Cosmonaut: A Cultural History
Cathleen S. Lewis
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
How the public image of the Soviet cosmonaut wasdesigned and reimagined over time
this book, Cathleen Lewis discusses how the public image of the Soviet
cosmonaut developed beginning in the 1950s and the ways this icon has been
reinterpreted throughout the years and in contemporary Russia. Compiling
material and cultural representations of the cosmonaut program, Lewis provides
a new perspective on the story of Soviet spaceflight, highlighting how the government
has celebrated figures such as Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova through newspapers,
radio, parades, monuments, museums, films, and even postage stamps and lapel
pins.
Lewis's analysis shows that during the Space
Race, Nikita Khrushchev mobilized cosmonaut stories and images to symbolize the
forward-looking Soviet state and distract from the costs of the Cold War. Public
perceptions shifted after the first Soviet spaceflight fatality and failure to
reach the Moon, yet cosmonaut imagery was still effective propaganda, evolving
through the USSR's collapse in 1991 and seen today in Vladimir Putin's government
cooperation for a film on the 1985 rescue of the Salyut 7 space station. Looking
closely at the process through which Russians continue to reexamine their past,
Lewis argues that the cultural memory of spaceflight remains especially potent among
other collective Soviet memories.
Product Details
Price
$45.60
Publisher
University of Florida Press
Publish Date
August 08, 2023
Pages
324
Dimensions
6.0 X 9.0 X 0.88 inches | 1.42 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9781683403708
BISAC Categories:
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Become an affiliateAbout the Author
Cathleen S. Lewis is curator of international
space programs and spacesuits at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and
Space Museum, specializing in Soviet and Russian history. She is coeditor of Spaceflight:
A Smithsonian Guide and Air
and Space History: An Annotated Bibliography.
space programs and spacesuits at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and
Space Museum, specializing in Soviet and Russian history. She is coeditor of Spaceflight:
A Smithsonian Guide and Air
and Space History: An Annotated Bibliography.
Reviews
"An innovative study
of pop culture, memorabilia, propaganda, and hero worship, Cosmonaut
brings the Soviet space program to life from inside Soviet society."--Foreword
Reviews
of pop culture, memorabilia, propaganda, and hero worship, Cosmonaut
brings the Soviet space program to life from inside Soviet society."--Foreword
Reviews