About this Book

Works about Soviet building projects appeared almost immediately after the 1917 revolution, and the genre remained common until the demise of the Soviet Union. Called the "most common type of Stalinist novel by far," the production novel included industrial blockbusters with titles like Cement, Hydrocentral, and Time, Forward! that were guaranteed placement in the pantheon of Socialist Realism. Yet a closer study of the early construction novels reveals that even the most established examples of this Stalinist genre fail in significant ways to conform to totalitarian requirements. What is surprising, in fact, is the degree to which allegedly conformist works actually diverge from the model they purport to champion. Neither established representatives of the genre nor less traditional works fully meet expectations for Stalinist literature. This book explores the reasons for this generic oddity and re-evaluates traditional treatment of these most "typical" Soviet works.