War, which consist in using Islamic calendar, Arabic script, images of Soviet military vehicles and numerous Afghan toponyms. Interestingly, Afghan tattoos contain no official Soviet (hammer and sickle) or Eastern Orthodox (cross, angel, church, icon) symbols. Instead, we can see various animalistic images (eagle, tiger, wolf) and regimental identity insignia. Standing out among unofficial Soviet symbols represented in Afghan tattoos is the image of an eternal flame. Additionally, the research identified different modalities of perception of this war in tattoo art and Soviet/Russian cinematography: as a rule, films demonstrate the fatality of the Soviet–Afghan War, while in soldiers’ tattoos we observe a pronounced commemorative aspect and pride in their service in Afghanistan. On the whole, Afghan tattoos are an important cultural projection for understanding Soviet spiritual culture.

Советская символика и использование венгерского языка в трех венгерских художественных фильмах начала 1950-х годов

The paper aims to reveal Soviet symbols in Hungarian feature films made in the early 1950s. Using the films “Civil a pályán” (Civilians on the Field, 1951), “Becsület és dicsőség” (Honor and Glory, 1951) and “Dalolva szép az élet” (Singing Makes Life Beautiful, 1950) as examples, the work analyses the details appearing in the feature films that may be in some way associated with the Soviet Union (internal and external spaces; people’s dress; objects other than pieces of decoration; verbal references and songs; a Soviet visitor; other aspects related to everyday life). The author identifies forms of address used by the characters indicating the relationship between various groups (namely, communist leaders, workers, saboteurs). Scientific novelty lies in proving that there is strong Soviet influence in the analysed feature films, since not only visible Soviet symbols, but also verbal references and even a case of a Soviet worker appearing in person were discovered. The research findings showed that forms of address in the feature films under consideration helped to clearly define a hierarchy in the depicted society, highlighting the importance of the community of workers and reflecting an awareness of collectivism.

Decommunization by Design: Analyzing the Post-Independence Transformation of Soviet-Era Architectural Urbanism in Kyiv, Ukraine

This study investigates the spatial effects of the ongoing “decommunization” campaign in Ukraine, a state-led attack on Soviet symbols and ideology in the urban space of the capital, Kyiv. We examine decommunization through the lens of an extensive legacy of architectural, urban design, and monumental art projects erected for the celebration of the 1500th anniversary of the city of Kyiv held in 1982. We focus on four ideological narratives and examine the outcomes of decommunization on four monuments. We find that decommunization’s effect is limited; Communist symbolism has been annotated with Ukrainian identity symbols or neglected, not demolished. We conclude that decommunization has focused on the comparatively superficial qualities of toponomy and Lenin symbols, that the legacy of Soviet identity in Kyiv’s cityscape is much deeper and has proved surprisingly persistent, and that the historiography of the newly independent nation of Ukraine is still in a process of reformation and revision.

The Real Consequences of Symbolic Politics: Breaking the Soviet Past in Ukraine

Conflicts over symbolic issues are prominent in public affairs, but do they have wider political consequences, and if so, why? We study the electoral effects of Leninopad (“Lenin’s free fall”), a sudden wave of demolitions of Soviet monuments in Ukraine. Difference-in-differences estimates show that the removals of the Soviet symbols mobilized supporters for parties with a relatively sympathetic view of Ukraine’s Soviet past. We attribute this backlash effect to a signaling mechanism: the removals indicated the weakening power status of the Soviet legacy parties, which motivated their supporters to turn out in elections. This backlash dissipated once the Soviet symbols ceased being a contentious partisan issue due to the escalating war in eastern Ukraine. Symbolic politics has real, nonsymbolic consequences, but only when it maps onto partisan cleavages.

CONSTRUCTION OF THE EURASIAN SYMBOLIC SYSTEM IN THE CONTEXT OF DISINTEGRATION/INTEGRATION AND DISCONNECTION/CONNECTION WITH THE SOVIET SYMBOLS

The author offers the symbolic approach to understanding the nature of the construction of the Eurasian identity in the framework of the EAEU as the result of (dis-)integration and (dis-)connection with the Soviet symbols. The goal of the research is to provide the interdisciplinary analysis of shaping the EAEU’s symbolic identity. The symbolic and dialectic approaches are used. The main idea consists in the suggestion that the symbols are social technology of creating EAEU’s identity. The article argues that EAEU’s symbolic system is shaping on the logic of (dis-)connection and (dis)integration with the meanings of the symbolic system of the USSR. The dialectic logic of integration and connection means greater interaction of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia and Russia. A logic of history of integration and connection is determined on the attempt to revive the Soviet symbols which can be the basis for the construction of common symbolic system. The inner strength of such integrative process lies in the fact that the new phenomenon of the EAEU is not seeking the reincarnation of the old symbols of the Soviet era, serving the expression of utopian ideas. The key findings of the research can be the basis for the practical recommendations in terms of the Eurasian cultural policy.

Author's stucco decor in Khabarovsk

The subject of this article is the stucco decoration on the facade of the administrative building of the Art Foundation in Khabarovsk. The description and compositional analysis of the relief decorations of the facade of the building are presented. Sketches, drawings, photographs from the archive of the artist Genendlis M.A. are published, which allowed to establish the authorship of the studied decoration of the building and the time of its creation. In Khabarovsk, a number of pre-revolutionary buildings and many buildings built in the 1930s -1950s, the so-called "Stalinist style", are decorated with stucco decor. Mainly these are stucco plant garlands with festoons, traditional rosettes, sometimes with Soviet symbols, made on the basis of albums of standard samples. A sample of the author's stucco decoration on the facade of the administrative building of the Khabarovsk branch of the Art Fund is a unique object of urban architectural heritage, an example of a decorative work designed for a specific architectural object. The reliefs placed on the facade gave the building its originality and became artistic accents in the surrounding urban environment. The name of the author of the reliefs was forgotten during the seven decades that have passed since their creation in the late 1950s, but thanks to the study of archival materials, the author was identified - the decorator and sculptor M. A. Genendlis, who worked for a long time in Khabarovsk in the field of theatrical and decorative art, sculpture and the creation of architectural decor.

From International Isomorphism to Traditionalist Iconography

Commonly, Stalin’s death in 1953 is considered to be the major turning point in Soviet history. However, from a monetary perspective, the year 1947 appears to be much more important. While the era between 1917 and 1947 was dominated by high inflation and impoverishment, between 1947 and 1991 Soviet citizens could experience a time of relative monetary stability. Moreover, 1947 also saw a radical shift in Soviet banknote iconography. The multiple and often changing series before 1947 exhibited to a great extent what can be called “international isomorphism”, that is to say, the iconographies reflected the motifs of globally circulating banknotes such as the British pound sterling and the US dollar. In stark contrast to previous policies, the two series issued in and after 1947 presented Russian imperial style enriched with Soviet symbols. This marked shift in Soviet monetary iconography was shot through with continuities on different levels. All designs were conceived under the purview of Ivan Dubasov, head of the artistic department at Goznak, the Soviet state mint, from the 1920s to the 1970s. Also, the iconography put in place in 1947 was a deliberate choice by the Soviet authorities, as they rejected drafts that included too much Bolshevik or too much Russian imperial symbolism. Regardless, this particular iconography became an example of political and economic stability. Until the very last days of the Union, neither party nor state institutions showed any intent to change this.

The Revival of Mythology in the State Symbols of the Chuvash Republic

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the republics affiliated to the union gained their independence, while the autonomous republics have been restructured as republics affiliated to the Russian Federation. Autonomous Soviet republics, which were created with Soviet symbols during the Soviet period, adopted new flags instead of old flags and created new state arms. The flag preferences of the autonomous regions and the sources of the symbols they used in their flags were also different from each other. As in the rest of the world, flags made up of symbols referring to historical events, mythologies, country geography, religious symbols and folk culture were prepared and accepted by the competent bodies of the republics. In this paper, the reflections of Chuvash mythology and folk culture on the state symbols of the Chuvash Republic will be discussed.

Politicization and militarization of children’s leisure in Soviet Ukraine in 1929–1939

The article analyzes the peculiarities of the process of politicization and militarization of children’s leisure in Soviet Ukraine in 1929–1939. The content of the transformation of traditional and creation of new forms of children’s leisure is revealed. The key concepts of ideological substantiation of the need to maximally fill the child’s free time with political and educational practices are identified. The evolution of the new tradition of club leisure and its filling with political content is analyzed. Forms of political and educational work with children in their free time have been reconstructed. The methods of involving children in the political campaigns of the Soviet government by filling the discourse of children’s leisure with the political and militaristic rhetoric are described. The mechanisms of introduction of the state control over such kinds of children’s leisure as reading, thanks to the formation of new children’s literature and creation of the system of propaganda of new work are investigated. It shows how a network of libraries was built into this system, which was tasked with organizing the work of forming a new mass reader. The process of involving children in the culture of the new Bolshevik holidays and its connection with the main tasks of the government in the field of education of conscious and loyal citizens is demonstrated. During the second half of the 1930s, at the initiative of the Ukrainian Soviet leadership, the Christmas tree was restored and transformed, which was filled with new ideological content and used to promote Bolshevik’s achievements and demon- strate the Communist Party’s concern for young citizens. The influence of the political situation on the development of the game sphere of children’s leisure is highlighted, and the power of the process of its militarization on the eve of the Second World War is emphasized. This applied to both mobile children’s games and board games, which were made according to the party’s tasks with an ideological load and included political games and military-themed games. Children’s toys were also modernized, including Christmas tree decorations and toys related to military equipment, military and political events, collective farm construction, and Soviet symbols were added to the traditional toy theme.

Трансформация системы политических символов на Дальнем Востоке России в XXI веке

Introduction. The presented paper is a study of political symbols in the Russian Far East. We are going to discuss not only memorials, but also state symbols, works of art, texts – all the things that shape a world view. The aim of the study is to find political symbols that are universal for the entire Far East region, and to assess their political mobilization capacity. Methods and materials. The article is based upon field study materials conducted in regional centers of the Far Eastern Federal District of the Russian Federation in the spring of 2019. In theoretical terms, the work is based on symbolic politics studies of O.Yu. Malinova, S.P. Potseluev, M. Edelman. Analysis. In the course of the study, we identified several groups of political symbols with mobilization capacity. The first corpus of political symbols is related to the Soviet symbols of victory over Japan. Struggle for the use of these symbols is between the regional branches of the Communist Party and regional authorities. To put things into perspective it is important to assess the impact of Japanophobia on the further development of regional partnership with Japan. The second corpus is the symbols of Russian expansion to the Far East (worship crosses, monuments to pioneers). These symbols are a focal point of struggle between representatives of indigenous peoples, on the one hand, and Cossacks and military-patriotic organizations, on the other hand. Results. In the course of the study of the Russian Far East, we found out that, despite the complicated transformations of the past thirty years, the region is still represented as a unified symbolic space. At the same time, a number of symbolic conflicts and the devaluation of meanings have been observed.

Remains of Socialism: Memory and the Futures of the Past in Postsocialist Hungary

Remains of Socialism: Memory and the Futures of the Past in Postsocialist Hungary

Емблематика пострадянської Донеччини: офіціоз «господарників», переробки «з народу», альтернативи апологетів «русского мира»

The purpose of the article is the analysis of the development of Donetsk region emblems (official heraldry and vexillology of Donetsk Oblast, reflection of historical themes in commercial nomenclature, reinterpretations of official symbols by individuals) in 1991–2015, identifying the main trends in the development of emblems, their connections with the views of customers and authors on history and politics, transformations of symbolics. The methodology of the research is based on the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematics. General scientific and special-historical methods were used, such as content analysis, generalization, chronological, retrospective methods. The scientific novelty is based on it being the first attempt to generalize various elements of emblem studies of the Donetsk region, for the first time going beyond the official heraldry and vexillology of the Oblast, while considering their transformation in the hands of non-state actors. Conclusions. The post-Soviet era emblems of Donetsk and the Donetsk Oblast were developed in a unique situation: on the one hand local elites wanted to move away from Soviet symbols and modernize Donetsk as a “brand”, and on the other hand, due to the peculiarities of these elites’ education, origins and political preferences, did not perceive the region’s history. outside of the Soviet stereotypes about “Donbas as the economic center.” As a result, local elites ignored Cossack history of the Donetsk region in contrast to the perpetuation of industrial achievements of the Russian Empire (such as the Oblast’s coat of arms motto with a quote from Dmitri Mendeleev, “The Mertsalov Palm Tree”, as well as various “John Hughes/Yuz” nomenclature). Over the decades, there has been a divergence of traditions of Donetsk emblem use: official, business, and national-patriotic. At the same time, pro-Moscow organizations have been developing and imposing a separate emblem tradition since 1991, based on historical myths around the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Soviet Republic, but detached from both the old Soviet symbols and the new official Donetsk emblems. The latter were developed to symbolize the “uniqueness” of eastern Ukraine, the “separateness” of Donetsk region, but did not actually intersperse with Russian symbols (with the exception of the Russian-language motto). In this form, it did not meet the goals of Moscow’s agents of influence, but was accepted and reworked by pro-Ukrainian patriotic forces. Thus, the use of one or the other version of Donetsk region symbols indicates a person’s political beliefs, their understanding of regional history and “memory politics” around it.

State and political symbols on the seals of documents of 1918–1919 (based on materials from fund 805 of the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus)

Revolutionary events 1918–1919 on the territory of Belarus, the creation of the Belarusian statehood of newest history require comprehensive, including the sphragistical, research. In particular, a special study requires the role of this period in the formation of Soviet symbols. The process of creating the symbols of the world’s first socialist states was reflected in the seals created and used during this period. An analysis of the content of the imprints of the seals in the 805 National Archive of the Republic of Belarus fund revealed the use of seals by local authorities with symbols of state formations that had disappeared at moment of use and were the ideological enemies of the Communists.

Alfonsas Aldonis: Writing a Soviet Poem

The article studies the genesis of poems by one of the most famous Lithuanian poets of the Soviet era Alfonsas Maldonis (1929–2007). It follows the methodology of genetic criticism and compares versions of manuscripts and texts of poems that have already been published. The main attention is given to poems “Awakening from Sleep”, “White Mountains”, “Morning Wind”. The poet’s first manuscripts are usually more ordinary, containing everyday realities and even open critique of Soviet life. While editing the manuscripts, the author sometimes only deletes or replaces some words with neutral ones (names of religious holidays, realities reminiscent of Soviet repression), but more often, the image is fundamentally redesigned, the particulars are replaced with abstract images, creating a multifaceted reading. The original ideas do not disappear but seem to be taken into the poem’s underground layer. The manuscripts’ analysis reveals how Maldonis created his distinctive poem and how an internal censor is involved in the process, suggesting which words would never be printed in a book published by an official publisher. Rarely, but there are also opposite cases where Soviet symbols are inserted into an ideologically neutral text. Maldonis’s poetry, however, contains signs similar to what Czesław Miłosz called the “captive mind”. It is difficult to say whether those few sovietisms stem from internal conviction or external ideological pressure to write bright, optimistic texts.