The Idea of Revolution: Aesthetics, Politics and the Avant-Garde in Early Soviet Culture

In this course we will explore intersections between aesthetics and politics in the context of one of the great upheavals of the twentieth century, the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the rise of the Soviet Union. How might art represent a revolutionary politics, and in what ways might it betray it? What does Communism mean for artistic production? We will consider these and other questions across different media, including literature, cinema, and the plastic arts. We will discuss works by Mayakovsky, Malevich, Babel, Zamiatin, Tatlin, Eisenstein, Vertov, Olesha, Platonov, and others. Taught in English. 3 hrs. lect.