Synopses & Reviews
Of all Soviet cultural myths, none was more resilient than the belief that the USSR had the world's greatest readers. This book explains how the "Russian reading myth" took hold in the 1920s and 1930s, how it was supported by a monopolistic and homogenizing system of book production and distribution, and how it was challenged in the post-Stalin era: first, by the latent expansion and differentiation of the reading public, and then, more dramatically, by the economic and cultural changes of the 1990s.
Review
“Readers seeking to understand the current turbulence in post-Soviet culture will be well served by Lovell's comprehensive study of the Soviet reading public.” —
Choice“...a valuable account of the evolution of print culture under Soviet rule.” —Slavic Review
About the Author
Stephen Lovell is Junior Research Fellow at St. John's College, Oxford.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Russia's Reading Myth * The Creation of the Soviet Reader * The Arrival of the New Reader: The Post-Stalin Period * Reading Revitalized? The Perestroika Project and Its Aftermath * The Periodical Press: Background and Case Studies * Reading in Post-Soviet Russia * Conclusion