| Unit name | Goodbye Lenin: Culture, Society and Dissent in the later Soviet Union |
|---|---|
| Unit code | HISTM2019 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Furst |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of History (Historical Studies) |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The reading public is obsessed with the bloodshed of the purges and the cruelties of Stalin. Yet there was much more to the Soviet Union than an omnipotent dictator. Society was never atomised, people never completely silenced. This course looks at the $�hidden&� Soviet society $� those who protested, those who refused to conform and those who in the end triumphed over the regime. From the Soviet Teddy Boys to the brave stance of Andrei Sakharov we will trace different forms of dissent and non-conformism and assess the impact they had on the Soviet system and Soviet society at large. This course will have a strong visual and primary text element. We will look at censored films, read memoirs and look at contemporary photographs in order to evaluate the Soviet Union, which the Kremlin wanted us to forget.
