Response 1 (9/21 Post) Justin Huczko
From reading the texts, I concluded that the Cold War could be characterized by two opposite concepts, much like the conflict itself. On the one hand, it was a time of great change in the world. Across the world, new technologies rapidly changed the life experience of the average person. Similarly, in developing countries, decolonization following the Second World War led to massive changes in the so-called Third World, with postcolonial nations having to find their way in this rapidly changing world. On the other hand, the world was at a tense standstill between the United States and the Soviet Union. The looming threat of total nuclear annihilation and the constant unprofitable and unwinnable wars fought by both sides in various countries established a pessimistic mood in the world, that nothing would change, and even if it did it could all be over in a second. The world seemed as if, despite the rapid changing of the day-to-day, things could stay in this polarized global dynamic for the rest of human history.
Though it seems as if we are beginning to “thaw” from the Cold War, the conflict still haunts the modern world. In their article, Goodbye Cold-War, Aziz Rana argues that, in America, we are returning to the political landscape before the beginning of the Cold War era. Two major candidates in the 2016 presidential election are used as examples, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. To Rana, these candidates reflect older political views popular before the conflict, Socialism and Populism respectively. This goes to show how integral the relations of the Cold War were to everything in society, as America did not begin to return to a situation similar to that of before the conflict until a quarter of a century after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The importance of the Cold War in the era naturally means that the mood of the time would make its way into the arts. The Science Fiction movement during the Cold War best captures the attitudes many had towards the era. Some works reflected the optimism about change in the world able to bring about utopia, while others focused on the feeling of stagnation and impending doom during the seemingly eternal conflict between the West and East. The Cold War’s conditions of technological advancement coupled with fears of the unknown led to the perfect breeding ground for major SF works in the period, and knowing its history is vital to understanding the genre as a whole during this time period.
In Justin’s Blog post, he mentions how the Cold War could be “characterized by two opposite concepts, much like the concept itself.” This characterization of these two concepts shares similarities in polarities seen between the two planets of Annares and Urras in the 1974 Novel “The Disspossed.”
Protected: Reading responses for Monday, 9/21 (Cold War background texts)
Response 2 (9/28 Post) Arturo Campos
From the very foundation of the Soviet Union in 1917 and throughout its more than seventy years of existence, the most concerning aspects of running the government to its officials involved creating policies that both reflected the goals of Marxist theory and would allow both the nation and, eventually, the rest of the world to evolve into a utopian and classless society. For the first era of Soviet politics, under the leadership of Lenin and then Stalin, the primary concern for state officials was to establish and develop a national political and economic doctrine that would favor the interests of the proletariat masses as opposed to the “bourgeois” state of affairs that had, in their eyes, plunged the former Imperial Russia into turmoil. Once this doctrine was more or less established and the Soviet Union had proved itself to be a highly efficient and significantly powerful nation after World War II, state officials were then concerned with spreading their nation’s influence to surrounding lands in the midst of the Cold War. They were looking to persuade peoples who had suffered under the rule of capitalist and imperial governments to adopt their views and ideology once they had gained their independence. One area that received a substantial amount of attention in regards to transmitting the desired Soviet image of equality and fairness was literature. State officials in the 1930s had established an organization for writers and novelists to spread that message through all forms of media and literature. The head of this organization, Andrei Zhdanov, stressed to its members the importance of portraying Soviet literature as the preferred alternative to that of the unimaginative and decaying bourgeois type. He states that their work may be criticized by enemy forces as tendencious (composed or written with such a tendency or aim), but it is in fact this very feature of Soviet literature that will separate their work from the prejudiced bourgeois agenda; that they should focus on expressing the righteous aims of the Soviet government within the confines of the pieces they produce. Eventually, towards the middle of the Cold War, the genre of science fiction entered the foray of Soviet state concerns. As rendered by Nikolay Toman in 1965, party sessions were held to determine the best use of the genre in promoting Soviet interests. Most officials wanted to limit the scope of what it could achieve, worrying of the consequences of depicting worlds with seemingly no scientific rationalism; however, some writers understood its significance and how it could be used to portray the utopian society Soviet policies aimed to achieve.
In Arturo’s blog post, he highlights the sheer importance of the USSR’s goal in “creating politics that both reflected the goals of Marxist theory and would allow both nation and, eventually, the rest of the world to evolve into a utopian and classless society.” This is important in recognizing that Soviet-made SF was under these conditions at the time, unlike American SF.
Protected: Reading responses for Mon. 9/28 (Communism, socialist realism, & science fiction)
Response 3 (Blog Post 10/26) Max Amram
“Although, to be fair, the Zone doesn’t give a damn who the good guys and the bad guys are, and it turns out we gotta thank you, Slug: you were an idiot, and no one even remembers your real name, but you did show us smarter folks were not to go.” (Strugatsky, 25).
I really found this quote interesting as it directly personifies the zone, and gives it an even larger presence in the novel, as if it were a character. In addition, it caused me to draw parallels to previous novels we read. It’s easy to compare this to Solaris, as the ocean functions similarly to the zone as they are both treated like characters, and as if they are living and breathing, and control or influence the psyches and actions of the protagonists. I think the way it’s written that the zone has an opinion or maybe a lack thereof, clearly displays this as it shows the power and presence it holds in the characters minds. More specifically, I think this quote characterizes the zone as ruthless as well as unforgiving. It makes it clear that the Aliens that visited Earth had no care or sympathy for Humans, and the Zone is represented of this. It is what they left in their wake, still killing and tormenting humans, yet they can’t help but continue to return. I find this yet another way to connect this novel to Solaris, as it expresses this idea that humans can’t help but explore what is foreign to them, even when they can’t understand it completely, or if it is harmful to them. In both novels, although in different ways, exploration of the ocean or the zone has proven to be treacherous, yet humans continue to return to them. In addition, while reading that aliens have come to Earth and left these dangerous areas that kill humans, I can’t help but think of situations like Christopher Columbus’ ‘discovery’ of America. The aliens in the novel stop at Earth for just a small amount of time, and leave as if they stopped to take a break on a journey, and gave no thought about the damage they may leave behind. Although not an exact comparison, it can be related to colonization of America, and the uncountable amount of Native American lives lost throughout the process of creating America into what it is today. In this way, perhaps the Soviet writers are criticizing Western Civilization, and the idea that the nice guy finishes last. This is represented by the end of the quote, in which Red thanks Slug, who is the ‘nice guy’ in the scenario, now dead in a ditch having “kicked the bucket”, serving as a guide for others to succeed.
In this blog post by Max, the parallels that he makes in describing how the Aliens in “Roadside Picnic” are similar to the colonization of America in my eyes is spot on. The millions of Native Americans lost during the 1600-1800s is similar in the way that the Aliens visited Earth with no regard for harming Humans. With the brothers of this novel being from the Soviet Union, it’s not surprising that they perhaps were inspired by this human tragedy in transcribing these events in the novel.
Protected: Reading responses for Mon., 10/26 (Roadside Picnic)