Essay question - do your examples (cinema, painting) fulfill the mandate for socialist realism?

examples of Soviet cultural production

Select two (or more) examples of Soviet cultural production from the Stalin era - novels or short stories, films, paintings, musical productions, folklore, photographs-for close analysis. Do your examples fulfil the mandate for socialist realism, and if so, how?

I am wondering what exactly the question is asking for. Is it like socialist realism is a fixed thing and how it is expressed in different formats( like the director may use revolutionary romance or patriotism expression techniques to show socialist realism) and basically i just need to analyze how these different tools show socialist realism or what kind of evaluation should i make here then?

I think that the instructor is asking how the writing promotes socialist ideals/ realism. For example if you are analyzing a novel you should talk about how it supports (or doesn't support) socialist realism by putting communism in a good light.

Hi Berry, I have a different take on the given instruction. Based upon what I know and my experience with these types of prompts, you are being asked to consider the definitions of socialism in the context of the Soviet Cultural Production. Remember that Russia / The Soviet Union was born out of the ruins of a civil war that saw the death of the royal family and an end to the culture of Russia as it was known to the people. Stalin had to introduce a new culture to the people that would make them more receptive to socialism. The best way to do this is always through propaganda films, publications, and other forms of art. Stalin had a clear socialist realism ideology in mind. Therefore, to write this essay, you first need to understand what socialist realism is all about and how Stalin used it to promote his new government. Once you understand that, you can choose any of the art forms in relation to the discussion. The evaluation should be based upon a specific ideology that Stalin was promoting through the use of that medium. Once you make that connection, you should be able to write this evaluation essay with little problems involved.

Hi, thanks for your reply, i don't quite understand with the word "mandate" does it mean the basic rules/norms of socialist realism like Stalin describes that any socialist realism art should have 1)selection of present-day phenomena 2)under the expression of revolutionary romance these requirements for the arts so my work is to see whether my selected example actually fulfill these mandates, link to his ideological agendas( purpose of taking socialist realism as a national policy) and explain how? Or the mandate actually means the political agenda of him, so through my examples, i should address whether these work fulfill his political agenda?

There are 2 ways of defining the word "mandate". The first is " an official order or commission to do something. The second is "the authority to carry out a policy or course of action, regarded as given by the electorate to a candidate or party that is victorious in an election." In this case, the socialist realism should be discussed, as per your paper, with regards to how successful the new cultural presentation was in promoting Stalin's communist values. It is his political agenda which helped him control the country. His social realism was strongly based on rejection of the proletariat through the use of imagery. it might be best for you to use the second option for writing this essay. The one based on the propagation of Stalin's political agenda. I would say you could cover all 3 aspects in your presentation because the novel may be depicted in a painting, which can then be translated to film. There is a connection between that 3 that can help you explain the requirements of the essay.