Praeger The Military Uses of Literature: Fiction and the Armed Forces in the Soviet Union

This book studies the made-to-order genre of socialist-realist fiction that was produced at the direction of the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy (MPD) as a part of the war for men's minds waged by the Soviet State. The first chapter is a history of the genre, tracing it from its roots in the Revolution to the dissolution of the MDP in 1991. Topics examined in the book include the attitude toward Germans following World War II; the retirement of the World War II generation; military wives; Dear John letters; life at remote posts; the military as a socializing institution; the use of lethal force by sentries; attitudes toward field training exercises, heroism, and initiative; legitimacy of command; and the reception of Afghan vets. Review ?Hooker outlines attempts, from 1960 to 1991, to have writers help Soviet readers adjust to shifts in military needs and priorities. This study shows how writers responded--not always in a socialist-realist way--to the given military themes....this volume provides plenty of evidence that writers could slip the bonds of bureaucratic mandate, seize authorial freedom, and write in a broadly human way.... All collections.?-Choice "Hooker outlines attempts, from 1960 to 1991, to have writers help Soviet readers adjust to shifts in military needs and priorities. This study shows how writers responded--not always in a socialist-realist way--to the given military themes....this volume provides plenty of evidence that writers could slip the bonds of bureaucratic mandate, seize authorial freedom, and write in a broadly human way.... All collections."-Choice About the Author MARK T. HOOKER served as a linguist and Soviet/East-European area specialist with the U.S. armed forces and as a Department of Defense civilian. He is a visiting Scholar at the Russian and East European Institute at Indiana University.