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64 The composer Richard Wagner, in an essay on art of the future, outlined a concept of artwork that makes use of many forms, as in the combination of poetry, dance, and music to create a higher synthesis.1 In this view, not individual artists but the people as a community are the creators of art, a process that Wagner called the “synthesis and cooperation of all artists.”2 The result is artwork of the future in two ways. It will not exist until the future, but, now under way, it becomes a formative power in itself that liberates man and returns him to a “natural state.” Wagner declared theatrical productions that include the broad public to be a form of art that would most likely be the art of the future.3 The Soviet Celebration as a Total Work of Art The idea of the Soviet celebration incorporated much of Wagner’s vision: it united different forms of art to become a synthesis in theatrical mass productions, and it was created by one huge “collective artist” for the purpose of liberating mankind. The Soviet holiday was a day when the entire Soviet Union was to celebrate, with everyone wearing—according to the state’s instructions—the same uniform. It blended the huge community of celebrators together in an act of creative synthesis. The official celebration—as one thoroughgoing work of art—was itself made up of many smaller festivities in local and regional milieus. According to the propaganda experts’ plans, these many, simultaneous festivities were supposed to help the “whole country” (vsya strana) to not only pitch in collectively to make the grand projects of communism a success but also to come together on a Soviet holiday as one great community of celebrators.4 Progress made at sovietizing the imperium could be played out nationwide in all celebrations. The holiday itself was an intricate and time-consuming event that went far beyond one day of celebration. It synthesized several different art forms. Artistic preparations and post-processing were as much a part of a successful Soviet holiday as was reproducing the entire celebration in the media. Making the plans and running the whole celebration were part of the dramaturgy. The Soviet celebration was a synthetic and comprehensive work of art: it consisted of many planning and 3 Staging Soviet Celebrations STAGING SOVIET CELEBRATIONS • 65 post-processing activities and subsequent representation in the media, all combined to create one huge artifact.5 During the earliest years of Soviet power, festive dramaturgy established itself for the most important holidays on the Red Calendar, which was to prove amazingly sturdy. It remained basically unchanged for two decades, until World War II. After the war, it was taken up again and used almost without interruption until the end of the Soviet Union. Obviously, the celebration experts found the basic dramaturgical outline a success. The celebration as a total work of art covered not only the day of celebration but all preparations as well. Planning and practice took weeks and were accomplished simultaneously by many commissions, from the national level down to the factory level. Preparation meant not just work in the commissions; the propaganda media simultaneously staged general public interest in organizing the festivities. Local newspapers continually reported on how preparations were coming along and, very early—often months before the actual holiday—reported in detail on members of the commission and what they were planning.6 Samodeyatel’nost’ played a major role in artistic plans and was present in almost all public institutions.7 But these initiatives were meant to involve more than just amateur art clubs, factories, administration agencies, and “social organizations ”: the press tried well in advance to draw general attention to the celebration, and it provided readers with reports and pictures of the progress in artistic preparation .8 In addition, social activities of a more general nature had certain festive occasions as deadlines.9 Numerous cycles of events, such as commemorative evenings and movie showings, prepared people for the coming holiday.10 These, in turn, were reported in the daily newspapers.11 With detailed and ever more enthusiastic reports in the newspapers, the propagandists tried to focus social attention on the upcoming holiday. There were “socialist contests” for the “best preparations,” which naturally also were featured in the daily newspapers.12 Weekly magazines and monthly journals of all kinds concentrated on the holiday. Their title pages announced the coming celebration, and articles described preparations in various organizations, urging readers...

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