MAKING PEOPLE MORE TRUE SOVIETS: COMPARING THE DESCRIPTION OF LABOUR IN GULAG LITERATURE AND SOVIET POSTERS
Litus, Ekaterina (2020-05-26)
MAKING PEOPLE MORE TRUE SOVIETS: COMPARING THE DESCRIPTION OF LABOUR IN GULAG LITERATURE AND SOVIET POSTERS
(26.05.2020)
Julkaisu on tekijänoikeussäännösten alainen. Teosta voi lukea ja tulostaa henkilökohtaista käyttöä varten. Käyttö kaupallisiin tarkoituksiin on kielletty.
suljettu
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on:
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2020070246746
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe2020070246746
Tiivistelmä
This thesis discusses the concept of labour as depicted in the two literary works: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsin and Kolyma Stories by Varlam Shalamov. Knowing, that the Soviet Union was glorifying labour, the aim of the present paper is to research how this concept of labour was depicted in the literary works in relation to making people better and more true Soviet.
The study leans on the hypothesis that Joseph Stalin used the idea of labour camps as places where prisoners would be able to change for the better as a mere pretext to establish the absolute totalitarian rule and to pursue economic benefits of using cheap labour force all over the Soviet Union.
In order to conduct the research, the author outlines the notion of a true Soviet person as a culturally communicated model of morals, values and behaviour transmitted to the masses through the Soviet posters dated 1929-1962, which were part of the Soviet propaganda. This is performed by means of visual analysis, and textual analysis as the main methodology when reading the literary texts.
The study reveals that despite the fact that both authors had personal experience in labour camps in the Soviet Union, wrote the literary works approximately at the same time, and these works were the first about Gulag to become available for readers, the opinions about the concept of labour in relation to making people better and more true Soviet differ. What both writers agree with each other about is that labour was considered as an unwanted burden for the prisoners, which made their lives harder.
The study leans on the hypothesis that Joseph Stalin used the idea of labour camps as places where prisoners would be able to change for the better as a mere pretext to establish the absolute totalitarian rule and to pursue economic benefits of using cheap labour force all over the Soviet Union.
In order to conduct the research, the author outlines the notion of a true Soviet person as a culturally communicated model of morals, values and behaviour transmitted to the masses through the Soviet posters dated 1929-1962, which were part of the Soviet propaganda. This is performed by means of visual analysis, and textual analysis as the main methodology when reading the literary texts.
The study reveals that despite the fact that both authors had personal experience in labour camps in the Soviet Union, wrote the literary works approximately at the same time, and these works were the first about Gulag to become available for readers, the opinions about the concept of labour in relation to making people better and more true Soviet differ. What both writers agree with each other about is that labour was considered as an unwanted burden for the prisoners, which made their lives harder.