LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Russian Culture: Soviet Union
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The appearance of newspapers, journals, and books in the United States and other countries where Russians lived helped keep traditional Russian culture alive throughout much of the twentieth century. Following the onset of Bolshevik rule in late 1917, the Soviet state eventually banned all forms of cultural and intellectual activity that did not conform to Stalin's version of Communism. Even the Russian language was transformed by the deletion of several letters from the Cyrillic alphabet and the infusion of new words that reflected the changes brought about by the Soviet system. Many of these new words were really abbreviations, such as gensek (general secretary), gosplan (state plan), kolkhoz (collective farm), Komsomol (Communist Youth League), natsmen (national minority), vuzy (colleges and universities), and zarplata (salary). At the same time many words were eliminated, such as gorodovoi (police officer), gospodin (gentleman, Mr.), gospozha (lady, Mrs.), and gubernator (governor).
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Russian Culture is comprised of many countries and nationalities due to the way the former Soviet Union grew and spread throughout eastern Europe. Many regions once considered part of the USSR were originally their own country with a separate language, territory, customs and traditions. For a better understanding of where these countries are today, visit the "flag" page.
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These immortal lines, the refrain of Alexei Tolstoy's mock epic history of Russia, explain why Russian culture is an endlessly fascinating field of study. Written more than a century ago, the words ring true today. The 1990s saw the once unshakeable Soviet Union fall apart, and Russianists have been scrambling to keep up with a changing field. At Macalester, students encounter the old and new Russia through a comprehensive curriculum based in language and culture, with Study Abroad and extracurricular opportunities, including a student-run conference. This year the guest speakers were Igor Zevelev, Washington bureau chief for RIA-Novosti, and David Brandenberger of the University of Richmond. In 2004, the department hosted a successful Central Asia Symposium in conjunction with the International Studies department.
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The bursts of "resentful contempt" for the West that had long characterized Russian culture were institutionalized, harnessed for the party's uses, and raised to pathological levels under Stalin. Khrushchev's thaw relaxed control over culture, allowing some different voices to emerge (especially Russian nationalism), but the pathology remained entrenched. After Stalin's death, vying political factions within the ruling elite co-opted cultural-identity politics for their own ends. A genuine cultural debate began to reemerge only when dissidents, samizdat writers and unofficial artists simply refused to recognize Soviet rules. Figes argues that the "cultural tradition which [this book] charts reached the end of a natural cycle" in the Brezhnev period, but in fact that cycle was unceremoniously halted by Stalin's 1932 decree. Figes barely mentions samizdat and nonconformist or dissident culture.
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