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Sex, Marx and Rock 'n' Roll: The Soviet 'Sixties', 1956-68

Module description

Traditionally, the years following the death of Stalin in March 1953 have been seen as ushering in a period of unprecedented liberalisation for Soviet society, commonly referred to as ‘The Thaw’. Conservative Stalinist policies were rolled back, topics that had previously been taboo, like the Gulag, were more acceptable to address publically, and greater personal freedoms were enjoyed. It is regarded as a time of optimism, when the USSR dominated in the space race, living standards were on the rise, and the achievement of Communism seemed within reach. However, this was not the whole story; with the thaw came freezes, liberalisation had limits and the legacies of Stalinism were not so easily overcome. It is this tension between the present and the past, between reform and repression, and between freedom and conformity that we will explore in this module, focussing on one of the most vibrant and transformative decades of the whole Soviet era. 

Module aims - intentions of the module

 The aim of this module is to:

1. Introduce you to the rich range of sources available to historians for the study of the Khrushchev era, from newspapers and legislation, interviews and autobiographies, to cartoons and song lyrics.

2. Encourage you to conduct your own research into primary sources, to consider their value and utility, and use them to explore particular topics and themes. In doing this, the module will help you develop skills in source analysis and research that will provide a foundation for future historical work.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Understand and assess the main developments in the Soviet Union in the post-Stalinist period
• 2. Work critically with a range of written and visual sources relating to the topic

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Identify the problems of using historical sources, e.g. utility, limitations, etc, and compare the validity of different types of sources
• 4. Present work orally, respond to questions orally, and think quickly of questions to ask other students

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Conduct independent study and group work, including the presentation of material for group discussion, developed through the mode of learning
• 6. Digest, select and organise material to produce, to a deadline, a coherent and cogent argument, developed through the mode of assessment
• 7. Work with others in a team and to interact effectively with the tutor and the wider group.
• 8. To write to a very tight word-length

Syllabus plan

Each week the seminars will explore both a key development of the period under consideration and a key genre of source. Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover a selection of the following topics:

• The ‘Secret Speech’ & Destalinisation
• Sputnik, Gagarin & the Race to the Moon
• Family Life, Divorce & Abortion
• The Soviet Peace Movement
• Music, Fashion & Teenage Rebellion
• The Shifting Memory of the Great Patriotic War
• Housing, Homemaking & Interior Design
• The Gulag After Stalin
• Youth Movements & Education
• The Cold War Kitchen & the American National Exhibition of 1959
• Soviet Visions of the American Enemy
• The Poetry of Dissent
• A New Fight Against Religion
• Soviet Art & the Manezh Affair
• The Limits of Freedom: Hungary 1956 & Czechoslovkia 1968

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.ive details of how re-assessment will be calculated. This section can also be used to indicate where re-assessment is not available

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Alekseeva Liudmilla and Paul Goldberg. The Thaw Generation: Coming Of Age In The Post-Stalin Era. (1990).
• Alexander, R., Regulating Homosexuality In Soviet Russia, 1956-91 (2021)
• Andrews, James T. ‘Inculcating Materialist Minds: Scientific Propaganda And Anti-Religion In The USSR During The Cold War’ Science, Religion And Communism In Cold War Europe (2016): 105-125.
• Dobson, Miriam. Khrushchev’s Cold Summer: Gulag Returnees, Crime, and the Fate of Reform After Stalin (2017)
• Duman?i?, Marko. Men Out Of Focus: The Soviet Masculinity Crisis in the Long Sixties (2020).
• Field, Deborah A. Private Life and Communist Morality in Khrushchev's Russia (2007)
• Hornsby, Robert. Protest, Reform and Repression in Khrushchev's Soviet Union. (2013).
• Hornsby, Robert. The Soviet Sixties (2023)
• Jones, Polly, Ed. The Dilemmas Of De-Stalinization: Negotiating Cultural And Social Change In The Khrushchev Era (2006)
• Magnúsdóttir, Rósa. Enemy Number One: The United States Of America In Soviet Ideology And Propaganda, 1945-1959 (2019)
• McCallum, Claire E. ‘Man About The House: Male Domesticity And Fatherhood In Soviet Visual Satire Under Khrushchev’, in Melanie Ilic (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook Of Women And Gender In Twentieth-Century Russia And The Soviet Union (2018): 331-347.
• Peacock, Margaret. Innocent Weapons: The Soviet And American Politics Of Childhood In The Cold War (2014).
• Raleigh, Donald J., (ed.), Russia's Sputnik Generation: Soviet Baby Boomers Talk About Their Lives. (2006).
• Reid, Susan. ‘In The Name Of The People: The Manège Affair Revisited’, Kritika: Explorations In Russian And Eurasian History 6, No. 4 (2005): 673-716.
• Tsipursky, Gleb. Socialist Fun: Youth, Consumption, and State-Sponsored Popular Culture in the Soviet Union, 1945–1970 (2016).
• Vainshtein, Olga. ‘Orange Jackets And Pea Green Pants: The Fashion Of Stilyagi In Soviet Postwar Culture’, Fashion Theory 22, No. 2 (2018): 167-185.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

• Seventeen Moments in Soviet History: https://soviethistory.msu.edu/

• ELE 

Key words search

Soviet Union, Destalinisation, Khrushchev, Thaw