Archives, power and the ‘Cultural Turn’: reflections on Stalin and Stalinism
This article explores important conceptual and historiographical issues involved in writing a contemporary study of Stalin. It examines four interrelated themes: the ‘archival explosion’ since 1991; Stalin's political mentality; the recent ‘cultural turn’ in historical writing; and the contradi...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis
2004
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| In: |
Totalitarian movements and political religions
Year: 2004, Volume: 5, Issue: 1, Pages: 5-24 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article explores important conceptual and historiographical issues involved in writing a contemporary study of Stalin. It examines four interrelated themes: the ‘archival explosion’ since 1991; Stalin's political mentality; the recent ‘cultural turn’ in historical writing; and the contradictions and limitations of Stalin's power. The piece is partly based on research in the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI). I argue that the archives have not radically revised our perceptions of the Soviet dictator, but have provided an unprecedented wealth of detail on the inner workings of the regime and of Stalin's role within it. I suggest a ‘war‐revolution model’ as arguably the key to Stalin's actions and political mentality, and contend that the ‘cultural turn’ offers new, but problematic, avenues of research. I conclude by identifying several contradictory tendencies in Stalin's method of rule and outline four main sources of power limitation. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-9647 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Totalitarian movements and political religions
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1469076042000223383 |