My material is grouped around the themes of propaganda which aimed at consolidation of the people around the Communist party and the leader for the sake of Soviet identity reinforcement and legitimacy- building against the external and internal enemy. The essence of the enemy was portrayed and conveyed to the “masses” through visualized material in the form of posters. The art and symbols of the poster were understandable for the broad masses, could consolidate the crowds around the leader and mobilize into action, as in the times of crises the poster was a substitute for any unavailable information source like newspaper or radio broadcast.
How individuals and societies attach meanings to politics and a wider range of discourses though visualized images and wording? The visual artifacts are in fact descriptive of certain socio-political and economic phenomena in Russia and the West, which took place during the Cold War and not only. They emphasised the ultimate resoluteness, black and whiteness in the vision of the “other”.
The material is grouped for .pdf download in three time periods: pre-Cold War, Cold War and "after": along the lines of "Consolidation of society behind the Party" and "The Enemy".
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