Amateur Theatres and Amateur Publics in the Russian Republic, 1958-71

Author: Costanzo, Susan

Source: The Slavonic and East European Review, Volume 86, Number 2, 1 April 2008 , pp. 372-394(23)

Publisher: Modern Humanities Research Association

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Abstract:

This examination of amateur theatres from 1957 to 1971 reveals that members of the educated public beyond the cultural elite were engaged in shaping the cultural landscape to suit their own preferences, if not necessarily state priorities. In their efforts to expand social criticism and stylistic innovation, `amateur publics', consisting of amateurs and their supporters, invoked the term `civic spirit' (grazhdanstvennost') to explain artistic heterodoxy as a form of loyal criticism of Soviet society. Amateurs also pursued formal and informal mechanisms to improve troupes' material conditions and status in order to secure permanent sites for those critical views.

Document Type: Research article

Affiliations: 1: Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA

Publication date: 2008-04-01

More about this publication?

The Review is the oldest British journal in the field, having been in existence since 1922. Edited and managed by the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College London, it covers not only the modern and medieval languages and literatures of the Slavonic and East European area, but also history, culture, and political studies.