I would agree with Chris on this. Also, Soviet literature continued to be good, even Nobel Prize winning, both the unacceptable like Solzhenitsyn or Pasternak or Grossman and the acceptable like Sholokov. Others have already noted the continuing quality of classical music and ballet and some related areas. Theater is another area where the USSR was very good, pretty much all the way through, with some of those folks still around.
The KPRF does have its youth wing, which looks a lot different than the old Komsomol did, but for better or worse, the KPRF's main base of support is clearly still among the elderly. Barkley Rosser ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chris Doss" <itschris13 at hotmail.com> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 3:14 AM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] RE: Soviet nomenklatura privileges
>
> >
> >Kitsch isn't necessarily self-consciously appreciated as such. I have a
> >friend who collects Hummel figurines. I would never make fun of them to
her
> >face. She thinks they are cute. Soviet culture wasn't always kitschy, but
> >post war Soviet culture was almost all kitschy, except for classical
music
> >and dance, and except for the few yewars of the Thaw. jks
> ---
> I beg to differ. Socialist Realism tended to be crap, with the exception
of
> some landscapes and portraits. But there were some damn good,
> non-underground pop singers: e.g. Mark Bernes, Buryat Okudzhava, Vladimir
> Vysotsky. Mark Bernes sang war songs that are just haunting.
>
> The USSR also had some damn good war movies.
>
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