The Cold War in Science Fiction: Soviet and American Science Fiction Films in the 1950s (eBook)

Natalia Voinova (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2013 | 1. Auflage
42 Seiten
Anchor Academic Publishing (Verlag)
978-3-95489-558-8 (ISBN)

Infos

This study will compare the USSR and the United States according to their cinematic use of science fiction in the late 1950s and 1960s in order to coincide with the period of de-Stalinisation and thaw in the USSR, and late McCarthyism in the United States. The genre provides an opportunity to express the two powers' scientific stand-off through fiction, and serves as a vehicle for the dissemination of ideas and propaganda. Post-1956 marks the time when the period of de-Stalinisation officially began and science fiction saw a carefully crafted rebirth for it served as a tool that could reflect the socialist ideal and quasi-religious faith in science that was promoted by the party. Science fiction uniquely demands for an imaginative view of the future, and therefore, corresponds with the Marxist- Leninist future-oriented ideology. For this period, the themes for American science fiction are hyperbolised monsters and invasion, and reflect the fear of the otherness of the Soviet Union, and its threat on domestic ideals. These themes are reflected in movies as 'Angry Red Planet', and 'Them!'. On the other hand, Soviet science fiction movies focus on the heroic Soviet man who frequently receives calls for help from outer space, and overcomes great trials to save those not living in utopia. This storyline is represented in 'Towards a Dream', and 'The Sky is calling'. The author gives special attention to the Soviet movie 'The Sky is calling' and the subsequent redubbed American version 'Battle beyond the Sun'. Further, she addresses alterations or plot, and subtle propaganda messages in the Soviet movies 'Planet of Storms', and the Hollywood remake 'Journey to the Prehistoric Planet'.

Inhalt

The Cold War in Science Fiction: Soviet and American Science Fiction Films in the 1950s 1
Abstract 4
Table of Contents 5
I. Ideologies and Science Fiction 7
II. On the Home Front 17
III. Where No Man Has Gone Before 28
IV. Conclusion 38
Bibliography 40

Textauszug

Text sample: The Soviet regime, as a myth-making ideology, crafted and disseminated flattering stories about leadership, military feats, and industrial success; the science fiction genre offered carte blanche for myths of cosmic proportions. Prior to the popularisation of what in Russian is called 'science fantasy' or science fiction, a proto-genre translated as 'science fictional literature' developed. These were stories about real scientific discoveries or speculations on scientific developments often written by scientists to educate public. This genre, although under close watch from censorship committees, gained a niche following of scientists who read for educational purposes. Although the stories aimed to be fictional, a real or believable scientific development always served as the foundation for speculation; frequently other members of the scientific community would write to journals correcting mistakes in the science and proving speculations unfeasible. These stories included theoretical applications of contemporary discoveries, as well as accounts of scientists achieving extraordinary feats in the present day. Despite the long history of science fiction in the Soviet Union, beginning with Aleksander Bogdanov's 1908 novel The Red Star, about a socialist utopia on Mars, and one of the earliest films about space travel Aelita (1924), the 1930s had a low output of traditional science fiction literature due to Stalin's distrust of the genre: it demands freedom to imagine which was not fostered under Stalinism, and did not promote productive socialist activity such as building cities and working in factories integral to Socialist Realist ethos. In the 1940s and early 1950s writers dwelled on the subject of the war and Soviet wartime heroes, only in the mid 1950s with Khrushchev's cultural thaw foreign science fiction literature gained popularity and Soviet science fiction writers gained an audience. The All-Russian Conference on Science Fiction and Adventure Stories held in 1958 celebrated the achievements of science fiction writers, but underlined the need for science fiction to remain realistic, 'plots were not permitted to defy the known limits of science,' therefore serious engagement with time travel and parallel universes was discouraged, and not seen in films until 1973 with Moscow-Cassiopeia and Ivan Vasilevich Changes Profession which both use time-travel to drive the plot. Science fiction as any other artistic genre in the Soviet Union had to adhere to the rules of Socialist Realism, and to remain ideologically party-oriented (the concept of partiynost'). However, it is naive to think of Soviet science fiction as being strictly fabricated by government-produced ideology, neither is it solely dictated by social and technological changes. Science fiction, especially in the graphic depictions of film, acted as a conveying mechanism - the embodiment of the state's mythological promises of the future; social and technological changes also reflected on science fiction films, but only insofar as they reflected on ideology. A similar point is true for American science fiction, although it was not closely controlled by the state, it reflected an ideology rooted in a combination of social and political attitudes, stemming both from authorities and popular outlook. Ideology, in this study, is not purely a product of the ruling classes, but a combination of social and technological effects on the ruling apparatus that in turn creates a mediated ideology. The turning point for Soviet optimism in space exploration and technologically achieved utopia was July 1969, when Apollo 11 became the first manned mission to land on the Moon. After this event Soviet science fiction films were limited to stories aimed at children and young teenagers, and later philosophy with the coming of Andrei Tarkovskiy and Konstantin Lopushanskii, while American science fiction finally looked to space as a setting for adventure stories rather than unspeakable horrors. In 1975 the joint Apollo-Soyuz Test Project marked the end of the space race, as both countries collaborated on a joint space flight. Therefore this research tracks the changes in attitude toward space exploration in the very early stages of its technological and ideological development. The paranoia of alien infiltration into American homes, as well as fear of invasion represented through exaggerated monsters is analysed in section II. Section III explores fear of galactic travel in American science fiction and Soviet utopian narratives, with a close inspection of the two remakes: Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965) and Battle Beyond the Sun (1964).

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 1.6.2013
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte
• Themenwelt: Mathematik / Informatik ► Informatik ► Grafik / Design
• ISBN-10: 3-95489-558-7 / 3954895587
• ISBN-13: 978-3-95489-558-8 / 9783954895588