Overview

Because the Soviet Union loudly proclaimed to be an ideological state, its scholars have rarely scrutinized their ideology as a concept. Instead, they have treated it as a self-evident fact, and proceeded to deliberate the importance of the Marxist-Leninist creed in social life or political decision-making. In the context of the Cold War, such theoretical neglect was exacerbated by political investments that often outweighed—and deformed—intellectual priorities. This has left us today with a notion that is both worn out and opaque, over-used but under-thought. In What Was Soviet Ideology? Petre Petrov stakes a new theoretical ground beyond prevalent misconceptions, ready-made definitions, and popular stereotypes. Drawing on continental philosophy and critical theory, this book presents ideology as a dynamic form with its own inner dialectic. In this dialectic, the Soviet ideological regime, as it solidified during the Stalinist period, figures as an original moment, a sui generis phenomenon. Petrov argues that Soviet ideology should not be seen as a member of an existing species, but as a qualitative transformation of the species, ideology, and itself.

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9781666937374

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Reviews

"Petrov's innovative and challenging study offers theoretical definition and shape to the murky notion of Soviet ideology, interrogating what ideology is, how the term has been used to talk about Soviet culture and ideas, and how ideological concepts emerged from--and also created--the forms of both theoretical and everyday socialism. The opening chapters offer the reader models for theorizing ideology rooted in insights from Marxist-Leninist texts, on the one hand, and frameworks offered by Althusser, Epstein, Foucault, and others, including dialogue with literary texts. Ideology is the logic of ideas, Petrov shows, but it is also the process by which ideas both emerge from life and take form in life, how they are both ""production and show."" In the later chapters, Petrov investigates the content of ideological production. He studies values like nauchnost' (scientific character) and zhizennost' (vitality) that, when taken together, form the total character of Soviet ideology. This study will be attractive to scholars looking for a chiefly theoretical analysis of the Soviet project, both how it was produced and performed and how scholars have chosen to speak about its legacy. Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty."

"Petrov's innovative and challenging study offers theoretical definition and shape to the murky notion of Soviet ideology, interrogating what ideology is, how the term has been used to talk about Soviet culture and ideas, and how ideological concepts emerged from--and also created--the forms of both theoretical and everyday socialism. The opening chapters offer the reader models for theorizing ideology rooted in insights from Marxist-Leninist texts, on the one hand, and frameworks offered by Althusser, Epstein, Foucault, and others, including dialogue with literary texts. Ideology is the logic of ideas, Petrov shows, but it is also the process by which ideas both emerge from life and take form in life, how they are both ""production and show."" In the later chapters, Petrov investigates the content of ideological production. He studies values like nauchnost' (scientific character) and zhizennost' (vitality) that, when taken together, form the total character of Soviet ideology. This study will be attractive to scholars looking for a chiefly theoretical analysis of the Soviet project, both how it was produced and performed and how scholars have chosen to speak about its legacy. Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty. -- ""Choice Reviews"""

Author Information

Petre Petrov has taught at Princeton University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of Pittsburgh.

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