“Five Unknown Facts about…”

Stalin’s era in Soviet history is one of the darkest. Nevertheless, despite numerous historical research, nonfiction and fiction, movies, and museum exhibitions exposing and discussing Stalin’s atrocities, a sizable portion of the Russian population is neutral at best and respectful at worst of Stalin’s leadership and personality. This article examines the “dark side” of Russian memories of Stalinism. According to our analysis of pro-Stalin content on TikTok, there are five major themes that users discuss in their pro-Stalin tiktoks: (1) Stalin as a leader in the victory of the Great Patriotic War, (2) a critique of contemporary culture’s commemoration of victims of Stalinist repression, (3) a critique of the present, (4) the Stalin regime’s achievements in economics and politics, and (5) admiration of Stalin’s personality, focusing on his appearance and aesthetics. Furthermore, we hypothesize that social media’s design and technological infrastructure can significantly influence which and how memory narratives are broadcast. In particular, “Stalin as a celebrity” is a framework largely overlooked by the researchers due to their focus on different media.

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Publication Details

Journal
Communist and Post-Communist Studies
Published
2024-08-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1525/cpcs.2024.2305308
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.13
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article

“Five Unknown Facts about…”

Kirill Molotov, Дарья Олеговна Хлевнюк
1 citations
Communist and Post-Communist Studies
Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
1.13
article

“Five Unknown Facts about…”

Kirill Molotov, Дарья Олеговна Хлевнюк
article en
1 citations

Abstract

Stalin’s era in Soviet history is one of the darkest. Nevertheless, despite numerous historical research, nonfiction and fiction, movies, and museum exhibitions exposing and discussing Stalin’s atrocities, a sizable portion of the Russian population is neutral at best and respectful at worst of Stalin’s leadership and personality. This article examines the “dark side” of Russian memories of Stalinism. According to our analysis of pro-Stalin content on TikTok, there are five major themes that users discuss in their pro-Stalin tiktoks: (1) Stalin as a leader in the victory of the Great Patriotic War, (2) a critique of contemporary culture’s commemoration of victims of Stalinist repression, (3) a critique of the present, (4) the Stalin regime’s achievements in economics and politics, and (5) admiration of Stalin’s personality, focusing on his appearance and aesthetics. Furthermore, we hypothesize that social media’s design and technological infrastructure can significantly influence which and how memory narratives are broadcast. In particular, “Stalin as a celebrity” is a framework largely overlooked by the researchers due to their focus on different media.

Communist and Post-Communist StudiesVol. 57(3)
National Research University Higher School of Economics (RU), Amsterdam University of the Arts (NL), University of Amsterdam (NL)
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies
1.13
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“Five Unknown Facts about…” — Kirill Molotov, Дарья Олеговна Хлевнюк · Communist and Post-Communist Studies (2024) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS