Myth Making in the Soviet Union and Modern Russia: Remembering World War II in Brezhnev's Hero City

by Vicky Davis

Overview

The 1943 battle to free the Soviet Black Sea port of Novorossiisk from German occupation was fought from the beach head of Malaia zemlia, where the young Colonel Leonid Brezhnev saw action. Despite widespread scepticism of the state's appropriation and inflation of this historical event, the heroes of the campaign are still commemorated in Novorossiisk today by an amalgam of memoir, monuments and ritual. Through the prism of this provincial Russian town, Vicky Davis sheds light on the character of Brezhnev as perceived by his people, and on the process of memory for the ordinary Russian citizen. Davis analyses the construction and propagation of the local war myth to link the individual citizens of Novorossiisk with evolving state policy since World War II and examines the resultant social and political connotations. Her compelling new interdisciplinary evidence reveals the complexity of myth and memory, challenging existing assumptions to show that there is still scope for the local community - and even the individual - in memory construction in an authoritarian environment. This book represents a much-needed departure from the study of myth and memory in larger cities of the former Soviet Union, adding nuance to the existing portrait of Brezhnev and demonstrating the continued importance of war memory in Russia today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781784539481
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	12/30/2017
Series:	Library of Modern Russia
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Vicky Davis received her PhD from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London (UCL), and currently works as a freelance educational consultant and researcher. Davis has worked with a number of leading academics in her role as a researcher, including Roger Moorhouse on The Devils' Alliance: Hitler's Pact with Stalin (2014) and for Polly Jones (Associate Professor of Russian Literature at the University of Oxford) on several Soviet history projects. She has also published and presented in peer-reviewed journals, edited collections and at international conferences, and there is a section dedicated to her research on myth and war memory at the State Historical Museum in Novorossiisk, Russia.

Table of Contents

Lust of Illustrations ix

Preface xi

Notes on the Text xiii

Introduction: The Myth of Malaia zemlia 1

1 What is a War Myth? 14

Part I War Correspondence and Memoirs: The Construction of the War Myth through Literature 29

2 A Myth is Born: War Correspondence from Malaia zemlia 37

3 Early Memoir Literature 49

4 Brezhnev's War Memoirs 59

5 Beyond Brezhnev and Brezhnevism 73

Part II Leonid Brezhnev: Local Legend or National Statesman? 89

6 Brezhnev Comes to Town 93

7 The Godfather 102

8 The Making of a Modern Legend 114

9 The State Comes to Town Again 134

Part III Respect for the Dead: Ritual and Monumental Remembrance 143

10 Hat's off to Heroes: The Beskozyrka Ritual 149

11 Myth and Monuments: The Place of the Dead 174

12 People on the Periphery 194

Part IV Meetings of Generations: Teaching the Young to Remember 209

13 Genes and Generations: Informal Transmission of Memory in the Family 213

14 The Educational Role of Veterans 230

15 Formal Education of the Younger Generation 239

Conclusion: Looking Back to the Future 259

Appendix I Some Comments from Citizens of Novorossiisk 265

Appendix II Details of Interview Subjects 269

Notes 273

Select Bibliography 322

Index 341