Soviet space culture : cosmic enthusiasm in socialist societies

Abstract

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union boasted an impressive succession of ‘space firsts’: the first satellite, the first dog, the first man, and the first woman in space were all sent there by the leading socialist country. The influence of the Sputnik and cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin went far beyond political leaders and military circles and was more than merely a link in the chain of technological advancement. This book analyzes Soviet space exploration as a cultural phenomenon, investigating the ‘cosmic age’, as mirrored in ideology, imagination and everyday life. It examines the communist, utopian and atheist aspects of the Soviet space fever in detail and locates the Soviet fascination for space in the context of Russian social and cultural history. Further topics are the making of male and female space heroes, the performing of space in world politics, space in socialist visual and pop cultures, the impact of space travel on children’s dreams, and, finally, the end of utopia and beginning of nostalgia.

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