Presentation1

1.

2.

How
Western
Culture
Entered
the USSR

3.

• Radio broadcasts (BBC, Voice of America)
• Foreign films and festivals
• Sailors, diplomats, travelers
• Black market: jeans, vinyl, magazines
• Magnitizdat (cassette copying networks)

4.

The stilyagi
Bright clothes, narrow trousers,
and a fascination with American
fashion and music.
“Broadway”—where stilyagi walked
back and forth, turning appearance
into a public performance.
Mocked and repressed by state
Style became political

5.

6.

7.

8. Hippies

• Network: Sistema
• Travel with no money
(mutual aid)
• Long hair, handmade
style
• Police pressure,
psychiatry
• Strong community identity

9. Rockers

DIY culture
Bone music,
kvartirniki
Homemade
instruments & style
Leningrad Rock
Club
Creativity under
control

10.

11. Punks

12. Metal

• Bands: Aria, Kruiz, Cherny KofeFan
• Leather, chains, DIY style
• Spread via magnitizdat
• More style, less political
• Strong fan communities

13.

Slang: gerla, seishn,
chuvak, kety, physer,
maneus, shuzy, hata,
dzhaket, drinkat’,
swingovat’, globus,
dusman, lookat’, break,
pantsy, soksy, tikat’,
lovit’, fanat, tusovka,
fenechka, ksivnik
•Meeting places (Arbat)
•Askat (street survival)

14. Lyubery

• Not all youth culture
opposed the state.
• Supported proper Soviet
values.
They often attacked
others
• Soviet youth culture was
not unified.
• Conflict between
different visions of
identity and the future.

15.

The Soviet state tried to control youth culture through:
•police raids and Komsomol patrols
•control of clothing, hair, and music
•satire in magazines
But these methods often failed.
Ironically, criticism of the West sometimes spread interest in
it.
Young people even cut out photos of Western bands from
“anti-capitalist” articles.
By the late 1980s, subcultures became a normal part of urban
life.
Control weakened, and diversity became visible.