Soviet Space Mythologies
eBook - ePub

Soviet Space Mythologies

Public Images, Private Memories, and the Making of a Cultural Identity

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

Soviet Space Mythologies

Public Images, Private Memories, and the Making of a Cultural Identity

About this book

From the start, the Soviet human space program had an identity crisis. Were cosmonauts heroic pilots steering their craft through the dangers of space, or were they mere passengers riding safely aboard fully automated machines? Tensions between Soviet cosmonauts and space engineers were reflected not only in the internal development of the space program but also in Soviet propaganda that wavered between praising daring heroes and flawless technologies. Soviet Space Mythologies explores the history of the Soviet human space program within a political and cultural context, giving particular attention to the two professional groups—space engineers and cosmonauts—who secretly built and publicly represented the program. Drawing on recent scholarship on memory and identity formation, this book shows how both the myths of Soviet official history and privately circulating counter-myths have served as instruments of collective memory and professional identity. These practices shaped the evolving cultural image of the space age in popular Soviet imagination. Soviet Space Mythologies provides a valuable resource for scholars and students of space history, history of technology, and Soviet (and post-Soviet) history.

Frequently asked questions

Yes, you can cancel anytime from the Subscription tab in your account settings on the Perlego website. Your subscription will stay active until the end of your current billing period. Learn how to cancel your subscription.
No, books cannot be downloaded as external files, such as PDFs, for use outside of Perlego. However, you can download books within the Perlego app for offline reading on mobile or tablet. Learn more here.
Perlego offers two plans: Essential and Complete
  • Essential is ideal for learners and professionals who enjoy exploring a wide range of subjects. Access the Essential Library with 800,000+ trusted titles and best-sellers across business, personal growth, and the humanities. Includes unlimited reading time and Standard Read Aloud voice.
  • Complete: Perfect for advanced learners and researchers needing full, unrestricted access. Unlock 1.4M+ books across hundreds of subjects, including academic and specialized titles. The Complete Plan also includes advanced features like Premium Read Aloud and Research Assistant.
Both plans are available with monthly, semester, or annual billing cycles.
We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.
Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.
Yes! You can use the Perlego app on both iOS or Android devices to read anytime, anywhere — even offline. Perfect for commutes or when you’re on the go.
Please note we cannot support devices running on iOS 13 and Android 7 or earlier. Learn more about using the app.
Yes, you can access Soviet Space Mythologies by Slava Gerovitch in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Biological Sciences & Russian History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Introduction: Creating Memories of the Space Age
  8. 1. “Why Are We Telling Lies?”: The Construction of Soviet Space History Myths
  9. 2. Stalin’s Rocket Designers’ Leap into Space: The Technical Intelligentsia Faces the Thaw
  10. 3. “New Soviet Man” inside Machine: Human Engineering, Spacecraft Design, and the Construction of Communism
  11. 4. The Human in the Arms of Technology: Gagarin’s Flight in Documents and Stories
  12. 5. Human-Machine Issues, the Cosmonaut Profession, and Competing Visions of Spaceflight
  13. 6. The Human inside a Propaganda Machine: The Public Image and Professional Identity of Soviet Cosmonauts
  14. 7. Remembering the Soviet Space Age: Myth and Identity in Post-Soviet Culture
  15. Notes
  16. Bibliography
  17. Index