The Politics of History in Russia: Representation of the Stalin Erain Popular Historical Films

Abstract

This article is devoted to the analysis of the politics of the past in relation tothe Stalin era. After offering a systematization of the theories behind totalitarianismand describing the discourse of Stalin past, an attempt is madehere to identify the key images of World War II and detect attitudes towardspre and post war period in the products of mass culture. This research isconducted within the scientific field of public history. This approach shedslight on the existence of a compromise in the reconstruction of the pastbetween the authorities and society. 13 historical films were selected frombox office data covering 2000 to 2014 including Stalingrad (2013), Burntby the Sun 2 (2010), Spy (2012) and Hitler-Kaput! (2008). As a result ofthis research it became clear that certain periods of history are treated withsilence; pre and post war periods are virtually absent in mass cinema. Oneidentifiable trend was toward the transformation of classic historical dramainto the heroic past: comic-style blockbusters about the super heroic pasthave been created.