Rise of socialist realism

Socialist realism was the official artistic doctrine of the Soviet Union and was later adopted in other communist states. Its roots lie in a 1932 decree of the Communist Party that dissolved independent literary groups and created a single Union of Soviet Writers; the term was promoted at the first Congress of Soviet Writers in 1934. It required artists and writers to depict workers, soldiers and leaders in a realistic style, in an optimistic spirit that supported the building of socialism and the aims of the Party. Experimental movements such as the avant-garde were discouraged or suppressed. The style produced heroic posters, paintings, sculptures and novels, and it dominated Soviet culture until the late 1980s.

Open on the timeline