In this Book
- Wonderlands of the Avant-Garde: Technology and the Arts in Russia of the 1920s
- Book
- 2013
- Published by: Northwestern University Press
- Series: Studies in Russian Literature and Theory
summary
Longlist finalist, 2015 Historia Nova Prize for Best Book on Russian Intellectual and Cultural History
In postrevolutionary Russia, as the Soviet government pursued rapid industrialization, avant-garde artists declared their intent to serve the nascent state and to transform life in accordance with their aesthetic designs. Despite their utilitarian intentions, however, most avant-gardists rarely created works regarded as practical instruments of societal transformation. Exploring this paradox, Vaingurt claims that the artists’ fusion of technology and aesthetics prevented their creations from being fully conscripted into the arsenal of political hegemony. The purposes of avant-garde technologies, she contends, are contemplative rather than constructive. Looking at Meyerhold’s theater, Tatlin’s and Khlebnikov’s architectural designs, Mayakovsky’s writings, and other works from the period, Vaingurt offers an innovative reading of an exceptionally complex moment in the formation of Soviet culture.
In postrevolutionary Russia, as the Soviet government pursued rapid industrialization, avant-garde artists declared their intent to serve the nascent state and to transform life in accordance with their aesthetic designs. Despite their utilitarian intentions, however, most avant-gardists rarely created works regarded as practical instruments of societal transformation. Exploring this paradox, Vaingurt claims that the artists’ fusion of technology and aesthetics prevented their creations from being fully conscripted into the arsenal of political hegemony. The purposes of avant-garde technologies, she contends, are contemplative rather than constructive. Looking at Meyerhold’s theater, Tatlin’s and Khlebnikov’s architectural designs, Mayakovsky’s writings, and other works from the period, Vaingurt offers an innovative reading of an exceptionally complex moment in the formation of Soviet culture.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- List of Illustrations
- pp. ix-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-2
- Part I. Homo Faber, Homo Ludens
- Part II. Alternative Technologies
- Chapter Five - Olesha’s Suicide Machine
- pp. 133-146
- Part III. The Homeland of Technology
- Conclusion - Poetics of the Unconscriptable
- pp. 224-232
- Works Cited
- pp. 279-294
- About the Author
- p. 322
Additional Information
ISBN
9780810166523
Related ISBN(s)
9780810128941, 9780810136113
MARC Record
OCLC
859686945
Pages
322
Launched on MUSE
2013-05-19
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2013